Iceland Volcano TourLaki Craters: The Only Way to See Lakagigar
The Laki craters are the 25 km fissure row in the southern interior that erupted in 1783 and changed the weather across Europe. There is exactly one listing on these platforms that reaches them: a fifty-minute sightseeing flight from Skaftafell at $432, rated 5 from 7 reviews. No coach goes there, no day tour from Reykjavik goes there, and the F-roads in are open for a short summer window to suitable vehicles only. This page explains why, what the flight covers, and what the eruption actually did. Everything else is on Iceland volcano tour.
Quick answer One listing, and why there is only one
One listing reaches the Laki craters: a 50-minute light aircraft flight from Skaftafell at $432, about $8.64 per airborne minute, which is the cheapest per-minute flying on this site. It covers Skeidararjokull, the Graenalon glacial lake and the Lakagigar crater row. There is no road tour, and the highland tracks in are summer-only and need a proper 4x4.
Key takeaways
- The only listing is the Laki flight at $432 for 50 minutes, taxes and hot drinks included.
- Cheaper flying over younger lava: the Reykjanes helicopter is $515 for 40 minutes, about $12.88 a minute.
- Interested in what 1783 did? The history is below, and the current picture is on the Reykjanes page.
The Laki Craters Flight
This is the whole market. No operator on these platforms sells a road tour to Lakagigar, and the flight is a small aircraft from the airfield at Skaftafell rather than a helicopter from the capital. Figures current in Q3 2026.
from $432
Only way to see Laki Sightseeing Flight over the Laki Craters and the Highlands
The Laki craters sit far from any road a rental car can take, so the small plane is the realistic way to see the fissure that erupted in 1783. Taxes, fees and hot drinks are inside the price.
- Flight over the Lakagigar crater row
- Skeidararjokull and the Graenalon glacial lake
- All taxes and handling charges included
- Tea and coffee at the airfield
What Happened at Laki in 1783
The largest lava eruption of the last thousand years, and the one with the widest reach.
The Eruption
The Laki fissure opened in 1783 and erupted for months, pouring out lava along a crater row roughly 25 km long. The eruption released enormous volumes of gas, and the haze it produced drifted over Europe and was recorded by people who had no idea where it came from.
In Iceland the consequences were direct: the gas poisoned pasture, livestock died, and famine followed. The event is known here as the Mist Hardships, and it is the reason this remote line of craters occupies more space in Icelandic memory than any of the more photogenic volcanoes.
What Is There Now
A row of cones and craters, deeply mossed, running across the highland between Vatnajokull and the Vatnajokull National Park's southern boundary. The moss is the thing everyone photographs: a green skin over black rock that took two centuries to grow and comes off under boots.
That fragility is part of why access is restricted and why nothing motorised goes close. The area sits inside the national park.
What the Flight Covers
Fifty minutes, taxes included, from a small airfield on the south coast.
The Route
The aircraft flies west of Skaftafell over the Skeidararjokull outlet glacier, on to the Graenalon glacial lake, then west over Sidujokull before reaching the Lakagigar crater row. It returns over the same ground.
At 50 minutes and $432, that works out at about $8.64 per airborne minute, which is the lowest rate on this site: a light aircraft costs far less per hour than a helicopter. All taxes, fees and handling charges are in the price, and there is tea and coffee at the airfield.
Who Flies It
Atlantsflug operates from the airfield at Skaftafell. The listing carries 7 reviews at 5 stars, which is a small sample, and infants can sit on an adult's lap.
Light aircraft sightseeing is weather-dependent in a way that helicopters are only slightly less. Flights cancel at short notice and are refunded, so book early in a south coast stay rather than on your last morning.
What You See That No Road Shows
From the air the crater row reads as a line, which is exactly what it is and exactly what you cannot perceive from the ground. You also see the relationship between the fissure and the ice cap, which is the thing that makes Icelandic volcanism different from the textbook kind.
If you are already at Skaftafell for the glacier, this is the add-on that explains the landscape you have been walking on.
Reaching Laki Without Flying
Possible, briefly, and not on any listing sold here.
The F-Road Reality
The tracks into the Lakagigar area are highland F-roads, open for a short summer window once the road authority judges them passable, and they include unbridged river crossings. Ordinary rental cars are neither capable nor insured for them, and the rental agreement usually says so explicitly.
No operator on these platforms sells a road tour there, which is unusual: most Icelandic highland destinations have at least one super jeep listing. For Laki, the flight is the market.
If the Highlands Are What You Want
The highland days that are sold here go to Askja in the north, a 12-hour super jeep day from Lake Myvatn, and to Landmannalaugar from Reykjavik, both summer-only for the same reason.
Both give you the same kind of day as a Laki road trip would: hours on gravel, river crossings, no shops, and a landscape nobody reaches by accident.
Sources: Vatnajokull National Park, Safetravel
Laki Craters Questions
Can you drive to the Laki craters?
Only on highland F-roads in a suitable 4x4, during a short summer window, with unbridged river crossings on the way. No operator on these platforms sells a road tour there.
How much is the Laki flight?
$432 for 50 minutes, taxes and handling included, from the airfield at Skaftafell. That is about $8.64 per airborne minute, the cheapest flying on this site.
What did the 1783 eruption do?
It erupted along a crater row about 25 km long for months, released gas that drifted over Europe as a haze, and caused famine in Iceland after the pasture was poisoned.
Is there anything to see there now?
A long line of mossed cones and craters in the highland interior. The moss is fragile and the area sits inside the national park.
Is the flight reliable?
Light aircraft sightseeing cancels for weather at short notice and refunds. Book it early in a south coast stay rather than on your final morning.
What is the alternative if it cancels?
On the same coast, the Katla ice caves from Vik run three hours from $181, and the Lava Show in Vik is 55 minutes indoors at $55.
How does Laki compare with the eruptions people visit today?
It is a different order of event. The 2021 to 2023 eruptions at Fagradalsfjall produced flows you can walk across in an afternoon; Laki poured lava along a 25 km fissure for months and changed harvests across a continent. The ground you can actually reach today is on the Reykjanes page, and what the Met Office is watching now is uplift at Svartsengi rather than anything in the interior.