Tour operator Arctic Adventures is launching a new glacier hike in Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland. The new tour, Glacier Beyond, takes visitors across two glaciers in the same day and provides access to more remote parts of the Skaftafell area.
The tour combines the well-known Falljökull glacier with the more isolated Virkisjökull – a glacier tongue that has not previously been included in regular day trips from Skaftafell.
“Most visitors to Skaftafell only set foot on Falljökull. When you continue on to Virkisjökull, the whole experience changes. The tourist traffic disappears and the landscape opens up,” says Francesco Li Vigni, head of glacier operations at Arctic Adventures.
Glacier Beyond thus becomes the first guided day trip in the area that connects the two glaciers during the same hike.
The tour takes approximately 5.5 hours in total, of which up to four hours are spent on the ice. The group is transported by 4x4 bus to the edge of the glacier before continuing the hike through ice formations, crevasses and landscapes at the foot of the Öræfajökull volcano – home to Iceland’s highest peak.
Group size is limited to a maximum of twelve participants per certified glacier guide and the tour is aimed at people of normal good physical condition. Previous glacier hiking experience is not required.
Arctic Adventures describes the initiative as a response to a growing interest in more natural and less exploited experiences in Iceland.
The first departures will start on June 15, 2026 and the tour will then be offered year-round depending on weather conditions.
