Looking for more information about our range of Iceland adventure activities or custom Vatnajökull tours? You’re in the right place! On this page, we answer some of the most common questions we receive about our thrilling excursions.
Scroll down to see if we have listed your questions. And if we haven’t answered your particular query here, don’t worry. You can always get in touch with our team for the information you need.
The meeting point for each activity is listed on the individual trip page and in your booking information.
If you’re unsure where to go, just get in touch with us before your trip and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Your guide will normally be easy to spot in Ice Guardians clothing. For canyoning, they’ll usually be identifiable by their wetsuit and canyoning gear.
We use our difficulty ratings to give you a general idea of what to expect, but conditions in Iceland can change things from one day to the next.
Easy (1–2/5)
A good level of general fitness is enough. You’ll usually be hiking for a few hours at most over uneven ground with a small backpack.
Moderate (3–4/5)
You’ll need to be comfortable with longer days outdoors and hiking over uneven, hilly or more technical terrain. Some activities can involve steep ground, heights or exposure. Confidence and swimming abilty in moving water in the case of Canyoning will be required.
Difficult (5/5)
These are more demanding adventures and require a good level of fitness, preparation and, depending on the activity, previous experience.
Not sure which one is right for you? Just ask us before booking — we’re happy to talk through what’s involved and help you choose the right adventure. 🙌
And remember, Icelandic weather and conditions can make a trip more or less challenging than usual.
Not particularly — just make sure you’re at the meeting point and ready to go at the time shown on your booking.
The safety briefing and equipment check are already included in the activity time.
We recommend allowing yourself enough time to find the meeting point and get organised. If you’re running late, please let your guide know as soon as possible. We may not always be able to wait for late arrivals.
Our safety equipment fits a wide range of people and body sizes, but we can’t cover every possible shape and size. Here are the current ranges:
Glacier/Mountain trips
Canyoning
If you’re close to the limits above or aren’t sure whether our equipment will fit you comfortably, please get in touch before booking. We’d much rather check this with you beforehand than have any surprises on the day. 👍
Both adventures take you through the same canyon with two experienced guides, but there are a few differences:
Canyoning under Vatnajökull
Private Canyoning Adventure
Looking for something a little different or bringing a larger group? Get in touch and we’ll see what we can arrange.
Probably! Our adventures are active, and you’ll be using both your body and your brain throughout the day.
Long hikes, scrambling over rocky terrain, climbing on ice or canyoning in cold water can all leave you feeling pretty good — and pretty tired — afterwards.
If you’re driving after your adventure, we strongly recommend keeping the drive to around 2.5 hours or less, unless you have another driver who can take over.
Eat well, drink plenty of water and give yourself some time to wind down after the adventure. You’ll have earned it! 🥾
This depends on the activity, your stage of pregnancy and the conditions on the day. Some of our adventures involve uneven or technical terrain, cold environments, water, heights and/or the use of a harness, so they may not be suitable during pregnancy.
If you’re pregnant and interested in joining us, please get in touch before booking. Let us know which adventure you’re considering and where you are in your pregnancy, and we’ll talk through what’s involved.
For some private glacier adventures, we may be able to adjust the route and experience to reduce or avoid the need for a harness, depending on conditions.
We also recommend discussing the activity with your healthcare professional before taking part.
Contacting us is the best way to ask us any questions you may have, to provide any pertinent medical information, and for us to fully inform you of everything you need to know. You can also email us at info@ice-guardians.com.
Our adventures are guided in English.
You don’t need to be fluent in English — our guides are used to working with guests from all over the world, and our safety briefings and procedures are designed to be clear and easy to follow.
If you’re unsure whether the language difference might be an issue for a particular activity, just get in touch before booking and we’ll be happy to discuss it.
We provide the wetsuit and all the necessary canyoning safety equipment.
Please bring:
If you are unsure whether your clothing is suitable, please send some photos to info@ice-guardians.com (ideally with the brand and model name) before your trip so we can let you know.
We provide all the necessary safety equipment for your trip.
We recommend bringing:
For ice climbing: climbing boots may be available on request, so please let us know in advance.
We strongly recommend wearing boots you’ve used before — blisters are not a great souvenir! 😅
Not sure whether your clothing or footwear is suitable? Send us a photo, ideally including the brand and model, and we’ll be happy to check it for you before your trip.
Absolutely! Iceland is pretty hard to resist photographing, and there are usually plenty of opportunities to capture some amazing moments.
