When the weather stops a Solheimajokull glacier tour
Sólheimajökull is open to guided groups through the year, but the weather has the final word. Strong wind or heavy rain can close the ice for a day, and the operator makes that call close to the start. A spare day in your plans turns a cancellation into a short delay.
What can stop a glacier tour
Wind is the usual reason a glacier day is called off. Strong gusts on open ice make walking on crampons unsafe and turn a rope session at an ice wall into a poor idea. Storms rolling in off the Atlantic can do the same.
Sólheimajökull flows down from the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap, and the weather on this coast changes fast. A calm car park at breakfast says little about the wind higher up the glacier tongue an hour later.
Light rain or low cloud on its own rarely ends a tour, since the groups go out in waterproofs anyway. What counts is whether the ice and the walk to it are safe on the day, and that changes from week to week.
Who makes the call, and when
The decision belongs to the operator rather than to you or us. Arctic Adventures and Tröll Expeditions each judge the conditions on the day, and the guide can still change the route or the climbing spot once the group is out on the ice.
Word of a cancellation can come the evening before or on the morning itself. Keep your phone switched on and watch the email address you booked with, since that is where the operator or the booking site sends news.
A tour that goes ahead can still look different from the photos. The guide may choose a sheltered wall over an exposed one, or cut the time on the ice short if the sky turns. Nobody can promise a moulin or a stretch of blue ice on a given day.
Refunds and new dates under the 24-hour rule
On GetYourGuide, both tours on this site can be cancelled free until 24 hours before they start. If you cancel yourself inside that window, the money is usually lost, so make the decision early when the forecast looks poor.
If the operator cancels for weather, the usual offer is your money back or another date. The terms vary by operator and by booking site, so read them on the listing before paying.
Reserve now and pay later on GetYourGuide helps as well. You hold a place on Tröll Expeditions' climb from ~$229 or Arctic Adventures' tour without paying up front, which leaves room to move the date if the outlook changes. Our price guide sets out what each listing includes.
A short tour that is easy to move
Tröll Expeditions runs about four hours on the ice and around it, for up to six people, with climbing boots included. A short slot like this is simpler to shift to another day than a 13-hour trip from Reykjavík.
Check the forecasts the evening before
Two public sources tell you most of what you need. The Icelandic Met Office publishes wind and rain forecasts for the south coast. Conditions and closures along Route 1 appear on the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration's map.
Look at both the evening before and again in the morning. Wind warnings matter more than rain symbols, and in winter the road map tells you whether the drive itself is sensible. Our driving guide covers the road from Reykjavík to the car park.
If you booked a Solheimajokull ice climbing tour with transport from Reykjavík, the bus takes the driving off your hands but not the weather. The wind that closes the ice can also close the road, and the operator decides for the whole trip.
Book early in your trip
The simplest protection is time. Put the glacier near the start of your stay in Iceland, so that a cancelled day can slide to a later one without losing the climb. A tour booked for your last afternoon has nowhere to go.
This matters most in winter, when storms come through more often and daylight is short. Our guide to the seasons on the ice compares the glacier year, from the long light of summer to the harder blue ice of the dark months.
Never walk onto the glacier alone because a tour was called off. Sólheimajökull has crevasses and moulins, and conditions that stop a guided group are worse still for anyone without a guide.
Plan B along the south coast
A cancelled climb leaves a free day on one of the busiest stretches of coast in Iceland. Skógafoss is a short drive west of the glacier turn-off, and steps up its side lead to a viewpoint above the falls.
Further west, Seljalandsfoss is the waterfall you can walk behind, on a path that gets wet and slippery. East of the glacier, roughly 25–30 km away, the village of Vík is a good place to warm up and eat.
Rain does not close the waterfalls, though it turns the paths muddy. Our south coast day plan strings these stops together around a climb, and most of it works just as well without one.
A warning about Reynisfjara
The black sand beach at Reynisfjara, near Vík, is the stop many people pick on a grey day. It is also known for sneaker waves, which run much further up the sand than the ones before them and can pull people into icy water.
Stay well back from the waterline and never turn your back on the sea. On a stormy day the waves grow larger, so the weather that called off your climb also makes this beach at its most dangerous.
Dressing for weather that holds
Plenty of tours go ahead in drizzle and a cold breeze, and that is when good clothes pay off. A waterproof jacket and pants over warm layers keep you comfortable, and gloves protect your hands on wet ice. Our clothing guide lists the rest.
If you are still choosing a tour, our comparison of Arctic Adventures and Tröll sets the two side by side. A short tour at the glacier is easier to rebook, while the full day from Reykjavík depends on the road as well as the ice.