Find out more about how this website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience.
Iceland - Land of Ice and Fire
Iceland – Land of Fire and Ice.
Traveling to Iceland is on many to-do-lists all over the world. The country’s main attraction is the nature. Volcanoes, glaciers, mountains and valleys, fjords and bays, waterfall and rivers, magnificent lava spreads, the contrast between long days in the summer and short days in the winter. The nature always makes it to top of the list when travelers are asked why they choose Iceland for their holiday.
Most tours and outdoor activities are designed around the natural wonders. Glacier tour, glacier hike, glacier walk, skidoos and snowmobiling on the many glaciers. Boat tours on the glacial lagoon. Hiking tours both long and short from one beautiful place to another. Horse riding on land and beaches, exploring black sand beaches on a quad bike to name a few of the things which can be done in South Iceland.
Iceland is truly a land of ice and fire. The glaciers cover 11% of the total area and their average thickness is 350 meters. The amount of water stored there is equivalent to all precipitation that falls on Iceland in 25 years. Frozen water in abundance here. Most of the active volcanos are located in South Iceland, Katla volcano underneath Mýrdalsjökull glacier, Bárðarbunga and Grímsvötn under Vatnajökull glacier.
Vatnajökull glacier is the largest glacier in Europe, it’s ice covering 8000 sq.km. Under the ice cap are many active volcanoes.During the summer months exciting glacier tours and snowmobiling upon the glacier are offered by local operators.
Mýrdalsjökull, the glacier Arcanum Glacier tours explore on their glacier tours covers more than 500 km2 and the ice cap is 230 m. thick. The volcano underneath is probably the most monitored volcano in Iceland. Katla volcano hasn’t erupted since 1918 and scientists are expecting an eruption any day.
Who doesn’t remember Eyjafjallajökull, the glacier which name foreigners had such difficulty pronouncing, that competitions were set up - the one coming closest to pronouncing it correctly won! The eruption affected air travel all over Europe for many days and disrupted travel plans of thousands. The volcano is now dormant. Eyjafjallajökull is a small ice cap, the location is west of Mýrdalsjökull. Snowmobling on most of the glaciers in the south, Mýrdalsjökull, Eyjafjallajökull is an extraordinary experince. Location of the point of departure besides maps and directions are easily found on Arcanum’s website arcanum.is
The largest glaciers in Iceland are located in South Iceland. The reason is that more precipitation falls in the south than the north. The damp air from the Atlantic ocean is also a major factor here. There is less precipitation in the highlands and other parts of the country where no glaciers have developed. The Westfjords can be both humid and cool, one large glacier Drangjökull is located there.
Arcanum Glacier Tours have been in operation for almost 20 years. The snowbmobile tour has been the most popular from the start but glacier hike and glacier walks are getting increased attention from our customers. Another tour; ATV or quad biking is getting more and more popular. The south coast is covered in black volcanig sand which is excellent for quad bike driving. The view from the sand to the powerful Atlantic Ocean and up to the mountains and glacier is magnificent. Our glacier walks, glacier hikes and snowmobile tours are highly acclaimed by our guests who post raving reviews on Tripdadvisor.
Here we have a few samples:
"Fantastic and informative experience "
24 Sep 2016 Reviewed by OliviaGodschalk
We did the glaciar snowmobile tour and it was a great experience. The guides (especially our guide eagle) were incredibly informative as well as funny ans interesting. Driving the snowmobiles is an really cool and they teach you how to do it so you dont need previous experience. We had a great time!
25 Aug 2016 Reviewed by F0urPs
A huge thanks to Raven at Arcanum for a great and memorable day. Truly enjoyed the hike up the face of the glacier. A definite do not miss if you are in the south region. The speed at which the glacier is retreating is scary and the pace seems to be picking up. Took our 11 and 12 year old daughters to experience and see the change first hand. very organized and friendly company and highly recommend!
2 Jul 2016 Reviewed by omb24
Équipe très professionnelle Matériel et équipement de qualité Une agréable balade pour s'amuser sur les plages de sable noir! Je recommande
17 Jun 2016 Reviewed by Zoë B
Lula (apologies if spelling name incorrectly?!) was a fantastic tour guide who was very friendly and informative and willing to take us wherever we wanted in his Jeep! He took us to the volcano Eyjafjallajökull which erupted in 2010, the amazing black beach, the waterfalls of the south and the glacier for our hike which lasted 3 hours and was of moderate difficulty. Despite being expensive, would highly recommend as it is well worth the money.