A Visit to the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier in Iceland - Into the Glacier
Now, this is an extraordinary tour - a visit to the man-made ice cave in Europe's second-largest glacier, Langjökull glacier. The cave opened on June 1st, 2015, and I visited it for the first time on June 11th, 2015!
This is quite an exceptional experience - to walk hundreds of metres inside a glacier into the largest man-made ice cave tunnel in the world!
Top photo: inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier
Inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier
The pick-up for my tour started at 8:30 am, but as I live in Reykjavík then I met up with the Reykjavík Excursions bus at our bus terminal, BSÍ, at 9 am.
On our way to Langjökull ice cave, we passed some beautiful sights and made a few stops on the way. Our first stop was at Deildartunguhver geothermal spring, which provides 180 l/sec of 97° hot water - making it the most powerful geothermal spring in Europe!
Deildartunguhver hot spring
Our next stop was by one of my favourite waterfalls in Iceland, Hraunfossar waterfall 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.
Now we were getting closer to Langjökull glacier as this lava field flowed from an eruption of one of the volcanoes beneath the glacier Langjökull in the year 930.
Hraunfossar waterfall
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.
I have written a special travel-blog about this area: The spectacular Silver Circle of West-Iceland
Now it was time for lunch and we stopped at Húsafell, six km away from the waterfalls, for a buffet at Húsafell bistro.
The buffet is not included in the price of the tour, but most of my fellow passengers got something from the menu.
At Húsafell
The bus drove us to the edge of the glacier and there we were greeted by this 8-wheel monster glacier truck, a former NATO missile-launcher truck!
This monster truck took us on the 40-minute drive up to the mouth of the ice cave tunnel, from 750 m above sea level up to 1260 m above sea level!
I can tell you that it is quite an adventure to sit inside such a truck driving on the second largest glacier in Europe!
The 8-wheel monster glacier truck, a former NATO missile-launcher truck
After the 40 minute drive in the monster glacier truck, we finally saw the ice cave tunnel with the sign Into the Glacier. I was so excited to be there.
I had been following up on the building of the ice cave tunnel on the news since the idea for this tunnel was first discussed in 2010 - and I so wanted to see what it looked like on the inside!
The entrance to the ice cave tunnel
The English-speaking guide divided the tour in two and guided us through the ice cave tunnel.
We first stopped just inside the entrance to get some crampons, which were provided to us for the walk inside the ice cave tunnel. I was glad as even though I was wearing good hiking shoes, then it made all the difference wearing these crampons. As you can see from the photo then I was also wearing thick woolen socks.
Do wear something warm, as it is cold inside the glacier. The walk inside the ice cave tunnel is an easy one on even ground.
Crampons are needed inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier
I had quite a few "WOW" moments on our 1-hour-tour inside the ice cave tunnel. It is just amazing. There are several chambers lit up with LED lights. The blue and violet colours are out of this world! I couldn't stop taking photos!
And so was everybody else on the tour, we were just taking photos left and right. So I kind of missed what the tour guide was saying. But a picture is worth a thousand words ;)
Inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier
I went on this tour with an American woman, who had contacted me on my travel-blog here on Guide to Iceland.
She was travelling alone and we thought it would be perfect to go visit the ice cave tunnel together so we could take photos of each other ;)
Inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier
I caught up with the guide in the chapel - imagine, a chapel deep inside a glacier! Here people can get married - now that would be a unique experience in beautiful surroundings - in the heart of Europe's second-largest glacier :)
The digging of the ice cave tunnel took 14 months and 7,000 tonnes of ice was removed!
Inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier
The ice cave tunnel is 550 metres long and reaches 30 metres down into the glacier. There are 5 man-made chambers, beautifully aquamarine in colour.
In several places, you will find information signs on the walls of the tunnel, with information in Icelandic and English on the glacier.
Inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier
The ice layers of the ice walls show the chronological story of the glacier and each black line shows a volcanic eruption - one can even see ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption here - the volcano which caused such havoc in air transport!
