The Volcano, the Vikings, and the Sea: Our last stops along the Reykjanes Peninsula #Iceland #travel

On By Alethea KehasIn Travel Adventures

After leaving the Seltun Geothermal Field, we headed up the road to visit the Fagradalsfjall’s 2021 Eruption site. Had we know we would have had more time to spare, we would likely have made our trip into more of a hike. Instead, we parked at the lot below the volcano’s base, scanned the QR code to pay, and headed out to explore the still-steaming lava field.

Even at the base of the lava field, the landscape is unstable and there are signs warning visitors not to step on the lava least they fall through or get burned. You can see areas where the surface has caved in and there are still mini steam vents.

You can see the wisps of steam rising from the cooling lava in this video.


It’s worth a trip to the site of the eruption if you are exploring the peninsula. According to the travel guides, it’s at least a 45 minute hike to get a good view of the volcano, but clearly you could spend a good half-day here as there are tours offering 5-hour excursions. We didn’t want to sacrifice too much time, so we spent about a half-hour walking around its base and then followed the dragon line to the ocean.

The head of the dragon over-looks the ocean. There are warnings at its base not to walk along its neck, but people still do.

The coast along the peninsula is perhaps not as stunning as the more famous areas along the South Coast, but still quite beautiful. Please click through the slide show to see some of the views we experienced during our stop.

It was rather blustery and chilly during out visit to see the ocean, but we did spend some time walking around and taking it the splendor of the rugged rocks where seabirds make their nests, and watched the wave’s relentless massage of the land.

We knew the Viking World Museum would be closing soon after we finished our visit at the coast, so we made it our last stop before we turned in our car. We timed it just in time for a tour-bus, though. Because of this, we spent just as much time outside the museum as we did inside, but building sits nearby the harbor, offering beautiful views.

The museum itself is not large, most of its space is taken up by the viking ship, which is its main attraction. A half-hour is sufficient to walk through it, more time is worthwhile if you are a viking fan and want to read more about the history of the culture and the artifacts that are housed in the museum. There are some turf houses outside the museum, but their doors are locked. Only about a mile from the airport, the Viking World Museum is a logical stop before you depart from the Land of Fire and Ice. As it was, we had ample time to spare, and found ourselves wishing we had perhaps spent a little more time at the volcano.

24 thoughts on “The Volcano, the Vikings, and the Sea: Our last stops along the Reykjanes Peninsula #Iceland #travel”

  6. Wow! These images and your experiences shared are full of beauty and sensations. The video with the steam coming out from the semi-hardened lava and all these wispy clouds in the photos against that blue sky….

    Fantastic! 🙂

    I Iove the way you described that relentless massage of the waves…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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