Iceland: Glacier Tour

First of all, you should take a trip to Iceland. Do it.
Iceland utterly blew me away; it is a truly a remarkable place.

Secondly, make sure to go on a glacier tour in a super jeep.
(Mid-May - October)

There are a number of companies to tour with, we went with Ice Explorers' Super Jeep Tour on the Glacier because they were so well reviewed and situated between Glacier Lagoon (another must do) and Hofn (a super sweet little town), which was where we happened to be at the time we could fit it in. Plus, the tour was suitable for kids, and we were traveling with our 10 year old daughter. Ice Explorers offers the Glacier tour mid-May through October. In the winter months you can opt for an Ice Cave Day tour, which we want to go back for!

What to bring/wear
You won't know what the weather will be like when you are up there, so you'll want to have options with you in case it is warm and sunny or windy or cold and rainy or snowy. Plus you make a few stops along the way, all with possibly different weather. So I recommend brining a backpack (which you can leave on the jeep when you hop out to explore) with extra layers like a hat and gloves, and an extra layer to go over a lighter jacket.

• Warm hat
• Gloves
• Sunglasses (if it is clear it can be bright and even if it isn't too clear there can be a lot of glare)
• Coat (layers would be good, a warm coat + a rain coat)
• Pants
• Hiking Boots   
• Camera
• Drone? Someone in our group brought their drone, a DJI Mavic (not sure if it was the Pro or Air), which was super cool. I bet their video will be out of this world. Though I was worried it would get caught in the wind and lost, as our guide said many others have, this one performed like a beast and survived!  

Trip Details: 

You arrive at the meeting place, a cattle farm. There are bathrooms so you can go before you head out; which you will want to do as the tour is about 4 hours long. There is also a restaurant so you can grab a bite to eat after your tour. 

Our guide suggested if we get motion sick we should take the first row of seats, the ones directly behind the driver. I tend to get motion sick easily so my family hopped in the first row. Don't be alarmed though, I actually didn't feel motion sick at all the entire time! But I was so glad we had those seats as I think they were the best in the jeep. We were close to the guide, and didn't have anyone in front of us aside from the driver and guide blocking our view, so even our daughter could look straight out the front. We also got a great view of some of the vehicle mechanics, which included their color coded GPS to signal where was safe to drive and their tire pressure system where with just the press of a button or two they could adjust the pressure in the tires so to what was best suited to where we were whether it was a gravel road or driving up the side of the glacier. The super jeep in itself was so cool. 

In addition to witnessing such a spectacular natural wonder, your guide will share loads of great information with you on glaciers and Iceland ranging from fun facts to science to history along with some great stories. I hung on every word.

You'll make a couple stops on the way up to see different spots on the glacier, then you'll make the drive to your highest point, which for us was 1400 meters (if I recall correctly). Then you'll make one or two more stops on the way down once again taking in the sights and seeing how drastically the landscape changes. 

We went on the morning tour and were pretty hungry for lunch by the end so when we got back to the farm we first met at, we went upstairs to the restaurant and had a very tasty meal. 

This is a must do as far as I am concerned.

There are a number of companies that offer glacier tours departing from various locations but if you plan to be in the vicinity of Glacier Lagoon,  you should definitely use Ice Explorers. The entire experience was top notch and you can say you were on the largest glacier in Europe! 

We were very impressed with Ice Explorers. They were very professional and very knowledgable. The Superjeep, which they custom built, was really well constructed and they put a lot of effort into mapping out safe routes up and down the glacier. I felt safe the entire time which allowed me to just enjoy every moment.  

ICE EXPLORERS - https://explorers.is/