If you want a bucket list full of unique experiences or great reasons to travel, you should add “Walk on a Glacier” to your bucket list. Walking on a glacier is an experience unlike any other, and if you want this to be an item checked off your list, you ought to do it sooner than later.
These frosty giants are quickly melting. One Icelandic guide recently told his group that just last year it took ten minutes to walk from the parking lot to the glacier. Now, they have to take a 40-minute walk around the back of a mountain to get to a safe place to walk onto the glacier, because in it’s place is now a huge lagoon. The story is the same in other places around the world.
So, where can you still walk on a glacier? Fortunately, there are still a few different places around the world where you can walk. Svinafellsjokull in Iceland is one. Iceland is a stunning country with an almost mythical landscape, and you certainly won’t regret choosing it as the location for your glacier walk.
Another popular location is on New Zealand’s west coast. Here, you’ll need to take a helicopter (another bucket list item?) to The Fox or The Franz Josef Glaciers, where you’ll be hiking up the glacier and take in the stunning views.
Returning to Europe, did you know there are glaciers in Switzerland? The Aletsch Glacier Trail is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is reachable by cable car and takes three to four hours to hike.
If you’re in the US and don’t fancy a trip to Europe, how about going south? South America is known for its warm climate, but Argentina actually has it’s own UNESCO World Heritage glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier is considered one of the great marvels of Patagonia and is one of only three glaciers in the world that is actually growing instead of shrinking.
Alaska is another location with a lot to offer. Alaska is famous for being cold and sometimes dark, but those who have been there (or seen The Simpsons Movie) know that Alaska is a beautiful state. Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Reserve is truly remote, and to get there you’ll need to raft upstream and then pitch a tent in a location called Gateway Knob to avoid the mini tsunamis the glacier occasionally causes.
With so many beautiful locations for your glacier walk, you’ll be spoiled for choice! Wherever you choose, your glacier walk is sure to be a breath-taking and once-in-a-lifetime bucket list item.
If you’re putting together your bucket list, make sure you check out Buckil.com to use our online bucket list maker, check out other people’s experiences, and to find more unique bucket list ideas. Alternatively, download the Buckil app, available on iOS and Android, to compile your bucket list today!
