For visitors to Iceland, the majestic peaks of the southern glaciers have a magnetic pull. Eyjafjallajökull comes into view somewhere between Selfoss and Hella on the southern road—an impossibly high ice cap that makes you blink and wonder if it’s a cloud formation, at first.

Satisfying the urge to explore Iceland’s glaciers can be tricky for the unacquainted. These huge tracts of ice—snow compacted under its own weight over centuries—are often in high, unaccessible places, and walking on the ice requires some safety precautions, equipment, and preferably an experienced guide.

But if you just want to take a look, one of the easiest and safest places to do so is Solheimajökull. This glacier tongue extends from the heights of Mýrðalsjökull down to ground level, terminating just a few kilometres from the ring road. We went for a look at the ice and the glacier lagoon as they glittered in the early summer sunlight.