We went by minibus from the harbor up to the volcano. It's not far. The volcano cone is 215 m high. When it was erupting, the end was only 200 m. from the East edge of the town. Everything is so black. The lava is like gravel. Not too bad to walk on, but a walking stick is a real good idea. When you are on the lip of the crater, you can look down over the town to the harbor and ocean below. We hiked down the crater for about 10 minutes to the place where a memorial has been set up for the person who was killed by the volcano and the efforts of the people who saved the harbor and the town.
We sat down on the lava and we were advised to dig around. Only a hand's depth below the surface the lava was still warm 22 years after the eruption. The lava is hot enough that village woman make loaves of bread and bury them in the lava to bake.
There's a garden nearby the volcano that was built to show the determination of the Heimaey people to survive the eruption. Spend some time here. It is quite unusual to be able to see so much of a volcano--although my greatest impression is that of acres of black, black lava without detail.