Early autumn · shoulder season
September is the turn of the season. The natural blue caves have not opened yet — the glacier is still too warm — but the year-round caves are running, the summer crowds have thinned, and the sky is dark enough for the northern lights again.
Choose your trip
The same year-round caves as summer, with autumn conditions and fewer people. Natural blue cave tours generally start in November, so they are not listed here. Prices are per person in US dollars with free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
The Katla cave stays open through the autumn, and September is a good month for it: the Mýrdalssandur crossing is still easy, and the tour is quieter than in high summer.
Free cancellation up to 24h
The man-made tunnel inside Langjökull, unaffected by season. From Húsafell with transfer from Reykjavik included, and a straightforward half-day.
Free cancellation up to 24h
The cheapest way into the Katla cave, meeting in Vík. Worth pairing with a South Coast drive while the roads are still free of winter trouble.
Free cancellation up to 24h
A full day from Reykjavik combining the Katla cave with the South Coast waterfalls — and in September, a real chance of the aurora on the drive home.
Free cancellation up to 24h
An easy, family-friendly walk on Falljökull. September still has firm footing and reasonable daylight, without the summer queues.
Free cancellation up to 24h
An extended trek for anyone wanting a proper half-day on the ice. Autumn light on the glacier is noticeably better for photographs than midsummer glare.
Free cancellation up to 24h
A guided walk on Breiðamerkurjökull from the Jökulsárlón lagoon — the glacier whose caves open a couple of months from now.
Free cancellation up to 24h
Snowmobiling on Langjökull runs all year. The most-reviewed departure, meeting at Gullfoss on the Golden Circle.
Free cancellation up to 24h
A two-hour buggy run out to the edge of Mýrdalsjökull across the black sands of Sólheimasandur. No cave, but a good autumn add-on near Vík.
Free cancellation up to 24h
Only the year-round ones. The Katla cave and the man-made Langjökull tunnel both run through September exactly as they do in July. The natural blue caves near Jökulsárlón do not — those need a properly cold glacier, and tours generally begin in November.
It is worth being blunt about this because September is a common time to plan a first trip to Iceland, and the crystal cave photographs that inspire the trip were taken in midwinter. If those caves are the point of the journey, September is the wrong month.
Darkness. By early September the nights are long enough for the northern lights to return, and by the end of the month there is a genuine aurora window most clear evenings. Combine a South Coast cave day with an evening drive and the odds are decent.
Space. Peak visitor numbers drop away after August. The popular glacier walks and the Katla departures are easier to book at short notice, and the South Coast stops are less busy.
Light. The low autumn sun is far kinder for photographs than the flat overhead glare of midsummer, both on the glacier and at the lagoon.
September is a transitional month: still mild by Icelandic standards, but wetter and windier than midsummer, and the first snow can reach the highlands late in the month. The Ring Road remains straightforward, and none of the tours here depend on winter road conditions.
Dress as you would for winter inside the cave regardless. Warm layers, a waterproof jacket and trousers, and hiking boots with ankle support are the baseline for every tour on this page.
If the trip is flexible by a few weeks, pushing to November changes what is available completely — the blue caves open and the choice roughly doubles. If the dates are fixed, September still gives two genuine ice caves, every glacier hike, and the aurora on top.
The one thing not worth doing is booking a natural cave tour for a September date and hoping. Operators do not run them, and the listings that appear year-round are the Katla and Langjökull ones.
Location & access
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