Styggevatnet (1,200m above sea level) is covered by snow from winter until early to mid-July. It is then the adventure begins as we kayak over the lake and hike atop the Austdalsbreen. We start trips on Styggevatnet, Jostedal, in early July (hopefully 11 July), and run them until the end of September.

Once the lake has defrosted, we begin the kayaking tours. It is about one and a half hours paddling over to Austdalsbreen (glacier) with its 30m-high front that calves towers of ice into the lake. On the way, we look for icebergs that have calved off the glacier from the days before. After kayaking, we stop for some lunch, enjoying the view across the front of the glacier.

We then start the glacier hike on the blue ice at the glacier front, walking around huge crevasses toward the centre of the glacier for a commanding view over the lake and the Jostedalsbreen National Park. We spend about one and a half to two hours on the glacier, exploring and explaining various features of this natural marvel. After the glacier tour, we walk back to the kayaks for our return to civilisation.

For young families, we would recommend our purpose-designed Glacier Half Day tour.