What to Wear to the Katla Ice Cave 2026: Layers and Boots

Booking choice: The Arctic Adventures super jeep tour, from $189 per person. Check dates Compare the options below

Every Katla tour provides crampons and a helmet. Everything else is up to you, and the glacier is cold in any month: wind on the black sands, wet ice underfoot and water dripping from the cave ceiling.

Below: the clothes and boots to bring, what each operator provides, a checklist, camera tips for a dark cave, and how to cope with the bumpy super jeep.

The quick answer

Wear warm, waterproof layers (a base layer, a fleece or light down jacket, and a waterproof jacket and trousers), hiking boots with ankle support, gloves and a warm hat. Crampons and a helmet are provided on every tour; Southcoast Adventure also provides gloves and headwear, and Katla FastTrack provides headlamps. Leave jeans and trainers at the hotel, and take motion sickness tablets if bumpy rides bother you.

Hiking boots fitted with metal crampons on black ash-covered ice, with a climbing helmet beside them — What the tour provides: crampons and a helmet. The boots are up to you.

What should you wear to the Katla ice cave?

Warm, waterproof layers, hiking boots with ankle support, gloves and a hat, in every season. The operators give the same advice.

A base layer: wool or synthetic, not cotton.
A warm mid layer: a fleece or light down jacket.
A waterproof jacket: the cave drips and the weather turns fast.
Waterproof trousers: jeans get wet and stay cold.
Hiking boots with ankle support: crampons strap onto them.
Gloves and a warm hat: a thin hat fits under the helmet.

Which boots do you need?

Hiking boots with ankle support. The crampons the tour provides strap onto your boots, and the ground to the cave is uneven, icy and sometimes wet.

Trainers and fashion boots are a bad idea: crampons do not sit well on soft shoes, and your feet get wet. The walk varies by operator: 2 to 8 minutes with Gravel Travel, about 20 minutes with Tröll, and 1 to 2 km on uneven icy ground according to Arctic Adventures. If you have no boots, the Sólheimajökull glacier hike rents them for 1,500 ISK; for the cave tours, check with the operator before you travel.

Black ash-covered glacier ridges with a walker crossing them — Ash, gravel and ice underfoot: boots with ankle support make the walk easy.

The shortest walk to the cave, 2 to 8 minutes from the jeep, at the lowest price from Vík.

Check dates for the Gravel Travel small-group tour

What do Katla ice cave tours provide?

Crampons and a helmet on every tour. Southcoast Adventure adds gloves and headwear, Katla FastTrack adds headlamps, and Tröll adds coffee and biscuits afterwards.

What each operator lists, from the GetYourGuide pages:

Tour	Provided	Bring
Arctic Adventures	Crampons, helmet	Warm waterproof layers, boots, gloves, hat, snacks
Gravel Travel	Helmet and crampons when required	Warm waterproof layers, boots, gloves, hat
Tröll Expeditions	All cave equipment, coffee and biscuits	Warm waterproof layers, boots, gloves, hat
Southcoast Adventure	Helmet, crampons, gloves, headwear	Warm waterproof layers, boots
Katla FastTrack	Helmet, crampons, headlamp	Warm waterproof layers, boots, gloves, hat; no drones

Is it cold inside the Katla ice cave?

Yes: you are inside a glacier. The cave is wet, with water dripping from the ice, so a waterproof jacket and a hat under the helmet keep you comfortable.

Most of the cold comes from standing still: on the walk you warm up, then cool down while the guide talks and you take photos. Keep a warm layer you can add at the cave. The time in the cave is short, about 30 minutes on Gravel Travel's itinerary, so you do not need expedition clothing, just the right layers.

A dark ice tunnel with reflections on the floor and a small figure far away — Inside a Katla tunnel: wet, dripping and cold, so wear waterproofs.

Gloves and headwear provided, small groups, and guests report a second tunnel on many days.

★ 4.6 252 reviews · 3 hours · from $271

Explore the Southcoast Adventure glacier and cave tour

How do you take good photos in the Katla ice cave?

Use your phone or camera's night mode, keep the daylight from the entrance behind you or to the side, and wipe the lens often: the ice drips.

The cave is dark ash and blue ice, and the bright opening fools automatic exposure, so tap on the ice to set it. A person in a bright jacket gives scale. Thin gloves that work on touch screens help. Katla FastTrack provides headlamps, which light the ash layers nicely. Drones are not allowed on the FastTrack tour, and guides set the rules near the cave, so ask before you fly anything.

Inside a tall blue ice tunnel with black ash layers, two small explorers in helmets seen from behind — The cave light: bright entrance, dark ash, blue ice.

Headlamps for the cave and glacial rivers on the way, with Katla FastTrack.

Check dates for the Katla FastTrack tour

Will you get motion sick on the super jeep?

Possibly: guests report the super jeep ride is bumpy and not gentle, and Katla FastTrack says its tour is not suitable for people prone to motion sickness.

The drive across the black sands takes about 30 minutes to just under an hour each way, depending on the operator, over gravel tracks and through glacial rivers. A few reviewers mention tight seating. If you get car sick, take your usual remedy before you leave Vík, sit near the front if you can, and choose an operator with a short drive. Gravel Travel's itinerary has about an hour each way, so ask each operator before you book.

A lifted super jeep with huge tyres fording a shallow glacial river on black sand, with a green mountain behind — A river crossing: fun, but not a smooth ride.

What should you bring in your bag?

Water, a snack, a spare warm layer, your phone and a small dry bag for it. Food and drinks are not included on most tours.

Arctic Adventures lists food and drinks as not included; Tröll serves coffee and biscuits at the Vík Inn after the tour. Keep the bag small, as you walk on ice with crampons. In summer, add sunglasses, as the sun on the ice is bright. For the season, see the Katla ice cave in summer; with children, see the Katla ice cave with kids.