Askja Volcano Tour Iceland: Hike Víti Crater & Geothermal Lake

Ride into Iceland's barren interior and hike an active volcano's crater lake

The Askja Caldera tour is a full-day guided Jeep tour into Iceland's interior highlands, combining a drive through stark volcanic terrain with a hike to the explosion crater Víti and a geothermal lake. The day includes stops to meet locals, packed lunch with locally sourced ingredients, and dinner with non-alcoholic beverages; a live English-speaking guide leads the group, and pickup is included. Children are welcome from age 12.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Askja Caldera and surroundings

• Start early from Akureyri
• Travel by Jeep into Iceland interior
• Meet locals and learn about their life
• Stop for photo opportunities
• Lunch with locally sourced ingredients
• Visit NASA astronaut training site
• Hike to Víti explosion crater
• Bathe in geothermal lake at crater

The Experience

How do you get to a place NASA used to train astronauts for the moon? You start early and ride a Jeep into Iceland's barren interior, watching the landscape shift from lush vegetation to something that looks like another planet. The Askja Caldera sits in the highlands, and the drive itself is the journey—stops along the way let you meet locals who live in this place of contrasts and understand how they do it. Lunch happens en route with locally sourced ingredients, depending on conditions that day.

Askja is an active volcano that last erupted in 1961. The hike takes you to Víti, the explosion crater, where you can bathe in the geothermal lake inside it—the water stays warm year-round. This is the same ground where Armstrong and Aldrin trained in 1969, and standing there makes that history concrete in a way a museum cannot. The CO2 impact of the whole trip is offset by a certified agent, so the day itself leaves no carbon footprint.

The tour runs 10 to 14 hours depending on conditions and how the group moves. Dinner with non-alcoholic beverages is included at the end, so you finish the day fed and warm. A live guide in English leads the group throughout, and the Jeep handles the rough terrain of the interior where regular vehicles cannot go.

What’s included

• Jeep transport into Iceland's interior.
• packed lunch with locally sourced ingredients.
• dinner with non-alcoholic beverages.
• live English-speaking guide.
• pickup included.
• carbon offset for the entire trip.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Mystic Iceland

Is this one for you?The usual Icelandic volcano tour stays on marked roads and paved viewpoints. This one takes you into the highlands where regular cars cannot go, puts you inside an active crater, and lets you bathe in geothermal water while standing where NASA trained for the moon—the Jeep and the guide handle all the logistics so you just show up and hike.

Top questions

What is Víti and why can you bathe in it?

Víti is the explosion crater of Askja volcano, and it holds a geothermal lake fed by underground heat—the water stays warm enough to swim in even in winter, and the crater walls shelter it from wind.

How long does the drive take to reach Askja from the starting point?

The full tour runs 10 to 14 hours depending on road conditions and how the group moves, with stops built in to meet locals and eat lunch along the way.

Is this tour suitable for children?

Children are welcome from age 12 and up; the tour is suitable for all physical fitness levels, though the hike to Víti and the terrain require basic mobility.

What did NASA do at this location?

NASA used the Askja area as a training ground for Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969, preparing them for the lunar landscape they would encounter on the moon.

What meals and drinks are included?

Packed lunch with locally sourced ingredients is included during the drive, and dinner with non-alcoholic beverages is served at the end of the tour.