From outside, a hill like a hundred others in the Bláfjöll. 35 meters high, a hole four by four meters.
Then the cage starts moving. Seven minutes, and the daylight shrinks to a dot.
120 meters (400 ft) down you stand in a magma chamber. The magma drained away 4,000 years ago – the colors stayed.
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down into the chamber
Þríhnúkagígur is a cinder cone about 4,000 years old, 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of Reykjavík. After its eruption the magma drained back into the depths and left a bottle-shaped chamber empty – the only place in the world where an open cable lift takes you into an empty magma chamber. There is exactly one way in: the “Inside the Volcano” tour by 3H Travel. No second operator, no individual access, no winter operation. The Brennisteinsfjöll volcanic system is at green with the Met Office.
Fixed daily departures from May 5 to October 30. About 4 hours from the meeting point: 3 km (1.9 miles) on foot each way, lift 7 minutes each way, about 30 minutes at the bottom. From November the lift is dismantled.
The Bláfjallafólkvangur nature reserve is freely accessible, and the meeting point at the Breiðabliksskáli ski lodge has free parking. The crater opening itself is secured at the rim and cannot be descended without the lift.
Children under 8 cannot join. Everyone who goes has to manage 6 to 7 kilometers (4 miles) over hilly lava in any weather; the operator rates the tour 2 out of 5. No weight limit.
Photo: Uaiecs · CC BY 3.0
It starts unspectacularly: 45 to 50 minutes over mossy, sharp-edged lava, hilly, with about 50 meters (165 ft) of climbing at the end. At the top of the cone, helmet, harness and the safety briefing are waiting. Then the cage: seven minutes in which the opening above you shrinks to a point of light and the walls come closer. At the bottom it is 4 °C (39 °F) and damp, and floodlights show what the magma left behind – red, ocher, violet, black, sulfur yellow, in a vault the operator says would hold the Statue of Liberty. The floor measures about 50 by 65 meters (165 by 215 ft); you move around it freely with the guide. After 30 minutes the cage goes back up, and there is lamb soup at base camp.
Photo: Dave Bunnell · CC BY-SA 4.0
Affiliate links to GetYourGuide: if you book, we earn a commission and the price stays the same. Prices and ratings as of 22 September 2026. Whichever way you book: the same lift of the same operator takes you into the chamber.
There is no regulation, no permit and no authority governing access – only the operator and its lift. Its rules are therefore the only ones that count.
Tickets come from the operator (insidethevolcano.com/book-now) or resellers, always for a fixed departure time. Lift capacity limits the groups – in high season book weeks ahead.
Self-drive: meeting point Breiðabliksskáli ski lodge in the Bláfjöll (N 63.982815, W 21.652749), 10 minutes early, free parking. Pickup by Reykjavík Excursions from the BSÍ terminal or a bus stop: 4,500 to 6,399 ISK extra, starting 30 minutes before the bus leaves, 5–6 hours in total.
Hiking boots, waterproof jacket, sweater, hat, gloves – it is 4 °C (39 °F) in the chamber. The operator provides rain gear if needed, as well as helmet and harness. Soup, coffee, tea and cocoa are included.
Full refund up to 24 hours before, nothing after that. Groups of 10 or more and private tours: two weeks. If the operator cancels for storm, fog or thunderstorms, you get a refund or a new date.
| Inside the Volcano, adults 13 and over, self-drive (about US$370–400) | 51,000 ISK |
| Children 8–12 | 25,000 ISK |
| Pickup in Reykjavík, depending on pickup point (BSÍ is cheapest) | 4,500–6,399 ISK |
| Included: helmet, harness, guide, lamb soup (also vegetarian/vegan), hot drinks, rain gear if needed, parking | in the tour price |
| Children under 8 | no entry |
Photo: Mr Hicks46 · CC BY-SA 2.0
There is only one way, but two ways to start it: with your own car to the ski lodge, or with the pickup bus from Reykjavík. After that everything is the same.
Route 1 south, after about 15 minutes turn right onto road 417 (Bláfjallavegur), keep straight at the fork to the Breiðabliksskáli ski lodge. Paved, free parking. Do not navigate to the volcano but to “Inside the Volcano – Meeting Point”. Road 42 via Hafnarfjörður is closed according to the operator.
Hilly, uneven, no long climbs, about 50 meters (165 ft) uphill at the end onto the northeastern of the three cones. Elevation around 500 to 540 meters (1,640 to 1,770 ft) – altitude sickness is not an issue, wind and rain are. Same way back.
