Iceland’s ‘Inside the Volcano’ open for a few more days in 2016

Photo: Iceland Monitor/Einar Falur Ingólfsson

There are four days left this year for visitors to enjoy the stunning experience of exploring the inside of the Þríhnúkagígur volcanic crater.

3H Travel, the tour operator handling trips to Þríhnúkagígur has received a two-week extension for its operations this year – to 15 October.

“In recent years, we have been running tours until the end of September,” says CEO of 3H Travel Björn Ólafsson. “We wanted to see how things might go if we extended the period.

Þríhnúkagígur: A literal journey into the centre of the earth

Þríhnjúkagigur volcano is safely dormant and hasn't erupted in over 4000 years. Mbl.is/ Golli

Tourists to visit Þríhnjúkagigur, a dormant 700 foot deep volcanic crater not far from Reykjavik have now amounted to over ten thousand people.

This past summer was the fourth consecutive summer in which trips to the depths of the crater have been offered and the trips are increasingly popular.

According to managing director of the Þríhnjúkagigur project, Björn Ólafsson, positive media coverage internationally has helped to promote the crater.

"Visitors have to walk from the Bláfjöll mountains to and from the crater, which is around three kilometers each way. This in itself is quite an experience," explains Ólafsson. "The Bláfjöll mountains are at 500 metres above sealevels and weather conditions are very changeable, which means that our trips really depend on the weather. We've been offering trips from mid-May until September and as we get closer into autumn we've sometimes had to cancel trips because of the weather."

People of all ages have visited the crater and the oldest visitor was a British gentlemen aged 89 years old. "He'd seen it featured in a British paper and didn't want to miss this experience. He was wearing a Barbour jacket and he walked all the way to the crater without any problems. I told him how impressed I was and he answered that walking was no problem, if he was going to die, this was probably a great way to do it," says Ólafsson.

Once people arrive at the crater, visitors are lowered down through the crater's opening (roughly 4×4 m/12×12 ft wide). The system employed is a system normally used to carry window cleaners up and down skyscrapers.

The 120 m/400 ft journey takes about 6 minutes to complete, providing the opportunity to enjoy the incredible scenery along the way.