The stratovolcano Bardarbunga is Iceland’s second-highest mountain and lies under the icecap of Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier.
Explore this area while on self-drive tours in Iceland or discover a wide range of mountain tours.
Why You Can Trust Our Content
Guide to Iceland is the most trusted travel platform in Iceland, helping millions of visitors each year. All our content is written and reviewed by local experts who are deeply familiar with Iceland. You can count on us for accurate, up-to-date, and trustworthy travel advice.
Bardarbunga lies on the glacier’s northwest side and rises to a height of 2009 meters. It is Iceland’s largest volcanic system, around 200 km long and up to 25 km wide. Bardarbunga’s caldera measures 70 km2, up to 700 m deep and 10 km wide. The base is on average about 1100 meters, but the surrounding edges may rise as high as 1850 meters.
The Bardarbunga volcanic system has erupted at least 26 times over the past 11 centuries, placing it among the country’s most active in our study of how often volcanoes erupt in Iceland. Its most recent eruption occurred at Holuhraun between 2014 and 2015.
Some connection may also exist between activity in Bardarbunga and the Grimsvotn volcano. The 2014 Holuhraun eruption was caused when lava travelled from Bardarbunga's magma chamber.
Frequent earthquakes indicate that Bardarbunga might erupt again, and it is being closely monitored by the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
