The Outdoor Retreat

Another picturesque volcano eruption may be about to begin. A earthquake of magnitude 4.7 just occurred on Christmas Eve in Iceland.

Direct flights to Iceland from (there are many more requiring just one stop):

Austria, Vienna (VIE) Wizz Air, Salzburg (SZG) Wizz Air

Belgium, Brussels (BRU) Icelandair, Play

Canada, (Edmonton (YEA) Icelandair, Toronto (YTO) Icelandair, Vancouver (YVR) Icelandair

Czech Prague (PRG) Play (((Czech Airlines CSA)))

Denmark, (((Billund (BLL)))), Copenhagen (CPH) SAS, Play, Icelandair

Faro Islands Vagar (FAE) Atlantic Airways

Finland, Helsinki (HEL) Icelandair

France, Paris (PAR Icelandair, (CDG) Play , ORY Icelandair Transavia

Germany, Berlin (BER) Icelandair, Play Dortmund (DTM) Wizz Air, Frankfurt (FRA Icelandair, Lufthansa), Hamburg (HAM), Munich (MUC) Icelandair, Lufthansa, Stuttgart (STR) Play

Greenland, Ilulissat (JAV), Icelandair Kulusuk (KUS) Icelandair, Narsarsuaq (UAK) Icelandair Nuuk (GOH) Air Greenland, Icelandair

Hungary, Budapest (Bud) Wizz Air

Ireland, Dublin (DUB) Play

(((Israel, Tel Aviv (TLV El Al))))

Italy, Milano (MXP) Wizz Air, Rome (FCO) Wizz Air, Napoli (NAP) Wizz Air,

Latvia, Riga (RIX) Air Baltic

Lithuania Vilnius (VNO) Wizz Air

Netherlands, Amsterdam (AMS) Icelandair, Transavia, Play

Norway, Bergen (BGO), Oslo (OSL) Norwegian SAS , (((Tromsoe (TOS ) Atlantic Airways))))

Poland, Warsaw (WAW) Wizz Air, Katowice (KTW) Wizz Air, Krakow (KRK) Wizz Air, Gdansk (GDN) Wizz Air Wroclaw (WRO) Wizz Air

Portugal, Lisbon (LIS) Play

Spain, Alicante (ALC ) Play, Barcelona (BCN) Icelandair, Vueling, Play) Madrid (MAD), Palma de Mallorca (PMI) Play Tenerife (TFS) Play Icelandair

Sweden, Stockholm Arlanda (STO ARN) Icelandair

Switzerland, Geneva (GVA) Icelandair, Zürich (ZRH) Edelweiss Icelandair

UK, Birmingham (BHX) Jet2, Bristol (BRS) Easy Jet, Tui East Midlands (EMA) Jet2, Edinburgh (EDI) Easy Jet, Glasgow (GLA) Jet2, Leeds (LBA) Jet2, London (LON), Wizz Air (LTN) EasyJet (LGW) EasyJet, Tui (STN) Jet2, Play , (LHR), Icelandair, British Airways), Manchester (MAN) Easy Jet, Tui Easy Jet Icelandair, Jet2, Newcastle (NCL) Jet2

USA, Anchorage (ANC) Icelandair, Boston (BOS) Icelandair, Play and Delta, Chicago (CHI, ORD), Icelandair, Denver Colorado (DEN) Icelandair, Minneapolis Minnesota (MSP) (Icelandair, Delta, New York (NYC) Icelandair and Delta, (JFK) Icelandair, (EWR) Icelandair, Orlando (MCO) Icelandairand Play Seattle Washington (SEA) Icelandair, Washington DC (WAS, IAD) Icelandair and Play

See Arkia, Atlantic Airways, British Airways, CSA, Delta, EasyJet, El Al, Air Greenland, Icelandair, Jet2, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Play, SAS, Tui, Transavia, Vueling, Wizz Air, WoW

In the aftermath of ridiculous flight restrictions around the world Iceland is coming out on top. Never before has there been such a great supply of flights from all over Europe and North America. In Europe there are direct flights available as far south as Rome and as far east as Budapest. From many countries there are flights from multiple airports such as from Switzerland, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom and from some cities you have flights from all the airports such as from London and/or flights from multiple airlines such as Copenhagen.

Play ( see flyPLAY.com ) offers cheap flights to Iceland from London, Copenhagen, Berlin, Brussel, Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante and Tenerife and soon the United States. Direct flights are also available via Icelandair from some of these these places as well as from Zurich, Geneva, Munich, Milano, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Ireland, the Nordic countries and various points in the United States and Canada. Delta airlines is also flying from the United States. Wizz-air offers flights from Vienna, Dortmund, Budapest, Milan, Naples, Rome, Riga, Vilnius and Poland. If you are traveling between Europe and America making a vacation in between in Iceland is a great idea, it is actually normally on the flight path between the continents - why fly over when you can stop over. Iceland is among the best destinations when it comes to Covid-19. See further information below and here about how to fly (even more options are available) and how easy and safe it is in Iceland.

