June 26th, 2026
Today started out with one of the itinerary items I had been looking forward to – the lava cave. Given how many caves I’ve visited in the past year, including two earlier this month, you’d have to wonder why I could get excited about another one. Two reasons – it’s an obsession of mine, and this one is a lava tube, very much unlike what I’ve been seeing in California and Colorado. Plus, it’s in Iceland. I’ll try anything once here.
The cave was only a 15 minute drive from the hotel, up and over a mountain pass, and down into a beautiful valley. This area of Iceland, Husafell Highlands, is a hikers paradise – gorgeous landscape with many waterfalls, mountain and a significant glacier. We were staying at what I believe was the best hotel, which owns the adjoining golf course and thermal pools (more on that later). The cave, (Viogelmir Cave) which is actually a lava tube (big difference) is one of the major tourist attractions here, but does not seem to get the crowds you get for the Golden Circle stops.
It was raining hard as we approached the visitor center (small building) for the tour, which was unfortunate for me as I did not wear my rain pants, and there was a short hike to the cave entrance. Nothing like going off to a cold, damp cave when you are already wet. The entry was a huge hole in the lava, with my favorite – lots of step, to get down to the boardwalk which streches through the cave. That was a nice feature – a nice, well built wooden walkway through most of the tour, with one uncomfortable gap. There was minimal lighting throughout the cave, but we had been issued helmets with head lamps, which were needed to illuminate the boardwalk since there were steps every now and then. I like to avoid falling in caves.
The tube was quite wide and high most of the way – it looks a lot like a subway tunnel. Unlike limestone or marble caverns, you do not have all the calcite flow or stalactite/stalagmite types of features – this is all lava. What you do have are strange layering and drip features on the walls, splash or bubble features where rocks fell into the hot lava. There was one strange feature I have not seen before – little ice stalagmites, formed by dripping water – it was really cold and damp in the cave, so you get these fields of ghost like lumps of ice. Very strange.
There was only one narrow section in cave, which was partially flooded, and had a very narrow section of boards layed down – that was a bit tricky to negotiate if you have balance issues. Fortunately, the walls and roof were low enough to brace as you tippy-toed across the 2X4’s.
The tour was excellent – a great guide (from Ireland), and we spent almost 90 minutes in the cave. It was nice to get out though – it was very cold and damp in there, and I could not feel my fingers or toes. Definitely worth a visit if you are into underground activities.
We headed back to the hotel in the rain (it did eventually stop for a whie), and I passed on the opportunity to visit the farm of a local artist/musician. I was cold, damp and tired – too bad, it was an interesting outing. After lunch, we drove off to the remainder of our activities for the day. Another waterfall or two, and a soak in a remote geothermal pool, which was supposed to be a unique experience. I’ve already had a few of those, so what the heck. The falls (Hraunfossar) were another short drive, and both were reached by short, easy trails. The main section was interesting – the water was jetting out from underneath the lava layer. Quite pretty and worth the stop. The sun even came out for a very short while.
And now for the the strangest activity of the day. We were told to bring our bathing suits, and slippers along if we had them. This was a small, private (owned by the hotel) thermal pool, in a remote and beautiful setting. We had to drive up a narrow, gravel road to get there, where we met the hotel employee who managed the site. We were handed a towel, and headed down a long stairway down to a steep (short) path, that lead to small, primitive building along the river. There were two pools across the river, and the building had two very small changing rooms and an outside shower. Unlike the Blue Lagoon, we could show with our bathing suit on. A good thing. Once you showered, you made a quick dash across a little bridge, and carefully entered one of the two pools. Ahhhh. These were not super hot, but warm enough to lull you into a nice, relaxed state of mind. The manager offered up wine, beer and soft drinks, and lectured us on the geology which was quite complex – I asked him if had degrees in geology….nope, he said he was just a geology nerd.
Eventually, we all made the cold dash back to the cramped, rustic/primitive dressing rooms, and made the hike/stair climb back to the bus. I had not brought my phone or camera back, so I went half-way down to snap a few photos. I needed them for the blog. Our trip lead did take photos of us in the pools. I’m not going to post those….too embarrassing.
Before heading back to the hotel, we made a short stop on yet another waterfall. Another short hike. And it was worth the stop.
I was not too excited about the thermal pool stop, but after a couple of days of constant abuse on my body, I’m beginning to look forward to each new opportunity. It felt pretty darn good soaking for an hour in a warm bath with a great view.
Peace
The Traveling Widower 