Open cage on cables through the 4 × 4 m (13 × 13 ft) opening, then the chamber widens. About 30 minutes at the bottom with the guide; the side passages down to about 200 m (650 ft) are not part of the tour. One or two guides per group, many from the rescue teams.
Photo: Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
Without a car: No scheduled bus into the Bláfjöll in summer; the operator's pickup from BSÍ/bus stops is the alternative without a car.
By car: From Reykjavík route 1 south, after about 15 minutes right onto road 417 (Bláfjallavegur) to the Breiðabliksskáli ski lodge; paved, about 30 minutes; free parking. Do not navigate to the volcano itself but to the meeting point.
June to August: longest days, lowest storm risk, but the most bookings – reserve early. May and September/October are quieter, and the trail can be wet and windy. The chamber itself is always 4 °C (39 °F) and dark; the colors show regardless of the weather outside, only a cancellation depends on wind at the lift.
Photo: Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
From late October to early May there is no way into the chamber. What remains is in the same corner: the 1.4-kilometer (0.9-mile) Raufarhólshellir lava tunnel on road 39, the Lava Show in Reykjavík with real molten lava – and the Reykjanes peninsula, where the ground has kept splitting open since 2021.
Photo: Jakub Hałun · CC BY-SA 4.0
51,000 ISK per adult (about US$370–400) and 25,000 ISK for children aged 8 to 12 with the operator, as of September 2026. Pickup in Reykjavík costs 4,500 to 6,399 ISK extra. On GetYourGuide from €385 with pickup.
That depends on what you expect: no lava, no fire, but 30 minutes in a 4 °C, brightly colored chamber you cannot see anywhere else – and 6 kilometers (4 miles) of hiking around it. If that is what you want, this is the only place that has it.
About 4 hours from the meeting point: 45–50 minutes on foot each way, about 7 minutes of lift each way, about 30 minutes in the chamber, then soup. With pickup in Reykjavík 5 to 6 hours.
Yes, and it is the cheaper option: drive yourself to the Breiðabliksskáli ski lodge in the Bláfjöll, 30 minutes from Reykjavík, free parking. That saves the pickup surcharge and a good hour.
The lift is an open cage on cables, and the ride takes about 7 minutes each way through a narrow 4 × 4 meter (13 × 13 ft) opening. If open elevators or cable cars are a problem for you, consider that before booking – there is no refund within 24 hours.
Every year from May 5 to October 30 with daily departures at fixed times. In winter the lift is dismantled; then Raufarhólshellir or the Lava Show remain.
The Bláfjöll and the trail to the cone are free, but you get into the chamber only with the lift of the sole operator 3H Travel. There is no descent on your own.
From age 8, and they must manage the 6–7 km (4 miles) of walking in any weather. The child price applies from 8 to 12.
The lift descends 120 m (400 ft) to the floor of the main vault; the floor measures about 50 × 65 m (165 × 215 ft). Side passages reach down to about 200 m (650 ft) but are not part of the tour. The operator says the Statue of Liberty would fit inside completely.
No. Þríhnúkagígur has been quiet for about 4,000 years; the Brennisteinsfjöll volcanic system last erupted in 1341 and is at green with the Icelandic Met Office. A small earthquake swarm on September 4–5, 2026 changed nothing about that.
Hiking boots, waterproof jacket, sweater, hat and gloves – it is 4 °C (39 °F) in the chamber, and the trail crosses lava in wind and rain. The operator provides rain gear if needed.
By car from Reykjavík about 30 minutes on roads 1 and 417 to the Breiðabliksskáli ski lodge in the Bláfjöll, free parking. Without a car: add pickup by Reykjavík Excursions from BSÍ or a bus stop.
In storms or thunderstorms the operator cancels and refunds the full price or offers a new date. Your own cancellations are free up to 24 hours before, after that non-refundable.
The operator rates it 2 out of 5: 3 km (1.9 miles) each way over hilly, uneven lava without long climbs, about 50 m (165 ft) uphill at the end. There is no weight limit, but moderate fitness is needed.
Caver Árni B. Stefánsson rappelled in first in 1974; from 1991 his brother Einar and Björn Ólafsson surveyed the chamber. Both are among the founders of the operator, which installed the lift in 2012.
Sources · accessed on 22 September 2026
Photo: Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
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