Solheimajokull

Solheimajokull runs down from Myrdalsjokull, the ice cap that covers the Katla volcano, and it is the most visited glacier tongue on the south coast because the walk from the car park to the ice takes a quarter of an hour. It is also the clearest local demonstration of retreat: the snout has pulled back by well over a kilometre since measurements began in the early twentieth century, a lagoon has grown where the ice used to sit, and the walk from the parking area has got steadily longer within living memory. Guided walks go onto the tongue with crampons; the surface is grey with ash bands from Katla and Eyjafjallajokull.

Highlights

• A tongue off Myrdalsjokull - the ice cap that covers Katla.
• Retreat you can pace out - the snout has withdrawn over a kilometre in a century.
• A lagoon where ice was - water filling the ground the glacier left.
• Ash bands in grey ice - layers from Katla and Eyjafjallajokull.

When to go

Year round; guided walks operate in every season. Half a day.

Things to know

Walking on the ice without a guide and crampons is genuinely dangerous, with crevasses on the tongue and cold water in the lagoon. The approach path is gravel and often muddy. The ice is grey rather than blue on the surface. Parking is charged.

Nearby

Skogafoss is west; Dyrholaey and Vik are along the coast east.

Key facts