No more Covid-19 measures in Iceland and Switzerland

Volcano Eruptions in Iceland

September 2022 update. A short volcano eruption finished recently. Three other Volcanos are showing signs that they might erupt soon or in the next years. They are:

  • Grímsvötn, Vatnajökli (Grimsvotn, Vatnajokull) - There is magma build up below and a water reservoir under this biggest glacier in Europe has emptied.

  • Askja - There is magma build up 2-3 Km below the surface resulting in the rise of the whole area by 10cm.

  • Hekla - Nearby streams have dried up which also happened before the last eruption

Seeing Askja (Öskjugos) erupt would be an experience of a lifetime. It may be a good idea to be in Iceland but not too close. So The Outdoor Retreat, Iceland is perfect.

The Reykjavik Volcano Erupted on Friday March 19th 2021 and again in 2022 - There is no volcano eruption going on at the moment..

The volcano sometimes acts like a volcano geyser. It behaves just like a natural water geyser but instead of water it is magma that spurts up 100s of meters up in the air. You might be wondering how a geyser works or indeed a volcano that works like a geyser (fountain). Well there is probably a cavity that fills up at a faster rate than the liquid can escape from it, e.g. by being fed from below as well as being fed from above by the remnants of the last explosion and is mixed with a substance like water that would normally under this temperature turn to steam (gaseous form) but under this pressure remains in liquid form. Some liquid then escapes from the cavity reducing the pressure which triggers an action where the part of the liquid that is kept liquid only by the pressure takes on the gaseous form which requires 1600 times more space and hence the explosion. If you have the patients to watch the first webcam of what looks like a pretty dormant volcano you will be rewarded with a magnificent geyser of magma. See also below. It is possible to explore a similar cavity as described above inside a dormant volcano

Tiny tornado develops near the Reykjavik Volcano

These two photos show how the volcano changes from one minute to the other

The above music recording gives a sense of how it is to be there at night!

Volcanic details:

A volcano erupted in Iceland on the 19th of March not far from Reykjavik after 6000 years of no activity (no activity on the peninsula for 850 years). (The foreign news sites do not get this previous point exactly right.)

Intercontinental Eruption

This Volcanic eruption, 40 km from Reykjavik in Iceland is a very scenic as eruptions in Iceland tend to be and without threat to people or infrastructure. The eruption is not far from The Blue Lagoon which you or your friends might have visited. Iceland is held up by a magma. The eruption is caused because the European and American continents are drifting apart and the volcanic magma squeeze's through the gap caused by this process. It is certainly worth traveling to Iceland to witness all the natural beauty and this eruption at the same time. This is an unusual eruption in Iceland as the lava stream seems to be coming directly from the earths mantle rather than a magma chamber as is usually the case. A kind of eruption that usually only happens at the end of an Ice age. This kind of eruption is more likely to last longer, possibly years or decades. However if you want to witness this eruption with your own eyes you better plan your trip early than wait until it is potentially too late. If you want to be on the ultra save side from gas pollution you could stay a few hours drive away at The Outdoor Retreat, Iceland. As Iceland has the lowest Covid-19 death rate in Europe (followed by Norway and Finland) it may be a good choice to go there to stay during the pandemic. Most countries do not require a quarantine when coming back from Iceland. See the Covid-19 rules for Iceland (and Switzerland) at the bottom of this page. A lot of people have been hiking to the volcano. Some are a little bit reckless hiking at night despite unfavorable weather forecasts. Fortunately the Icelandic authorities respect people wishes to see the volcano with their own eyes, whereas in most other countries little and big bosses would bar people from exercising this right. (The kind of ill-advised over reaction we are seeing all over the world with Covid-19). This Page is updated from time to time with new information and links (see below):

Here is a map showing the drive and walk from The Outdoor Retreat to the Reykjavik Volcano

Instructions for hikers in Icelandic

Drone flight over the brand new fissure

Interesting video

A must see drone coverage of the eruption

A series of videos

Link to Icelandic news site

Another Icelandic news site - An early collection of photographs and a video

Third Icelandic news site

Nice compilation of photos with a people perspective

Website showing the Keflavik town with the eruption behind

An English update

Limited website in English

The eruption on CNN

The eruption on BBC

The eruption on ALJAZERRA Has a nice photo showing the radiant blue of the Blue Lagoon Power Plant and the radiant red of the eruption.

Check out this image taken from the Blue Lagoon