Camera / phone / GoPro 📱
You’re very welcome to bring a camera, phone or GoPro. Just keep in mind that our regular trips are adventures first, rather than dedicated photography tours, so we’ll keep the group moving and won’t always be able to stop for extended photography sessions.
If photography is a big part of what you’re looking for, get in touch about a private or customised adventure and we can look at building the day around it.
We strongly recommend bringing a waterproof case or protection for your phone or camera. Icelandic weather can be wet, and canyoning definitely is! 💦
Tripods
Tripods are fine on our glacier hiking and ice climbing trips, but not on canyoning trips. We may be moving regularly on the glacier, so there won’t always be time or suitable places to set one up.
For dedicated photography trips, get in touch and we’ll be happy to discuss a customised experience.
Drones 🚁
Drones are permitted on some of our glacier activities but not on our canyoning trips. If you want to fly a drone within Vatnajökull National Park, you’ll need to follow the National Park’s current drone rules and obtain any permit required.
Please check the current requirements and allow enough time for any application before your trip.
A quick note about photography:
We may take photographs or video during our activities. If you don’t want to appear in our photos or footage, just let your guide know verbally or in writing at any point during the activity and we’ll do our best to respect that. 👍
Sometimes! We’re happy for you to use your own equipment where our guides are familiar with it and are confident that it’s suitable for the activity and conditions.
Our guides may ask you to use Ice Guardians equipment instead if we’re not familiar with your equipment, if it doesn’t meet our requirements, or if we’re not completely happy with its suitability.
If you’re unsure, send us a photo, the brand/model or a link to the equipment before your trip and we’ll be happy to take a look.
Ultimately, your guide will make the final call on whether particular equipment can be used during the activity. 👍
Yes! Staying hydrated and keeping your energy up is important on an active day.
We recommend bringing at least 1 litre of water, ideally in a reusable bottle. You’ll usually be able to fill up at the meeting point.
We also recommend bringing some food or snacks for the trip. Things like sandwiches, wraps, muesli bars, fruit, chocolate, flapjacks or other easy-to-carry snacks work well.
Think plenty of calories and food you’ll actually enjoy eating while you’re moving. 😋
For some of our longer or multi-day adventures, food and drinks may be included — check the individual trip page for what’s provided.
We understand that plans can change. Our cancellation policy depends on the type of adventure you’ve booked.
Public & Shared tours
If you give us more than 48 hours’ notice, we’ll also do our best to reschedule your trip at no extra cost, subject to availability.
Private & Alpine activities
A 30% non-refundable deposit is required to confirm the booking. The remaining balance is refundable according to the following:
Multi-day expeditions
Multi-day trips have separate cancellation terms because of the accommodation, transport and other arrangements involved. These will be shown clearly when you book.
We strongly recommend taking out travel insurance that covers cancellation and interruption, as well as the activities you’re planning to take part in.
If you’re unsure about your booking or need to cancel, just get in touch with us as soon as possible and we’ll help where we can. 👍
Icelandic weather can change quickly, and sometimes conditions simply aren’t suitable for the adventure we had planned. Your safety always comes first.
If we need to change or cancel your trip because of weather, mountain conditions, road/access issues or other circumstances outside our control. We’ll first look at whether we can adjust the itinerary or offer a comparable alternative where reasonably possible.
Depending on the circumstances, this could mean a different route, location or experience. For example, if conditions make one mountain or glacier area unsuitable, we may be able to move to another location with similar conditions and an equally great adventure.
If we can’t provide a suitable alternative, we’ll look at the appropriate option, which may include a partial refund, credit, rescheduling or full refund, depending on the circumstances.
If you decide not to travel or cancel because you’re concerned about the weather, our normal cancellation policy applies.
We don’t cancel simply because it’s raining, snowing or windy — Icelandic weather is part of the adventure! 🌨️ What matters is whether conditions are safe and appropriate for the activity.
We strongly recommend having travel insurance that covers the activities you’re booking.
Our adventures take place in natural and sometimes remote environments, so unexpected things can happen — from a cancelled flight or lost luggage to an injury or needing medical assistance.
Before travelling, check that your policy covers:
Different insurance policies cover different activities, so please check the details of your policy rather than assuming you’re covered.
We also recommend checking your insurance before booking if you’re planning an alpine or multi-day adventure. 👍
Icelandic roads and weather can change quickly, especially outside the summer months. Before setting off, we recommend checking the latest road and weather conditions for your journey.
Safetravel.is is a great place to start. They provide information on road conditions, weather and travel safety, and you can also submit your travel plan if you’re heading into more remote areas.
