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LAVA Centre Hvölsvollur (Iceland)

Florian Buechting Museums & Exhibitions No Comments

Lava Centre Hvölsvollur

3,990 ISK
Lava Centre Hvölsvollur
4.4

Rating

 4.4/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • A lot of information
  • Very modern presentation techniques
  • Right at the Ring Road #1

Flyctory.com Cons

  • High admission price

Lava and volcanic eruptions are a regular part of life on Iceland. In 2010, for example, the Eyjafjallajökull slowed down the international air traffic with its ash eruptions. Not too far away from its site, in Hvölsvollur, the LAVA Centre teaches you about volcanic situation in Iceland as well as the lava itself. On a October 2021 trip, I just had to visit this place.

 

LAVA Centre – Location & Admission

LAVA Centre is located located at the Northwest edge of Hvölsvollur, right at the ring route #1.  The small town also offers some restaurants and a petrol station as well as some places to stay at. The travel time from Central Reykjavik is about 100 minutes.

LAVA Centre is opening daily from 9:00 to 16:00 hrs. Admission to the museum is 3,990 ISK, roughly 27 Euro.

 

LAVA Centre – The Visit

The reception area of the hosts a giant display which gives you an overview about the sites of the volcanoes on Iceland. There are also some other information displays around, which give you a “warm-up”, before you head into the cinema room and watch a video about tectonic activities in the country. From there, you head into the museum-alike exhibition of your visit.

You first walk along a very scenically illuminated aisle, which gives you a deeper introduction into the volcanoes and past eruptions in Iceland. After that, you learn about the geological history of Iceland and how it split off Greenland over the years. Again, the display is very well designed – you can turn on a wheel to explore the movements over time. You then more and more get into how volcanoes are structures, which kinds of lava are there and how they look like. The exhibition feels very detailed and very informative.

The last room you visit is called Volcano View and is very well done. Using gestures, you interactively receive information about the volcanoes around the museum and their recent activity. Overall, the visit of the museum including the movie takes you about an hour.

 

LAVA Centre – Observation Deck

After your visit of the exhibition, you can walk up to the roof of the place, which is operating as an observation deck. At good weather, you can watch several volcanoes from there, like Hekla, Eyjafjallajökull and ideally even the volcanic islands of Vestmannaeyjar. During my visit, it has been too foggy. Nonetheless, it has been a nice opportunity to explore the area. Signs at the edge of the observation deck introduce you to the key (volcanic) sites around.

 

LAVA Centre – Services

The staff at the centre was very friendly. They also drive a huge souvenir and clothing store in the museum. The cafe has been closed due to Covid-19 restrictions during my visit.

 

LAVA Centre – My View

The price for LAVA Centre is high – and that’s also the key negative point about this place. It is driven with a lot of information, great presentation and interaction. You can learn a lot about volcanoes. LAVA Centre is a great place – and it would be a shame if you would drive along if you are on the ring road anyway.

 

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