Iceland Volcano TourEyjascooter Volcano Tour: Riding the 1973 Lava on Heimaey
The Eyjascooter volcano tour is the oddest listing on this site and one of the best rated: $105 for an hour riding an electric off-road scooter around the Eldfell lava on Heimaey, 4.9 from 16 reviews. The scooters are Kaabo Wolf Warrior machines with seats fitted, so you sit rather than stand, and they are electric, which on an island this size is the difference between hearing the sea and hearing an engine. You ride yourself, and warm clothes are not supplied.
About This Tour
Heimaey is small enough to ride around and too spread out to walk in an hour, which is the gap this tour fills.,The route is the lava from the 1973 Eldfell eruption, the one that buried part of the town and doubled the island's harbour defences.
1 hour
$105 per person on the listing
4.9 from 16 Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
Kaabo Wolf Warrior electric scooter with a seat
Warm clothes and a rain cover
Up the road from the ferry, at the traffic lights
Check Dates and Availability
Dates come straight from the booking platform's own calendar, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start.
You'll confirm the exact date and time on the secure booking page.
Quick answer What you ride, what you must bring and how long it lasts
The tour costs $105 for one hour on an electric off-road scooter with a seat, around the 1973 Eldfell lava on Heimaey. It rates 4.9 from 16 reviews. You ride it yourself, the operator supplies the machine only, and warm clothing and rain gear are explicitly not included.
Key takeaways
- Prefer a guide doing the driving? The island coach loop is $123 for 2.5 hours with commentary.
- Prefer the lava from the water? The boat tour is $103 for 90 minutes past the flow front and the sea caves.
- Want the full 1973 story first? It is on the Eldfell page.
What the Hour Is Like
You drive, on an island where that is the point.
The Machines
The operator's own note is that the scooters are Kaabo Wolf Warrior 11 models with seats added, so more people can enjoy them. In practice that means a heavy off-road scooter you sit on rather than a stand-up commuter toy, with enough torque for the rough ground beside the lava.
They are electric, which the operator frames as an environmental choice and which has a second effect worth having: on a small island the quiet is most of what you came for, and an engine removes it.
Where You Go
The hour goes around the Eldfell lava and the parts of the island the coach loop passes at speed. The meeting point is easy: from the ferry, straight up the road, on the corner by the traffic lights.
One hour on an island 13 square kilometres in size is enough to cover the ground and not enough to linger, which is the honest shape of it. People who want to stop and look for longer should take the scooter and then walk the same ground.
What It Costs Against the Alternatives
$105 for an hour is more per minute than the boat at $103 for 90 minutes or the coach loop at $123 for two and a half hours.
What you pay for is agency. On the other two you sit where you are put; on this one you decide where to stop, and on lava that difference is most of the experience.
What the Listing Asks of You
Two lines in the small print decide whether this is a good day or a cold one.
Clothing Is Not Included
The listing is explicit: warm clothes and a rain cover are not included. On a scooter, at Atlantic wind speeds, that is not a formality. An hour of exposure at 30 km/h in Icelandic weather without a windproof layer is genuinely unpleasant.
Bring gloves too. Your hands are on the bars for the whole hour, and the exposed lava fields have nothing to break the wind.
Fitness and Health
The listing calls it suitable for all physical fitness levels but does not recommend it for travellers with poor cardiovascular health. You ride yourself, so a licence question is worth asking the operator directly if you have never used a scooter of this size.
Service animals are allowed and public transport stops nearby, which on Heimaey means the road from the ferry.
Source: Eldheimar Museum
The Ground You Are Riding On
Fifty years ago this was the edge of town.
The 1973 Eruption
A fissure opened at the edge of the town in January 1973. The whole population, over 5,000 people, left overnight by fishing boat. Lava buried part of the streets and pushed towards the harbour, and islanders pumped seawater onto the flow to slow it and protect the port.
The result is what you ride across: a young lava field with a town on one side of it and the sea on the other, and a new mountain, Eldfell, that did not exist before that winter.
What Is Underneath
Parts of the old town are still under the lava. The Eldheimar museum is built around one house excavated from the tephra, and admission is separate from every tour on this page: 3,550 ISK for adults, 1,900 ISK for ages 10 to 18, free under 10.
Nothing here is hot any more, and nothing is erupting anywhere in Iceland at the moment. This is a historical site you can ride a scooter over, which is a strange and specific thing to be able to say.
Who Should Book It
A short list, because it is a specific product.
It Suits
Independent travellers with a few hours on the island and a dislike of coach commentary. Confident riders. Anyone travelling in pairs who wants to cover the island without hiring a car for a day.
It also suits people already doing the boat tour: between them, 2.5 hours and $208 gets you the eruption from the sea and from on top of it, with no guide talking over either.
It Does Not Suit
Nervous riders, anyone who has not ridden a scooter of this weight, and anyone who has come for the history rather than the ground. The coach loop has a guide explaining what you are looking at; this does not.
It also does not suit bad weather. Wind on the exposed lava can cancel the ride, and an hour in driving rain on an open machine is nobody's idea of a holiday.
Eyjascooter Questions
Do I ride it myself?
Yes. The operator supplies the machine, a Kaabo Wolf Warrior with a seat, and you drive. If you have never ridden one, ask the operator about the briefing before booking.
Is clothing provided?
No. Warm clothes and a rain cover are explicitly not included, and an hour on an open scooter in Icelandic wind needs both.
Where does it start?
Up the road from the ferry landing, on the corner by the traffic lights, which is a two-minute walk from where the boat puts you.
Is it better than the coach tour?
Different. The coach has a guide and covers the puffin cliffs in 2.5 hours; this is one hour of riding the lava yourself for $105.
Can I see the buried houses?
The lava field is on the route, but the excavated house is inside the Eldheimar museum, which costs 3,550 ISK for adults and is not included in any tour here.
What if the weather is bad?
Wind on the exposed lava can cancel the ride. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start, and the indoor alternative on the mainland is the Lava Show.
Is it suitable for children?
The listing states no minimum age but you are driving a heavy machine on rough ground. Treat it as an adult activity and ask the operator if you are travelling with teenagers.
How does this fit with a ferry day trip?
Tightly, and that is the argument for it. The crossing from Landeyjahofn takes about 35 minutes and the meeting point is a two-minute walk from where you land, so an hour on the scooter fits inside a day trip without a hire car. Pair it with the 90-minute boat tour at $103 and you have seen the 1973 lava from the water and from on top of it in under three hours, with the ferry home the same evening.
Prices, availability and terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
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