You can also check:
If conditions look questionable, get in touch with us before setting off. We’d much rather help you make a safe decision than have you take unnecessary risks getting to the meeting point. 👍
Not necessarily! Glaciers are constantly changing, and caves, tunnels, crevasses and other ice features can appear, change or disappear surprisingly quickly.
A photo you see on our website or social media may therefore not look the same when you visit — and sometimes the feature may no longer exist at all.
If you’d like to see more recent photos before your trip, get in touch with us and we’ll share what we can. You can also follow us on Instagram for more recent glimpses of what we’re finding out there.
That’s part of what makes glacier adventures so special — you never quite know what the glacier will have in store. 🧊
Our alpine summit trips operate with a maximum ratio of 1 guide to 4 participants.
We keep groups small so that our guides can adapt the pace, route and objectives to the group and the conditions on the mountain.
If you’re looking for a private experience, private departures are also available.
Our public alpine departures require a minimum of 2 participants to operate.
If you’re the first to book, you can open a departure with the minimum two-person booking. If more guests join later, we’ll adjust the price accordingly and refund the difference to those who originally opened the departure.
This means you can book without needing to find a full group yourself. 🙌
If you open a public departure and additional guests join later, the per-person price may decrease as the group grows.
If this happens, we’ll automatically refund the difference to the guests who originally booked the departure.
You don’t need to do anything — we’ll take care of it for you. 😊
Yes! Private alpine departures are available if you’d prefer to have the mountain experience just for your own group.
Private trips are not opened to additional guests, so you’ll have the guide and itinerary to yourselves.
If you’re looking to book as a solo participant, we’ll have a quick chat with you first about your previous experience in glaciated mountains. This helps us make sure the trip and objective are appropriate for your experience level and the conditions.
The price depends on the number of participants. You can find the current private-trip pricing on the individual trip page.
If you’re bringing a larger group, or you’d like to discuss a particular objective or itinerary, get in touch with us and we’ll see what we can arrange.
Mountain conditions can change quickly, and sometimes the safest decision is not to attempt the planned summit.
If conditions aren’t suitable before the trip starts, we’ll look at whether we can offer a suitable alternative alpine or glacier experience instead.
Depending on conditions, this could mean a different route, summit or objective, or moving to a location where conditions are more favourable.
For example, if conditions around one objective aren’t suitable, we may be able to move to another mountain or glacier area for a similar experience.
We’ll always aim to give you a great day in the mountains, even when the original plan needs to change. 🏔️
A change of objective due to mountain conditions doesn’t automatically mean a refund.
Reaching the summit is never guaranteed in mountaineering. Conditions, weather, timing, route conditions, fitness and safety can all affect whether we continue.
Your guide may decide to turn around at any point if they don’t believe continuing is the right decision. Getting back safely is always more important than reaching the top.
If we turn around after the summit attempt has started, there is no automatic refund simply because the summit wasn’t reached.
Turning around is a normal part of mountaineering — sometimes the best day in the mountains is the one where you make the right call and come home safely. 👍
The lead guide makes the final call on the route, pace and objectives based on the conditions and the safety of the group.
Mountain conditions can change quickly, so the plan may need to change along the way. Your guide may adjust the route, change the objective, slow the pace or decide to turn around if they feel it’s the right thing to do.
The goal is always to have a great day in the mountains and get everyone home safely. 👍
Alpine trips are physically demanding and you’ll need to be comfortable with sustained movement in mountain terrain, potentially for many hours.
You should be prepared for uneven and sometimes steep terrain, carrying your personal equipment and dealing with changing weather and conditions.
The fitness needed depends on the particular objective, so if you’re unsure whether a trip is right for you, get in touch before booking. We’re happy to talk through the route, expected day and what’s involved.
For solo bookings, we’ll also have a quick chat about your previous experience in glaciated mountains before confirming the trip.
Your guide will always make the final decision about whether the planned activity can safely continue based on the conditions and the group.
Sometimes circumstances outside our control mean we can’t safely run the trip as planned. Safety always comes first.
If we need to cancel before departure, we’ll first look at whether we can reschedule the trip or offer a suitable alternative.
If we can’t provide a suitable alternative, we’ll look at the appropriate option, which may include rescheduling, credit, a partial refund or a full refund, depending on the circumstances and the arrangements already made for your trip.
We’ll always do our best to give you a great alternative rather than simply cancelling your adventure. 👍
For multi-day and specialist expeditions, the options can vary depending on what has already been arranged, so the specific booking terms for your trip will apply.