Scuba divers and snorkellers will first enter ‘the toilet,’ rudely named, but just, especially considering this section sees the glacial water open up into the fissure. 8000 years old and counting, this 200-metre long lava tube originated from eruptions at the nearby Purkhólar crater family. Today, visitors can walk and explore the exact same areas as those utilised by the early settlers, breathing life and history into the hard and cracked fissures of Þingvellir National Park. This ensures that, should any sediment be kicked up by divers or snorkellers in front, the visibility will quickly be restored. Please click on the map below to view more information on a National Park. With that being said, reserving your place at the campground is possible and is recommended for those anxious about securing their place. 1967), to the south, and Jökulsárgljúfur (est. Inside Þingvellir National Park, you’ll find Öxarárfoss waterfall. The reasoning behind the three national parks and their official recognition lies in the respective areas’ geology, history and cultural significance, providing an incredible backdrop from where visitors can acquire a deeper insight and understanding into what makes Iceland so unique. Silfra Fissure’s scenery is, in a single word, epic; split into four distinct areas. Today, a modern church sits in its place but is still a lasting reminder of this region’s fascinating history. During the summer months, Umhverfisstofnun will often take on volunteers to work on conservation projects within the park (further information can be found on the agency's website. By the time the Alþingi ended at Þingvellir in the 1800s, the institution had become little more than a minor law court, its jurisdiction fully dependent on the legislation passed from the ruling Danish monarchy. Undisputedly the main attraction of the National Park is the Snæfellsjökull Glacier—the beautiful magnet of the western Peninsula. The prices for camping at Þingvellir are as follows: Adults (13-67 years) must pay 1300 ISK a night per person, plus additional 300 ISK for each tent/campervan. Many glacier tours in Vatnajökull National Park require travelers to walk from the parking lot to the glacier terminus, eating into their time on the ice. This decision continues to have consequence today, forever having changed Icelandic culture. Make sure to leave your comments and queries in the Facebook comments box below. Turning away from the lake, snorkellers and divers will move into what guides describe as the “real Blue Lagoon.” This relatively shallow area allows guests to explore the many cracks and fissures at their own pace before exiting the water. To pick out only a handful of attractions to officially recognise seems somewhat arbitrary, but there are good reasons behind it, of which we will explore in this article. Again, no mess of any kind—of human or dog origin—should be left at the campsite. Fans of HBO’s Games of Thrones’ will recognise this feature instantly as “the mountain like an arrowhead”, from the Hound’s vision in Season 7. After a series of unfortunate events, including a vengeful couple of murders, Bárður exiled himself to the ice-cap where he was soon looked upon by the surrounding population as a “guardian spirit.”. In order to preserve this interesting and geologically important cave, Vatnshellir was closed off to public access by the National Park a few years ago. In this regard, Vatnajökull National Park is something of an all-natural theme park, offering entertainment, bewilderment, awe, thrills and spills for the entire travelling party. Amongst these icebergs, in the lagoon and by the coastline, lives a playful seal colony, only adding to the quintessential beauty of the lagoon. Camping. The most dramatic feature is, without a doubt, Almannagjá, running 7.7km and marking the eastern boundary of the North American tectonic plate. Since 2008, Iceland has three national parks. Why don’t Icelanders recognise autumn or spring, and what is the best season to travel? The Southern section extends across Vatnajökull’s southeast, all the way from Lómagnúpur mountain to Lónsöræfi, whilst the Eastern section includes northeast Vatnajökull, parts of the Snæfellsöræfi hiking area and the dramatic Kverkfjöll mountains. Reaching Snæfellsjökull National Park from Reykjavík requires a 190 km journey (approximately 2 hours 40 minutes drive) across some truly mesmerising terrain. Considered by many to be the jewel of West Iceland, Snaefellsjokull is the most famous volcano in Iceland. A Snæfellsjökull Glacier hike takes you on a guided tour to the peak’s summit. It is however extremely hard to reach it. That’s not to suggest that the geology is inactive; in fact, inner-tension builds under the earth’s surface throughout this period, often breaking out in sudden and potentially violent bursts of energy. Due to its high elevation and mild, pleasant climate, the region was highly fertile, Skaftafell in particular, used for sheep grazing and as a congregation point for þings (“assemblies.”) The farmers’ livelihood was supplemented by trips to the coastline, where they would hunt for seals, collect bird eggs and scavenge supplies from stranded ships. Snæfellsjökull has long been a subject of fascination for artists the world over, inspiring countless paintings, poems and pieces of music. Caves, caverns, craters and canyons dot the full range of Snæfellsnes Peninsula. In the park’s western section, visitors can stumble upon the southwest corner of Vatnajökull,  Langisjór, the Lakagígar craters and an information centre, ran by the park, at the town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. How has Guide to Iceland changed since its conception? Archaeological sites such as Forni-Saxhóll farm, Berutóftir and Írskubúðir all imply that the peninsula was inhabited as far as 1100 years ago. It is now only explorable with a licensed tour guide. Thingvellir National Park. This area is called, aptly, Silfra Cathedral. Snæfellsjökull National Park is situated on the Snæfellsness peninsula. Vatnajökull National Park and Snæfellsjökull National Park are supervised by the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, Þingvellir National Park is supervised by the … Guests will also find a campsite and visitor’s centre in the horse-shaped canyon of Ásbyrgi. Vatnajökull has approximately 30 outlet glaciers stemming from it, a testament to the ice cap’s incredible overall size and influence. At the beginning of each winter