In one spot the tunnels were so narrow that I could reach both sides with stretched-out hands! Behind me in the photo, there was a hole in the ice tunnel where we could look inside the glacier outside of the tunnel.
Inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier
Don't worry if you are claustrophobic, the tunnel is wide enough and you don't have to enter this side tunnel.
Looking into the hole in the ice cave tunnel was quite eye-opening.
I had kind of got used to walking in the tunnel and when I looked into the hole or window, as it were, it made me realize that I was actually deep inside a glacier!
Inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier - the hole
In another place, we walked onto a timber bridge and stood in the middle of 40-metre deep crevasse - all beautifully lit up with icicles.
It was both scary and extremely beautiful. These crevasses are so dangerous, that is why people are not allowed to walk on the glaciers without a guide. There have been fatal accidents on Langjökull glacier, where people have been killed when falling into a crevasse on the glacier. And standing in the middle of a crevasse deep inside the glacier was surreal.
Inside the Ice Cave Tunnel in Langjökull Glacier - the crevasse
The final stop in the ice cave tunnel tour was by this beautifully lit up blue wall, ideal for taking photos before leaving the ice cave tunnel :)
It is cold inside the ice cave tunnel, so dress warmly and bring a hat, a scarf, woolen socks, and fingerless gloves, as I am sure you will want to take tons of photos as I did. And bring sunglasses as well as you will be blinded by the reflection from the glacier when you exit the ice cave tunnel.
We didn't know about this and we could not open our eyes when we got out of the cave and it took us a while to get back to normal.
By the massive 8-wheel monster glacier truck
Since the glaciers are moving all the time it is not known for how long the ice cave tunnel is going to last. But it is presumed that it will last for at least 10 years with maintenance. To make the most of your trip you can join several tours f.ex:
Into the Glacier with Lava Caving
Fire & Ice Tour - Ice Tunnel & Lava Cave
Langjokull Ice Cave Tunnel and The Whale Fjord
Ice Tunnel & Snowmobiling Adventure | Langjokull Glacier & West Iceland
Have a lovely time at Langjökull glacier :)
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요쿨살론부터 비크까지, 꽃보다 청춘 5화
드디어 하늘씨과 쓰리스톤즈가 합류했는데요! 설원을 달리는 모습에 저도 아이슬란드가 엄청 그리워졌답니다. 빙하와 빛나는 요쿨살론 첫번째로 향한 요쿨살론(Jokulsarlon)은 아이슬란드의 대표적인 명소 중 하나랍니다. 영어로 Glacier lagoon 이라고도 하는데요. 방송에 나온 것처럼 눈 앞에 보이는 빙하는 빙하수가 흘러서 녹았다 얼었다를더 보기스코가포스 폭포부터 오로라까지, 꽃보다청춘 4화를 따라서
여행 5일째, 포스톤즈가 처음으로 향한 곳은 아이슬란드 남부에 있는 스코가포스 폭포(skogasfoss)입니다. 아이슬란드 남부의 대표적인 폭포 중 하나에요. 방송에서는 들르지 않았지만 스코가포스 거의 바로 옆에 위치한 셀리야란드스포스(seljalandsfoss) 폭포와 함께 같이 들르곤 한답니다. 스코가포스 폭포는 폭포의 물줄기 끝까지 올라갈 수 있단더 보기꽃청춘을 따라서
요즘 인기리에 방영되고 있는 꽃보다 청춘 아이슬란드편! 저도 매주 빼놓지 않고 시청하고 있습니다. 많은 분들께서 포스톤즈의 발랄한 매력과 아이슬란드의 놀라운 경치에 빠져드셨을 것 같습니다! 이번에는 꽃보다 청춘을 따라서 아이슬란드를 한번 가보도록 해요! 사실 아이슬란드가 한국에서 그렇게 가기 쉬운 나라는 아닙니다. 거리도 멀고 항공권도 비싸고! 우더 보기
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