Langjökull · West Iceland highlands
Snowmobiling in Iceland happens almost entirely on Langjökull, the country's second-largest ice cap. The same glacier holds the man-made Into the Glacier ice tunnel — but the two are separate trips, so this page lists both and is clear about which is which.
Choose your trip
Every snowmobile tour here rides Langjökull, reached by super jeep or glacier truck from a base near the Golden Circle. None of them enters the ice cave — the tunnel is a separate tour on the same glacier, listed below. Prices are per person in US dollars, and every trip has free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
The highest-rated snowmobile run on the glacier, and the closest starting point to Reykjavik at about ninety minutes. A super jeep climbs to the ice, then roughly an hour riding across open snowfields with two people sharing each machine. Cold-weather gear is provided; food is not.
Free cancellation up to 24h
The most-reviewed option, meeting at Gullfoss about two hours from the capital. An ice truck carries the group up and a guide leads the ride, single file and at a steady pace rather than a fast one. Larger groups than the Geysir departure, and a solo machine costs extra.
Free cancellation up to 24h
A full day from Reykjavik that pairs an hour of snowmobiling with lunch and a soak in the Secret Lagoon hot spring. Hotel pickup, breakfast and lunch are all included, which is why it costs roughly double the standalone rides.
Free cancellation up to 24h
The ice tunnel inside Langjökull, reached by an eight-wheel-drive truck from Húsafell. Open year-round because it is carved and maintained rather than natural, and the cheaper of the two ways in. Children under twelve go free.
Free cancellation up to 24h
The full-day route to the same tunnel from Reykjavik, folding in the Hraunfossar waterfalls and a geothermal spring on the drive through west Iceland. Longer on the road, but everything is handled.
Free cancellation up to 24h
Almost all of Iceland's snowmobiling takes place on Langjökull, the long ice cap in the western highlands north of the Golden Circle. It is high, broad and reliably snow-covered, which is why tours run there in every season including midsummer. Bases sit near Geysir and Gullfoss, both around an hour and a half to two hours from Reykjavik.
You never drive to the snow yourself. A super jeep or a purpose-built glacier truck carries the group from the base up onto the ice cap, and the snowmobiles wait there. That transfer is a decent chunk of the tour time, so a four-hour trip usually means about an hour on a machine.
Two people share each snowmobile as standard and swap driver and passenger part-way through; a solo machine costs extra and a valid driving licence is required to drive. Operators supply the overall, helmet, balaclava and gloves, so the main thing to bring is warm layers underneath and something waterproof.
Riding is guided and single file, following the lead guide's track across the ice. Reviewers of the Gullfoss departure in particular describe a steady rather than fast pace and larger groups, which is worth knowing if you are picturing an open throttle.
This is the point most worth being clear about. The Langjökull ice cave — Into the Glacier — is a man-made tunnel bored into the same ice cap, but the snowmobile tours listed here do not go inside it, and the ice cave tours do not include snowmobiling. They are sold separately by different operators.
Some visitors do both in one trip, since the bases are within reach of each other, and a handful of operators sell a combined day. If the cave is the priority rather than the riding, book an Into the Glacier tour directly and treat the snowmobile as an extra.
Snowmobiling runs year-round. Winter brings snow-covered scenery and a chance of northern lights on the drive back; summer offers long daylight and easier road conditions on the way to the base.
Expect roughly $255 to $267 per person for a standalone ride from Gullfoss or Geysir. The full-day trip that adds hotel pickup, meals and the Secret Lagoon runs closer to $441. Ice cave tours on the same glacier start around $194.
Location & access
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