season, caving and ice-climbing tour operators embark to discover incredible new, frozen caverns, hidden away in Vatnajökull’s farthest corners. With … Þingvellir National Park - Þingvellir , also known as Thingvellir, is located in the southwestern region … Where do you need to travel to find the most spectacular waterfalls? Standing at the foot of a volcano and glacier, Snæfellsjökull National Park is the only park that reaches from the seashore to the mountaintops. The name of the waterfall translates to “Axe Falls”. Fishing was undertaken wherever there was ample access to the sea. Apparently … There is no doing justice to the artistic influence that Snæfellsjökull has had over the centuries; the ice-cap features prominently in Under the Glacier (1968), a novel penned by Halldór Laxness, as well as the 1960s Blind Birds trilogy, written by Czech author, Ludvík Souček. Although guests will be able to read a number of names that have been carved throughout history on the interior walls, including those of Eggert Ólafsson and Bjarni Pálsson, who travelled the country during the 18th Century, carving your name (or words or pictures) anywhere into Iceland's nature is not encouraged. The campsite provides toilets and running water, and there is a restaurant on-site, although not many other services. The region is the main setting for the first part of Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss, a late and legendary saga of the Icelanders. Whichever campsite you choose, permits for both camping and angling should be purchased at the Visitor’s Centre upon first arrival at Þingvellir. Warrant to Skjaldbreiður’s impressive height (1060m), the dried lava covered an area of over 200 square kilometres, changing the very face of the landscape and creating a deep and cragged network of caverns, fissures and subterranean tunnels. How do you sleep during the... Iceland is a country of many amazing waterfalls, but which are the best ones? Snæfellsjökull is, in fact, so large that on a clear day onlookers can see it 120km away, jutting out from the horizon across Faxaflói Bay. Thankfully, no reservation is needed to camp at Þingvellir, meaning you can simply roll up and start setting up! Subsequent jökulhlaups—originating, this time, from the 1783 Grímsvötn eruptions—would mean a further nail in the coffin for successful, long-term agriculture in the region. Are there waterfalls all around the country? Throughout the last half-century, Vatnajökull, with its sweeping slopes and frozen terrain, has been utilised as a shooting location for numerous cinematic and television productions. The Icelandic character ‘Þ’—‘thorn’, from Old Norse and Old English—is defined, rather spookily, as a ‘voiceless dental fricative’, a type of consonantal sound used in spoken languages, but for the sake of simplicity, is pronounced with a 'th', as in thick, thoughtful, think, thunder and Thursday. Outside of the Arctic, Vatnajökull is Europe’s largest glacier, covering 8,100 km2, with ice averaging out at 600-900 metres thick. Vatnajökull National Park, established in 2008, encompasses not only all of Vatnajökull glacier but also extensive surrounding areas. Meaning ‘Thor’s Valley’ in Icelandic, the stunning scenery on offer looks … As previously stated, Þingvellir is an attraction in itself, its astounding beauty so utterly delightful that it makes up an integral part of the Golden Circle sightseeing tour. The campsite at Hellissandur is around 9km away from Ólafsvík and is located on a gorgeous dried lava plateau known as Sandahraun. Snæfellsjökull National Park was founded in June 2001; as with the other National Parks, it was founded due to the need to protect the region’s heritage, incredible natural diversity and fascinating cultural sites. It is the largest National Park in Europe. Dritvík is perhaps the best example of one such fishing settlement; historically the largest commercial harbour in the region, Dritvík boasted up to 60 fishing vessels and 400 inhabitants. It is a beautiful walk with very important history for Iceland. Nearby to the town of Grundarfjörður, outside of the park itself, one can find the most photographed mountain in Iceland, Kirkjufell. One could rather agreeably state that the whole of Iceland is a makeshift national park. It makes for a fantastic stop for budding photographers especially. During this eruption, the landscape was steadily moulded by lava flows, creating numerous cave networks and craters, many of which can be explored today by guests. As its name suggests, this area is reliably inhabited by a playful seal colony during June, July and August. Skjaldbreiður’, was written by Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807-1845), a writer whom Iceland’s only Nobel Laureate, Halldór Laxness (1902-1998), once claimed to be the “poet of Icelandic consciousness.”. fissure between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates Vatnajökull National Park nevertheless encourages people to follow the government's recommendation to limit travel and take care of disease control if passing through. Today Vatnajökull National Park covers 14% of Iceland and ranks as Europe's second largest. The effects were immediate, with enormous jökulhlaups (literally, “glacial run”) sweeping through the area, overwhelming everything in its path and destroying the community. Children under 13 can stay at the campgrounds overnight for free. At that moment, it was judged to be “...a protected national shrine for all Icelanders, the perpetual property of the Icelandic nation under the preservation of parliament, never to be sold or mortgaged”. Those travelling from the capital will set their eyes upon Lake Þingvallavatn before seeing the park itself. Þingvellir was designated a national park in 1928 as a means of protecting the remains of the parliament site. The first campground at Þingvellir is called Leirar and is split into four separate grounds; Nyrðri-Leirar, Syðri-Leirar, Fagrabrekka and Hvannabrekka. Some consider this an allusion to the many executions that took place at Þingvellir over the presiding centuries, while others claim the name derives from an axe—a symbol of land ownership at that time—that was thrust into the icy river Öxará by early settlers. Leirar is within easy walking distance (no more than 5 minutes) from the Visitors Centre. Most recently, Vatnajökull, as well as Þingvellir National Park, has served as a shooting location for HBO’s wildly popular fantasy series, Game of Thrones.