For an Icelandic experience with a difference, we heartily recommend Into the Glacier which can be visited as part of a tour from Reykjavik or, as we did, by self-driving to Klaki base camp (or as far as Húsafell in the winter).
The easiest way to reach base camp from Reykjavik is by heading north along the ring road and then following route 50 when you reach the tunnel to Borgarbyggð. For some reason, our satnav thought we might prefer a more adventurous route and took us along the perhaps slightly more direct routes 30 and 550. This was fine for the most part, but the final 40-kilometre stretch along the F550 (one of Iceland‘s mountain roads) was a little hairier than we had anticipated so early on in our time in Iceland!
However you choose to get there, you won’t see the glacier at first, but you will see signs that are indicative of its previous presence. Markers that depict the glacier’s maximum extent every 20 years highlight the rapid retreat of the glacier over time.
Between the markers for 1940 and 1960 is Klaki base camp. Whatever your approach, the last stretch of the drive is very uneven and it’s necessary to have a 4×4 vehicle, regardless of the time of year you visit.
It’s a simple building where you can collect or purchase tickets for this rather unique experience. It’s also where you can get kitted out with overalls, in preparation for the experience.
If you’ve come dressed for Iceland’s variable weather, with warm clothes, waterproofs and sturdy footwear, then you ought to be reasonably well-prepared, but you might like to take advantage of their lightweight waterproof overshoes. There are parts of the tunnels that can then be quite wet underfoot as meltwater find its way through the glacier, so I would definitely recommend these.
As the name suggests, Into the Glacier takes you into manmade ice tunnels within Langjökull, the second largest ice cap in Iceland (after Vatnajökull which is by the far the largest and around eight times the size) and interestingly the only privately-owned glacier in the world. It is open year round and is the only glacier tunnel built specifically for visitors, not just in Iceland, but in the world. It is also the world’s largest manmade ice tunnel.
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