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My Iceland: Snowmobiling Among Giants

By: Catharine
Last Updated: 08/08/2022

Who said quality control is boring? As part of our jobs as travel experts, we occasionally take a break from the office to try out (or as we call it, "inspect") the same hotels and activities we book for you, our travellers. Sometimes that takes us to a snow hotel in Lapland. Maybe to a fjord cruise in Norway. Or on a dog sled in Greenland. This time it took us high up on a glacier, in stylish snowmobile suits.

Recently we sent out a team of Nordic Visitor staff to check out the winter scene around the Ring Road. Below is the travelogue of their adventures in South Iceland.


Today was an adventurous day at work in Iceland! For our first day in the south we went up on Mýrdalsjökull glacier in South Iceland for a super-jeep and snowmobiling tour.

We thought it might be too rainy and expected it to be cancelled, but up in the highlands on the glacier it was a completely different story.

The rain turned to snow. Lots of it...

snowmobile helmet selfie!
Team helmet selfie! 

 

It was such a amazing experience riding in huge jeeps and being there in middle of the falling snow, heading out in completely white surroundings on snowmobiles—it was challenging but in a good way. Our guides are used to all types of weather, so they made sure we were well prepared for the ride.

There’s no bad weather, only bad clothing! While it’s your responsibility to wear warm (ideally woolen or synthetic) layers underneath, the day tour operators do provide extra layers and safety gear. In this case: helmet, snowsuit, mitts and other small specialty items.
There’s no bad weather, only bad clothing! Snowmobile tour operators do provide extra layers and safety gear: helmet, snowsuit and mitts.

 

Yes, it was cold and wet—which is why we always wear lots of layers, but knowing we were driving over a giant glacier, on top of some equally giant (but well monitored) volcanoes, gave it a really powerful feel. Even though I've done tours like these quite a few times, it never gets old.

Icelandic weather is notorious for changing all the time.  This day was no different: we started with rain, then snow on the glacier and finally springtime sun and blue skies near Kirkjubæjarklaustur, where we ended our day with a fantastic glacier view. Perfect!

Hey look, ice in Iceland!
Hey look, ice in Iceland! And look... a Nordic Visitor person without full snowmobile gear!

 

See more of our staff's and clients' adventures on Instagram.


Come explore a glacier like us!

You can add super-jeep and snowmobile tours to any Iceland holiday package. Really! The highlands aren't so far from Reykjavik, so it's easy to do a day tour during a city break. Or ask your travel consultant about adding some extra adventures to your self-drive journey.

This post is part of our “My Destination” series, in which we ask our staff to tell us about their favourite highlights from our Nordic destinations.

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Post by: Catharine

Catharine Fulton is a journalist and travel writer. Though born and raised in Canada, she found herself stuck in the Nordic region since moving to Finland in 2007 to pursue her MA and then migrating to Reykjavík, Iceland in 2009, where she lives with her Icelandic husband and tries (albeit unsuccessfully) to master the Icelandic language.

More posts by Catharine

Getting there

We'd love to give you the same amazing travel experiences as you read about in our blog! To visit the destinations and attractions mentioned in this post - and to discover a few new highlights along the way - check out these recommended Nordic Visitor tours.