The glacier does not start where the car park ends. On this tour you walk to it, uphill over rough ground, watching the ice get bigger with every step, and then you strap on crampons and keep going onto the surface of Sólheimajökull.

Glaciers and Waterfalls runs this full-day South Coast trip from Reykjavík, built around a guided glacier hike and rounded off with a waterfall and a black sand beach.

What you'll do on the Sólheimajökull glacier hike

Sólheimajökull is an outlet glacier of Mýrdalsjökull, Iceland's fourth-largest glacier, about 158 km from Reykjavík. With crampons, harness, helmet and ice axe, you follow your certified guide across old glacial ice, past crevasses and ice formations, while hearing how the glacier formed and how it keeps changing.

The whole glacier part takes about 3.5 to 4 hours, including gearing up, the approach walk, the hike and the walk back. Expect roughly 6 km in total with about 230 metres of climbing. No glacier experience is needed, but the approach is uphill on uneven mountain terrain.

The day also includes Seljalandsfoss, where you can walk behind the waterfall for most of the year, conditions permitting, and Reynisfjara black sand beach with its basalt columns and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks.

What's included

• Minibus transfer to and from Reykjavík, with free Wi-Fi
• English-speaking certified glacier guide
• Equipment for the glacier hike

Meals are not included.

Good to know before you go

Bring warm outdoor clothing, a hat, gloves or mittens, rain gear, good hiking boots, a backpack, a water bottle and a camera or phone, plus a dry change of clothes. The tour is not recommended for people with heart conditions, and it is not wheelchair or stroller accessible. Infants cannot sit on laps and there are no infant seats. Routes on the glacier and the itinerary may change with weather, road and ice conditions.

Pro tip: pack a proper lunch in your backpack. Meals are not included and the glacier section alone runs close to four hours.