ajökull stretches for nearly 10 km towards the ocean. The glacier is majestic, still slightly tempted by the black ashes projected by Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. To get close to it, you must use Highway 221 for 4 km, which is well signposted from Highway 1. Once you arrive at the car park, you will have to walk for about 15 minutes on a path without difficulty.
At the end of the trail, a rope will stop you from going further unless you are guided on a glacier excursion by a guide. Indeed, as mentioned above, walking on the glacier is very dangerous, as ice can break on your weight. But from here, we can already have a very interesting view of the glacier and above all admire its impressive dimensions.
Nevertheless, we braved the ban to get close to the ice and discover the big cavities of a fascinating blue. We continued the few tens of meters while being very careful to always stay on the earth. But it was when we came back that we found out that we had actually been mounted on a large block of ice, itself covered with earth. Looking closer, we see a large stream of water coming out of this block of ice a few meters further, indicating that our path was actually just over a layer of ice above a river. What was nothing but curiosity could have ended in drama if the ice had given way under our weight, taking us with the current...
The Eyjafjallajökull was made famous in 2010 by the eruption of its volcano, which disrupted air traffic for weeks. But above all, it is a 78 km² glacier, just 2 km from its neighbour, the Mýrdalsjökull. Its smallest surface area ranks it in 6th place among Iceland's glaciers.
Viewpoint on the Eyjafjallajökull
From Route 1, a viewpoint has been set up to see the glacier and above all the top of its mediatized volcano. Some panels tell the story of the two eruptions in 2010.
Today, the ice has returned to its place and the volcano is now covered with a thick white mantle.
We are coming to the end of this article. Of course there are dozens of other glaciers belonging to the Vatnajökull, but we did not have the opportunity to explore them. Don't hesitate to share your discoveries with us!