Jökulsárlón Glacier Boat Tour

For most travelers, the Reykjavik: Glacier Lagoon Boat Ride & Diamond Beach Day Tour operated by BusTravel Iceland. It runs from ~$290 per person over 14 hours, includes hotel pickup and return, a live English-speaking guide and — crucially — a ticket for the amphibian boat ride on the lagoon, so you are not relying on a sailing still having space when your coach arrives. It holds a 4.7/5 rating from 288 reviews and offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.

Prices on this page range from about ~$159 to ~$640 per person. The 1.5-hour kayaking tour starts at ~$159, the optional-boat day trip from Reykjavík at ~$235, the Fjallsárlón Zodiac and glacier hike at ~$244, the day trip with the boat included at ~$290, and the two-day south coast tour at ~$640. All prices are per person and can vary by season and departure date.

Not through GetYourGuide. Its Jökulsárlón cruises and boat tours category lists nine activities, and all of them are guided tours — day trips from Reykjavík, private tours, or on-site combinations — rather than a standalone walk-up boat ticket. The lagoon boats are sold at the lagoon by the company that operates them. If you want the boat guaranteed in advance through a booking platform, you book a tour that includes it.

An amphibian boat is a wheeled vessel that drives down the bank and floats off it. It is slow, stable, open-topped and carries a large group — the ride on our top pick lasts about 30 minutes, and the only age restriction is that under-6s are not accepted. A Zodiac is a fast rigid inflatable carrying a small group; it covers more water and gets closer to the glacier front, but it is colder and more exposed. The Zodiac trip on this page is capped at ten people, provides a thermal safety jacket, and does not accept under-14s.

Boats on the lagoon run roughly from May into October, when conditions allow the vessels to navigate between the icebergs. Outside that window the lagoon and Diamond Beach are still spectacular and day trips still run, but there is no sailing. If your dates fall in winter, plan the trip around the shoreline, Diamond Beach and an ice cave rather than a boat.

About 30 minutes on the amphibian boat, according to the listing for our top pick. That is a small fraction of a 14-hour day trip, so it is worth judging these tours on the whole day rather than the sailing alone. The kayaking tour gives you a longer 1.5 hours on the water, and the Fjallsárlón Zodiac trip splits four hours between two boat crossings and a glacier hike.

Roughly 380 km along the south coast — around five hours of driving each way without stops. That distance is why every Reykjavík day trip on this page runs 14 hours, and why the two-day option exists. The listings also warn that the day can run longer than advertised in poor weather or heavy traffic, so it is not the day to schedule anything for the evening.

It depends on which one you book, and this is the single most common mix-up. On the Glacier Lagoon Boat Ride & Diamond Beach Day Tour at ~$290 the boat ride ticket is listed under what is included. On the cheaper Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon & Diamond Beach Tour at ~$235 the boat cruise appears in the itinerary marked optional, and in the inclusions as "if option selected". Both are run by BusTravel Iceland along much the same route.

No. Fjallsárlón is a separate, smaller glacier lagoon a short drive west of Jökulsárlón, fed by the Fjallsjökull outlet glacier. It has real icebergs and far fewer visitors, and it is where the Zodiac boat tour on this page sails. We have included it because it is a genuinely good boat trip and a different kind of day, but if your heart is set on the famous lagoon in the photographs, that is Jökulsárlón, not Fjallsárlón.

Yes. The Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon Kayaking Tour runs 1.5 hours from ~$159 with IceGuide Iceland, rated 4.7/5 from 480 reviews. It includes a fully guided tour, a two-piece wetsuit, all equipment and sit-on-top kayaks, and you meet your guide at the glacier lagoon car park. Food, drinks and transport to the meeting point are not included. It has the strictest restrictions of anything here: no under-14s, no non-swimmers, and not suitable for anyone with back or heart problems or prone to seasickness.

The amphibian boat is the family option — the top pick's only age rule is that children under 6 are not accepted, and it is a slow, stable, level-boarding ride. The two-day tour sets its minimum at 8. Both the kayaking tour and the Fjallsárlón Zodiac require participants to be 14 or older, and the Zodiac also excludes travelers with mobility restrictions.

Warm layers under a waterproof outer shell, whatever the weather looked like when you left Reykjavík — you are on open water beside a glacier. The top pick asks for comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing. The Zodiac trip provides a warm thermal safety jacket and asks you to bring hiking boots, gloves, a hat and rain gear, and the kayaking tour provides a two-piece wetsuit and asks for warm clothes, a hat and sun protection.

Diamond Beach is directly across the road — the black sand shore where icebergs that have drifted out to sea get thrown back by the surf. Every tour on this page includes it. Beyond that, the south coast route takes in Seljalandsfoss, where you can walk behind the waterfall, Skógafoss, the black sand beach at Reynisfjara, the village of Vík, and in the wider Vatnajökull National Park a large choice of glacier hikes and ice cave tours.

All five tours featured here list free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure, and all five offer a reserve-now-pay-later option. Given how much southeast Iceland's weather can change a sailing, that flexibility is worth using rather than admiring. Cancellation terms are set by each provider and can differ by tour and by date, so always confirm the specific policy shown at checkout. All bookings, payments, changes, refunds and customer support are handled directly by the tour operator or booking platform, not by this site.