The Icelandic town abandoned to the volcanoes

A 2023 volcanic eruption forced 3,700 residents to flee Grindavík. Now, visitors can join guided tours of the ghost town to witness nature's power first hand.

It's hard not to be moved. Deep crevasses slice through smooth tarmac carparks. Houses with cracked concrete walls stand behind lines of orange flags and protective metal barriers. Swings in an empty kindergarten playground move gently in the wind. In November 2023, the Icelandic fishing town of Grindavík, home to 3,700 people, was evacuated overnight. Now, after some deemed it a "ghost town", it's returning to life.

In a carpark outside an abandoned supermarket, a large-scale outdoor photo exhibition by Sigurður Ólafur Sigurðsson tells the story in haunting detail, starting with the first emergency town meeting held in the local sports hall when earthquakes started to shake the town. Soon after, great fissures opened up just outside Grindavík and lava started to flow from a nearby volcano. Houses were destroyed and the streets shifted as the ground heaved up and down. Since the first magma intrusion, at least five further eruptions have shaken the area. 

Sigurðsson's photos capture everything: search and rescue teams working in full protective gear against a background of lava and fire; a man standing in his former kitchen with his wife, wiping away a tear, knowing it's unlikely they'll be able to return to their home. The eruption was the most extensive natural disaster Iceland had seen in more than 50 years; one reporter described the 4km fissure spilling molten lava as the "gates of hell" opening. 

Grindavík was closed to the public for nearly a year but reopened in October 2024, home to just a handful of people who refused, against official advice, to live anywhere else. Now, visitors can join guided tours to witness nature's power first hand.

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Kristín María Birgisdóttir was born and raised in Grindavík and now runs tours of her former town. "People ask a lot of questions about what it was like, how it has changed and how it has affected [us]," she said. "They always say it's not the same as seeing it on TV. There's a feeling of amazement about how Mother Nature works. But when you see how a whole town has been evacuated because of it – that's a different story."

But Birgisdóttir is matter of fact about the eruption, and the possibility of another one happening in the future: "It was obvious that it might happen as we live on tectonic plates," she said. "The magma will come up one day when you live in an eruption area on the North Atlantic Ridge. But even volcanology experts can't predict exactly what will happen and when."

Just this month, plans were unveiled about Grindavík's long-term future. Defensive walls north of the town are due to be raised 2 to 3m over a 450m section to guard against future lava flow and plans were unveiled at a public meeting outlining preparatory work and an updated town plan that will precede the reopening of the town. While some houses will be demolished, others will be rebuilt or can be lived in again. Work continues at the harbour; many workers live in nearby towns that were unaffected by the seismic activity. 

I'm intrigued by the volatile landscape and want to find out more, so I join a Reykjavik Excursions by Icelandia tour that uncovers the power of volcanoes in the area, including Grindavík and the Reykjanes Geopark. We drive around the town, noting the rifts running through it and the many cordoned-off streets, before parking near the harbour for a fish and chip lunch. My guide, Karl Johansson, notes that the only part of Grindavík that didn't move during the eruption was the harbour, thankfully keeping the fishing businesses that sustain this part of Iceland alive. And there were a few other places that rode out the seismic activity: the bank, church and an Avebury-like ring of ancient stones. "God, Odin and the money gods made sure these places would survive," he said, with a smile. We stop at the end of a street where a metal barrier lay between us and a dark lava flow that had consumed three houses. 

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The Reykjanes Peninsula is Iceland's most active volcanic area and among the most active in the world, perched on top of the Mid Atlantic Ridge with the American and Eurasian tectonic plates running beneath it. These plates are constantly pulling apart and creating earthquakes, fissures and volcanoes, and have been especially active since 2018, with at least five significant eruptions and more than 800 earthquakes recorded. The area is so dynamic that weeks before I visit, another lava flow opens up, and the Icelandic Met Office has issued warnings about the likelihood of more eruptions before the end of the year.

At Fagradallsfjall, a short drive from Grindavík, there's a chance to safely view a lava field in real life. Seen from the lowest part of the valley, the lava is a vast swirl of petrified water, a torrent of deep brown, almost black lava with gnarled shapes ebbing and flowing throughout. It coursed from the top of a nearby mountain in 2021 and 2022.

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Though the stilled river of lava looks and feels like cold hard rock, in the middle of the flow, a wisp of grey smoke rises in a spiral into the air – the ground still giving out heat. It's a shock to realise how alive the land remains, but Johansson takes it in his stride: "We all live on a volcano here in Iceland," he said. "We are used to it."

Laura Hall

A short drive away at Seltún, the thick scent of rotten eggs rises into the air from bubbling grey mud pools. One of three geothermal areas on the peninsula, Seltún is regularly monitored by scientists as an active volcanic zone. A river runs down the hill and a decked path traces around ground stained tobacco-yellow by sulphur. Clay and mineral deposits add other colours to the landscape: red, pink and blue-grey, like the work of a madcap artist. The mud, steaming like a hot bath, gives off delightfully disgusting burps as air bubbles rise thickly through it. 

Far from deterring visitors, Iceland's seismic activity has only accelerated tourism. Alongside walking tours like the one I'm on, there's The Lava Show in Vik and Reykjavik, a Volcano Show in Reykjavik, an educational LAVA Centre, as well as an Inside the Volcano experience where visitors are lowered into the lava chamber of an inactive volcano. In the last year alone, two new attractions opened: the Volcano Express cinematic attraction and a new driving route called The Volcanic Way. 

While visitors seemingly can't get enough lava, those who live in the shadow of Iceland's volcanoes could be forgiven for wishing for calm.

"Experts say that when the next one is over, there will not be another eruption on this peninsula for 100 years," said Birgisdóttir. "But we don't know. I'm hoping this will be the last."

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported that Grindavík is currently a "ghost town". We have corrected that and a few other details.

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