Reykjavik- Volcano tour

[Cruisebird]

We are looking to book a tour of the volcano in Reykjavik but need to book the 8am tour in order to be back by 2:00 ship departure.  I'm wondering if anyone has ever booked this tour and how long from pick up to drop off it actually took?  The tour operator said we should be back between 1 and 1:30.  I dont mind cutting it close usually, but thought I'd see if anyone has done this before.  Thanks! Robi 

[Nitemare]

Which volcano?  The one that erupted last year or the Into the Volcano Tour?

The volcano that erupted last year has been dormant for many months.  There is no lava spewing.  There is no red flow.  There is no steam.  Just a desolate lava field.  It's a nice hike but there really isn't much to see there.

 

The Into the Volcano tour, also available from the city, is amazing.  A 20 minute or so hike across an old lava field, then you climb up a dormant (hopefully!) volcano, then they lower you down in a window washer type rig.  It's the only place in the world you can do this.  Not cheap but definitely unique and worth it.

 

I'd do that again.  I wouldn't do a lava field hike to last year's attraction.

[Cruisebird]

It is the Into the Volcano tour.  We want to do it but I need to be sure we'll be back by 2:00.  Do you remember how long the tour took from pickup to drop off by chance?  

[ontheweb]

If as you say the ship departs at 2, wouldn't you need to be back before then, say 1:30?

 

I hope you are not considering being a "pier runner".

[Cruisebird]

lol....yep, the more I contemplate the more I realize the tour would be ruined by that worry.  Too old to be a pier runner.  Working to see if I can't arrange the Volcano for the day prior.  I think I've answered my own question.  😞

[Nitemare]

22 hours ago, Cruisebird said:

It is the Into the Volcano tour.  We want to do it but I need to be sure we'll be back by 2:00.  Do you remember how long the tour took from pickup to drop off by chance?  

We were on a self drive vacation and drove ourselves to the base camp for the hike.  They led groups of about a dozen from there to the volcano and then back in about the same order you arrived in.  I don't know what any of the times were (this was in Sept 2019) so I can't guess when the bus(es) from the city arrived or left.

 

I'd call them if I were you, or reach out on social media for whatever guarantees they can provide about making your ship

[Cruisebird]

Thanks everyone.  We've decided to do this on the 6th in the afternoon so we don't have to worry!

[kathynorth]

On 6/3/2022 at 7:14 AM, Nitemare said:

We were on a self drive vacation and drove ourselves to the base camp for the hike.  They led groups of about a dozen from there to the volcano and then back in about the same order you arrived in.  I don't know what any of the times were (this was in Sept 2019) so I can't guess when the bus(es) from the city arrived or left.

 

I'd call them if I were you, or reach out on social media for whatever guarantees they can provide about making your ship

 

Would you mind answering a few questions? When you self drove to the base camp did you need to make a reservation for a time slot or did you just wait until there were enough people to form a group before going to the volcano? Was there a difference in cost since you didn't get picked up from Reykjavik? Thanks!

[Nitemare]

19 hours ago, kathynorth said:

 

Would you mind answering a few questions? When you self drove to the base camp did you need to make a reservation for a time slot or did you just wait until there were enough people to form a group before going to the volcano? Was there a difference in cost since you didn't get picked up from Reykjavik? Thanks!

I think all times were the same.  We left ourselves lots of time in case we got lost (we did, briefly) and were still one of the first groups to the lodge.  We had more than an hour to kill there, which was too long for anything other than a brief hike up the ski hill.   I don't recall if the price was different for self- drive, but since we were on our arrival day and had the car, we wanted to explore as much as possible and we had no plans to visit the city, where the pickup location was.

[kaisatsu]

On 8/1/2022 at 6:55 PM, kathynorth said:

 

Would you mind answering a few questions? When you self drove to the base camp did you need to make a reservation for a time slot or did you just wait until there were enough people to form a group before going to the volcano? Was there a difference in cost since you didn't get picked up from Reykjavik? Thanks!

A lot of this is answered on their FAQs:

https://insidethevolcano.com/about-us/faq/

 

We did it self-drive during their first season, and I recall there was a discount back then, but  the pickup is now considered complimentary (so there is no price difference).

 

There are a limited number of people in each group, and during peak season, I believe the tours do still fill up. So if you have limited time slots and are driving all the way out there, I would plan to book in advance to reserve your spots. When we went you had to book several weeks ahead, but now they have more departures. However, some time slots do fill, and it’s a pretty boring area to try to kill an hour or two if you need to wait.

 

(We actually had to wait around over an hour when we went, because my partner forgot to change his GPS system from “bicycle” mode! I told him the drive only took an hour [coming from the airport] but he insisted on  2½ hours before, since that was the estimate the GPS gave him. Sure enough, we got there way too early.)

[CruiserBruce]

On 6/2/2022 at 6:57 AM, Nitemare said:

Which volcano?  The one that erupted last year or the Into the Volcano Tour?

The volcano that erupted last year has been dormant for many months.  There is no lava spewing.  There is no red flow.  There is no steam.  Just a desolate lava field.  It's a nice hike but there really isn't much to see there.

 

The Into the Volcano tour, also available from the city, is amazing.  A 20 minute or so hike across an old lava field, then you climb up a dormant (hopefully!) volcano, then they lower you down in a window washer type rig.  It's the only place in the world you can do this.  Not cheap but definitely unique and worth it.

 

I'd do that again.  I wouldn't do a lava field hike to last year's attraction.

The volcano 20 miles south of Reykjavik has begun flowing lava again,  according to the news tonight. 

[Level six]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/dozens-of-earthquakes-strike-after-volcano-starts-erupting-near-capital-city/ar-AA10gBgL?li=BBnb7Kz#comments

[LisaAtlCruiser]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

The volcano 20 miles south of Reykjavik has begun flowing lava again,  according to the news tonight. 

My cruise will be there August 12/13.  Expecting this eruption will impact excursions- but hoping no impact on going to the Port itself.

[Nitemare]

16 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

The volcano 20 miles south of Reykjavik has begun flowing lava again,  according to the news tonight. 

Slightly different location than last year's.  Much longer hike than last year but as of now no trail to follow

14 hours ago, LisaAtlCruiser said:

My cruise will be there August 12/13.  Expecting this eruption will impact excursions- but hoping no impact on going to the Port itself.

Currently it shouldn't affect anything.  If it behaves like last year's volcano it will have no impact on excursions, flights, ports, or anything other than maybe adding some siteseeing opportunities