The Katla Icecave
Iceland Day 2
As we had planned and booked this trip to the Katla Icecave a long time ago, we had no idea about the weather, so we felt beyond blessed to have a completely sunny day to enjoy this experience. The Icecave is the only Icecave that can be visited during the summer period but sadly (due to global warming) it might not be so in just a few years from now.
Katla is the third largest volcano in Iceland and on top of it is a Glacier. It hasn’t erupted since 1918 and as it statistically erupts every 50-60 years the locals are waiting for it to “wake up” soon. Katla is a Icelandic female name, but it is also the name of the dragon in Astrid Lindgrens “The Brothers Lionheart”. We had booked a tour with Katla Track with Pick up in the town of Vik.
On the way we did a stop at the amazing waterfall Seljalandsfoss. It is an impressive waterfall where you can walk all the way behind it, which is a very special experience. Bring waterproof clothes as you get wet coming up behind the fall and definitely going down as well.
Very convenient (after a 2 hour drive) the location offers restrooms, a small coffee shop/ bakery and even a tiny souvenir shop.
Then we went straight for the Katla Track meeting point in Vik. Here we had a little lunch and got ready for our pick-up. We had a small group of 10 people and went off road to enter the Icecave.
On the way to Katla we drove through the Starwars landscape (where some of Starwars had been filmed), and it was so special. Kind of felt like being on the moon (not that any of us ever tried that ;-)).
We parked close by the glacier and got helmets and spikes for our boots. Then we started the climb up to the cave on a tiny track walking on black ice (old volcano dust had turned the ice black). You don’t have to be super fit to do this trip, but I would say you need to be somewhat agile. We crossed narrow wooden “bridges” and jumped small glacier water flows. All worth it, I mean wauw, such a unique and beautiful tour. The glacier is melting and so the iconic round cave will probably be gone within the month (it has been there for more than 3 1/2 years. But as our guide told us, the landscape in Iceland is ever changing and the locals are very use to this.
Recommendation to go for such a trip is 10/10.
On the way back we stopped by the famous Reynisfjara Beach to see an impressive wall of lava columns. Lots of scenes of from Game of Thrones (season 7) was shot here and it really was film worthy in many ways.
Then we took a 2 1/2 drive back to Reykjavik to have dinner at The Marshall House. Such a hidden location at the end of a pier with an art gallery on top and view of Reykjavik Harbour and the mountains. The restaurant, La Primavera, has a sister restaurant very close by (be careful not to confuse them). The restaurant was fully booked and we seemed to be the only tourists. It was casual with a tasty Italian menu and a very nice bar.
hee bune diaries 