I got the chance to visit one of the amazingly colourful lava cave tubes in Iceland recently when I entered Víðgelmir lava cave, which is considered to be one of the most magnificent lava caves in Iceland.
I joined a tour which started in Reykjavík with pick-up starting at 7:00 am. On our way to Víðgelmir lava cave, we passed some beautiful sights and made several stops on the way.
Top photo: Lava formations and colours in Víðgelmir lava cave
Surrounded by lupine by Sjávarfoss in Fossá river
We drove through the pretty and tranquil Hvalfjörður bay and our first stop was at a small waterfall, Sjávarfoss, by the preserved area of Fossárrétt roundup. It is a beautiful picnic stop.
Three times, when I was a teenager, I hiked the Svínaskarð pass and arrived in Hvalfjörður by Fossárrétt, so this waterfall is dear to me for that reason.
This meant that the most difficult part of the hike was over and the rest was a breeze.
Our guide told us about the elves in this area
We drove by the only whaling stations in Iceland and our next stop was by the barracks from WWII, but during that war, both the British and American navies had a naval base in Hvalfjörður.
Here, by the barracks, our guide told us an elf story, as there is an elf spot right above the barracks. A very interesting story.
And as those of you who read my travel-blog know, then I love elf stories and am always on the lookout for elf spots in Iceland - so listening to this story was a treat for me :)
Deildartunguhver
Our next stop was in Borgarfjörður fjord by the most powerful geothermal spring in Europe, Deildartunguhver geothermal spring, which provides 180 l/sec of 97° hot water!
Deildartunguhver bubbles and boils and spurts a whole lot. love the multitude of colours by this powerful hot spring and despite the steam, one can get lovely photos of the geothermal colours.
The farmers opened Krauma geothermal baths next to Deildartunguhver, where you can bathe in the water from the hot spring.
See also my travel-blog: The spectacular Silver Circle of West Iceland
Hraunfossar waterfalls
Our next stop was by one of my favourite waterfalls in Iceland, Hraunfossar or Lava Falls.
They are almost 1 km wide and consist of countless springs of clear subterranean water, which wells up from underneath the edge of the lava field Hallmundarhraun and runs in falls and rapids into the glacial river Hvítá in Borgarfjörður.
I love the aquamarine colour of the river and there are so many different photo opportunities of these beautiful falls as they are ever so wide.
There is another waterfall next to Hraunfossar, called Barnafoss or Children's Falls, as two boys drowned in the falls when they were crossing over on a stone arch.
Their mother had the stone arch destroyed after the accident.
By now we were getting closer to Langjökull glacier and Víðgelmir lava cave as the Hallmundarhraun lava field flowed in an eruption from one of the volcanoes by the glacier Langjökull in the 10th century.
The bus we travelled in
But before going any further we stopped for 45 minutes at Húsafell, which is only six km away from Hraunfossar, for lunch.
After lunch, it was time to visit Víðgelmir cave. The tour split in two, part of the group visited Víðgelmir and part of the group visited the ice cave tunnel in Langjökull "Into the Glacier".
Víðgelmir lava cave
Amazing Víðgelmir lava cave
I was anxious on the bus, as earlier on I had visited Surtshellir cave without guidance, but that cave is 5 km away from Víðgelmir. I had a difficult time climbing down into Surtshellir as that cave is ever so rocky and dark.
The woman climbing down into the cave right behind me fell forward as she had stuck one leg in a hole - and she fell straight into another hole with her head - and she didn't have a helmet on!
This scared the living daylights out of me so I was not about to visit another cave under similar circumstances.
See also: A Local's Favourite Caves in Iceland
Inside Víðgelmir lava cave
But that did not turn out to be the case in Víðgelmir - on the contrary - as a couple of days prior to our visit the owners of Víðgelmir had been busy building timber stairs by the entrance to the cave and a timber walkway in the middle of the lava tube.
They did a fantastic job - visiting Víðgelmir was a breeze and I could have saved myself the worries.
Víðgelmir is amongst the easiest of the lava tubes in Iceland to visit due to the new walkways. It has a difficulty rate of 1/5.
Iridescent colours inside Víðgelmir
After descending into the cave we walked through a narrow tunnel, which was the only narrow space we encountered on our guided tour through the cave, so people with claustrophobia should not have any problems visiting Víðgelmir.
Even the name, Víðgelmir, means that it is wide - "víður" in Icelandic meaning wide.
The landowners put up a lighting system, which lights up the myriad of icicles and the beautiful lava colours on the walls of the cave.
Icicles inside Víðgelmir
I felt like I was visiting a theme park and not a dark lava cave. It was breathtaking and I couldn't stop taking photos.
The icicles were sparkling and in some places, they became iridescent when the colours of the lava appeared from under the ice. What a beautiful sight!
We had been provided with helmets with a headlight, which was perfect as then we had our hands free for taking photos and holding on to the railing.
For the first time ever I got a helmet that suited me and didn't make me look like a mushroom! I am very grateful for that helmet, you guys of The Cave :)
Very happy inside the Víðgelmir lava cave
After walking for a while through the most beautiful icicles and very colourful lava we reached the end of the timber walkway and walked into a wide chamber.
Walking there was easy and as I looked down I saw a pretty sight, small cumulations of red lava which had dripped down onto the floor of the cave!
