With a ice volume of well over 3000 cubic km the Vatnajökull is Iceland's largest icecap covering 8% of the islands surface.

Hidden below the ice are several active volcanoes with eruptions as recent as May 2011.

 

Since 2008 the glacier and surroundings are part of the very large Vatnajökull National Park that covers about 14% of Iceland.

In the south the glaciers are retreating, creating lagoons and glacier rivers where icebergs make their way to the sea towards their final demise.

 

Jökulsárlón and Fjallsárlón are a must-see for tourists because you can almost touch the calving icebergs here.

 

Skaftafell National Park lies more to the west and offers nice Alpine landscapes and is a hikers paradise.