Jökulsárlón

About Jökulsárlón

Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon is a lake of floating icebergs at the foot of Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, right beside Route 1 in Southeast Iceland. Ice calves off the glacier face, drifts across the lagoon and eventually slips out through a short channel to the sea, so the scene changes from one hour to the next. Some bergs are the size of houses, and you can watch them from the shore for free.

The lagoon is inside Vatnajökull National Park, about 5 hours' drive from Reykjavík, which is why most people break the trip in Vík or near Skaftafell, about 45 minutes west. Höfn is roughly an hour to the east. Ice that washes back onto the black sand across the road forms Diamond Beach, and the smaller Fjallsárlón glacier lagoon is about 10 kilometers west.

Seals often hunt in the channel and haul out on the floes, and the blue ice looks best in low morning or evening light. The glacier lagoon has had its share of screen time too, from two James Bond films to the Justin Bieber video "I'll Show You." Give it at least an hour, or two if you add a boat trip and the beach.

Walking the shore costs nothing, but a national park parking fee of 1,110 ISK per car applies for the day. The amphibian boat tour runs from May to November, lasts 30 to 40 minutes and costs 7,100 ISK for adults in 2026. For a closer look at the glacier face, the zodiac tour runs from May to October, takes about 1 hour 15 minutes and costs 16,600 ISK, with a minimum age of 10.

In winter the boats stop, but the lagoon stays open and its parking lot becomes the meeting point for ice cave tours onto the glacier. Stay off the floes on the shore and at the beach, because they can roll without warning.