We have to walk with care and tread lightly as we don't want to damage any of the beautiful lava formations in the cave.
I sat down on a big red piece of lava, which had fallen from the wall of the cave, and enjoyed the extraordinary colours.
Inside Víðgelmir lava cave - red lava dots on the floor
Víðgelmir is amongst the largest lava caves in Iceland and one of the largest in cubic measure of all of the lava caves in the world, 148,000 cubic metres (m3).
Víðgelmir is 1,585 km long, 16.5 metres at its widest and 15.8 metre's high at its highest point inside the lava tube - it is truly huge!
This huge cave is located in the Hallmundarhraun lava field which dates back to around 930, making this cave almost 1100 years old!
The distance from Víðgelmir to the main crater of the lava field is around 33 km, so just imagine how far the lava flowed.
Amazing colours inside Víðgelmir lava cave
Inside Víðgelmir we saw myriads of icicles, stalagmites, stalactites, speleothems and all kinds of very colourful lava formations.
What unknown natural treasures there are to be found in the depths of the earth!
It is such a pity that many of the beautiful lava formations have been ruined by earlier visitors, who wanted a piece of the lava to take home with them.
Earlier visitors have been seen leaving the cave carrying boxes full of stalagmites and stalactites!
Amazing Víðgelmir lava cave
Two boxes were found inside the cave and are now in the care of the Icelandic Caving Association. People are urged to return the stalagmites to the association.
And when British members of the "Shepton Mallet Caving Club" managed to enter the cave in 1972 they were "greeted" with rubbish from previous visitors, parts of it stuck to the ice :(
It makes me so sad, but despite this misconduct, Víðgelmir is still ever so beautiful - a true lava wonderland.
To protect and preserve these beautiful lava formations, an iron gate was put up in 1991.
The gate in Víðgelmir
The cave is locked so it cannot be visited without guidance from the landowners.
Víðgelmir is located 2.5 km southeast of the farmstead Fljótstunga and belongs to the family on that farm. The owners offer guided tours into the cave under the name of The Cave.
I am very grateful to the owners of The Cave to have made it so accessible - they truly present it in the best way possible, in my opinion.
Inside Víðgelmir lava cave
You can either rent a car and visit Víðgelmir by yourself or you can join a guided tour from Reykjavík city as I did.
I like to join these guided tours as they are so informative and I always learn something new about Iceland from the guides.
Unfortunately, this tour is no longer available, so I would advise you to rent a car and join the Silver Circle of Iceland.
I have written a detailed travel-blog about the Silver Circle: The Spectacular Silver Circle of Iceland, which will make it easier for you to plan your trip to West Iceland.
Amazing colours inside Víðglemir lava cave
In the photo above you can see the breathtakingly beautiful ceiling in one spot inside the lava tube.
As we entered this spot the guide made us turn off our headlights and he turned off the lights in this part of the cave.
He then told us to look up into the darkness and then he turned on the lights - it was a spectacular sight seeing the beautiful colours in the ceiling.
I stared at it in awe - I felt like I was inside a cathedral with a painted ceiling!
I think that this wall is called the chocolate wall
At another point, we stopped, sat down on colourful lava and listened to the guide.
He asked us to turn off our headlights - and then he turned off the lights in the cave - leaving us in pitch darkness!
He then told us a rather scary story ;) I am not going to repeat his story to not ruin it for those of you who have yet to visit the cave.
Colourful Víðgelmir lava cave
But I am going to tell you another story as I had already found out that Víðgelmir cave is haunted!!
According to Þjóðsögur Jóns Árnasonar - the Collection of Folklore of Jón Árnason a certain man had sent another man, by the name of Halldór Halldórsson, who was living up north, four zombies as revenge.
Halldór, in his predicament, sought the help of Sigurður Sigurðsson in Kollalækur in Borgarfjörður, who was both skilled in magical arts and a poet.
Sigurður exercised the ghosts into the cave Víðgeymir (another name for Víðgelmir)!!
Inside Víðgelmir lava cave
In 1993 jewellery from the Viking Age and some bones were found in Víðgelmir cave. These treasures are now on display at the National Museum of Iceland, Þjóðminjasafn Íslands.
But there are so many natural treasures left in this colourful cave, it is truly a feast for the eyes.
There are two large openings in the north end of the cave, 75 metres long and 15 metres wide.
In earthquakes in 1974, the openings widened a bit when the lava collapsed from the cave ceiling.
I loved the pink colour inside Víðgelmir lava cave
The duration of our guided tour inside Víðgelmir lava cave was 1.5 hours, so by now, it was time to head back.
When visiting the cave wear warm clothing as it gets cold down in the cave. Gloves and good hiking shoes are necessary.
And bring a thin cap to wear underneath the helmet. When we climbed up the stairs to get out of the cave I couldn't believe how warm it had got outside - but it was just the difference in temperature down in the cave versus outside.
The tour guide of the Víðgelmir lava cave tour
Víðgelmir is the most spectacular lava tube in Iceland - so visiting it is an unforgettable experience.
I can tell you that I didn't want to leave the cave and its myriad of colours - I wanted to explore more...
You can either join a tour as I did or rent a car in Reykjavík and drive to the Víðgelmir Cave aka The Cave by yourself, where you will get a guided tour of the cave.
Have a lovely time visiting Víðgelmir :)
