An Awesome 4-Hour Monster Truck Tour with Sleipnir on Langjökull Glacier

I joined a fantastic glacier tour in one of the world's largest monster trucks on Iceland's second-largest glacier, Langjökull.

It was a Summer Solstice tour operated by the family-run Sleipnir Tours, and we were eager to witness the midnight sun from the top of the glacier.

This is a highly recommended tour if you want to have loads of fun and come back really refreshed and energized.

Top photo: the fire-red Sleipnir monster truck

The transfer bus drove us to the meeting point close to the glacier

We drove to Gullfoss waterfall, Iceland's most famous one, from where a bus transferred us to Geldingafell, the base camp of Sleipnir Tours, where the fire-red monster truck Sleipnir waited for us.

I was thrilled to see it, as I love riding in monster trucks, and had wanted to go on this tour for years.

The tour guide entertained us with stories about elves and trolls, and she told us the story about the gentle troll Bergþór in Bláfell as we passed Mt. Bláfell. I have written another travel blog about Bergþór if you want to get to know him better, before joining the tour.

I love monster trucks and super jeeps

Very experienced drivers are needed to operate large vehicles on rough roads, especially on a glacier in a monster truck.

Fortunately, Ástvaldur Óskarsson, the founder and owner of Sleipnir, built the monster truck Sleipnir to handle rugged terrains. 

We were lucky enough to have Kjartan as a driver, as it is his passion to drive on such rough terrain.

Great caution is needed when driving on a glacier, as it can be dangerous due to glacial fissures. So we drove very slowly, avoiding the fissures. 

Driving on the glacier

On the way, our guide explained the glacial features we saw through Sleipnir's large windows.

I find geology very interesting, but on guided tours, I tend to zone out, so I recorded what she was saying and took a video from the window.

In the video above, the tour guide was explaining the geological phenomenon of ash cones to us. And that the tire pressure has to be lowered so we can float on the glacier, so to speak.

Sleipnir monster truck has an inside system for this, so we didn't even notice when the tire pressure was lowered. On other tours I have joined, the driver had to get out of the vehicle and manually deflate the tires.

You can see how huge these tires are - our tour guide was able to sit inside them!

The truck tires are large, measuring 75 inches (190 cm), and can cross glacial crevasses up to 2 meters wide!

That is not what we were here to do on this tour, only to have fun and enjoy the glacier, and hopefully see the midnight sun.

The Sleipnir monster truck is specially designed and weighs 23 tonnes, so you can only imagine the massive weight pressing down on the glacier. On the other hand, that is how glaciers are formed, by pressure over a very long period.

The kids fit perfectly inside the tires :)

Once on the glacier, we went wild: we made snow angels and a snowman, played glacier golf, sledded down a slope, and jumped for photos.

And tried sitting inside the tires, which nobody managed to do gracefully, apart from the kids.

My husband tried and kept falling out of the tires. Our amiable and fun tour guide could squeeze in, but I guess that it was less than comfortable.

Jumping for photos on Langjökull glacier

The kids loved playing in the snow, and so did their parents.

I bet that everybody felt like a kid; I know that I did, and there was such great camaraderie in the group.

People from all over the world who didn't know each other came out of their shells, threw snowballs, and goofed around.

Evidence one (well, we know each other, but this was genuine joy) ;)

My husband lifted me and threw me in the air - thankfully, he caught me

This was great fun, and there was so much merriment on the glacier; everybody was enjoying themselves. 

We asked the tour guide if the tours were always so exciting and fun, and they said they always were; there is some magic on the glacier that makes people open up, and I could definitely feel that magic. 

So if you want to feel the magic and join this fun tour, you can book it here:

Exciting 4-Hour Monster Truck Tour of Langjokull Glacier from Gullfoss

A serene summer night on Langjökull glacier. The clouds were rolling in.

I wanted to capture the utter silence on the glaciers on video, so I left the group, walked like a duck in the snow up a slope, and enjoyed the serenity and quiet beauty of Iceland.

The sky looked dark and ominous, but all I could feel was the heartbeat of my beloved country.

The group followed suit, and we hiked towards the midnight sun. The short hike up the slope was easy, but wear sturdy hiking boots and dress warmly, as it can get cold on a glacier.

A snowball fight on the glacier

Here we enjoyed the midnight sun, which we could see through the clouds, and goofed around some more.

Our tour guide took the photo below of the group in the twilight just before midnight; I love the bright summer nights this far up north, they are one of the perks of living in Iceland.

When we were descending the glacier slope towards the Sleipnir monster truck, I told the Croatian woman, who was on the tour with her family, that I could speak her language, and we had a great chat.

Hiking up the slope towards the midnight sun

Then the tour guide-in-training approached us and spoke to us in the same language, which really surprised me, since we had spoken English together earlier. It turned out that she was born in Belgrade.

I love such circumstances; here we were, 3 women meeting each other for the first time, hiking on an Icelandic glacier at midnight, speaking in a language I had learned decades ago :)

There was a shift in the atmosphere, and I felt such love and togetherness that I knew this would leave a lasting memory.

Hot chocolate and pastries after the glacial hike

And what do you know, when we returned to the monster truck, a glacial pop-up café had magically appeared!

We were treated to hot chocolate and Icelandic kleinur (twisted doughnuts), tea and coffee, and if you need more drinks to warm you up on the cold glacier, then you can try a sip of the Icelandic cream liqueur Jökla.

Martha poured my husband some Jökla liqueur

That is a fitting name for a drink on a glacier, as "jökull" is the Icelandic word for a glacier.

I thought to myself that this was a perfect ending to a fantastic tour...

But when my husband drank the hot chocolate-and-Jökla mixture, he coughed and accidentally spluttered it all over Ástvaldur's wife, Martha (the owners of the Sleipnir company)!

I cannot take him anywhere ;)

Kjartan, the driver, enjoying hot chocolate - I have the greatest respect for these skilled drivers

Kjartan, our very skilled driver, now drove us to the Sleipnir base camp, where we switched to the transport bus and drove the bumpy Kjölur road back to Gullfoss waterfall.

I ran down to my beloved Gullfoss to see it on this bright summer night, and it was fantastic. There was nobody around, and it reminded me of the olden days in Iceland. Another golden moment for me to cherish from this tour.

This is a highly recommended tour if you want to have loads of fun and come back feeling really refreshed and revitalized from the cool mountain air, with a heart full of memories. I know that I did :)

With the owners of Sleipnir, one of the women is related to me, guess which one :)

This is a 4-hour tour, but time flies when you are having fun, so it was over too soon, and I felt sad to say goodbye to the group, as we had now bonded. I will for sure be back on Langjökull glacier in the Sleipnir monster truck soon.

The tour I joined was , but later this summer, I am going to join Sleipnir's regular tour, this one: 

Exciting 4-Hour Monster Truck Tour of Langjokull Glacier from Gullfoss, or better still for me, this one, as this 10-hour tour has a pick up in Reykjavík, plus the Golden Circle: Golden Circle Tour with Langjokull Glacier and Monster Truck Experience from Reykjavik.

And, not to forget the wintertime tour, which includes an ice cave, which is a must, as entering the ice caves, which form in the wintertime, is an unforgettable experience: Golden Circle & Langjokull Ice Cave Tour in Monster Truck from Reykjavik

Have loads of fun on Langjökull glacier :)