Tag Archives: Iceland hot spring

Jun9

The famous Blue Lagoon

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Saturday, 18-May-2024


So, heads up to start this post off with. I did not take pictures in the main swimming area of the Blue Lagoon. I know, I know, technically phones are allowed… but man, it just feels weird! Right? I’m not crazy, am I? It just feels weird to have a phone out, taking pictures, when everyone around you is luxuriating in the hot spring wearing bathing suits.

Fine. I’m a prude, okay. Whatever, I live my life and choose to leave my cellphone in the locker. #Cell-Signal-Free 4 lyfe.

I mean okay, I did bring my kindle. I like reading my book in the warm water.



Let’s dive into the Blue Lagoon. First off – no diving. It’s probably deep enough to dive, near the middle, but the edges are almost universally shallow. So… don’t dive. It’d hurt, and you can’t see how far you’ve got to dive, since the water is super murky.

But it’s a neat murky – Supposedly it’s from all the suspended silica in the water, which gives the Blue Lagoon its “good for your complexion” properties, but I can tell you from direct experience that it’s simply lovely feeling water, at a glorious temperature. Which is interesting – unlike all of the other hot spring resorts that I’ve been to, Blue Lagoon had a massive single pool, with small inlets and islets. Hvammsvik and Krauma (And Breitenbush back in Oregon) had multiple smaller pools, each at a different temperature, which allowed you to pick your heat… Blue Lagoon was just the single heat setting, at a lovely warm bath temperature.




I soaked, read my book, and relaxed.

I even got a “floating massage”, which was definitely an interesting one. Basically I was plopped up on a floating yoga mat, with a blanket over me, and got a massage from below – using my own bodyweight to press the masseuses hands and fingers into my muscles. Then, every 5min or so, she’d dunk me under to re-warm the blanket… which was a little weird at first, but super lovely once I got used to it.

I wouldn’t recommend it over a traditional table massage… but for what it was, it was a lovely option to have… and a good addition to my soak in the Lagoon.


So yeah. Soaked, read, relaxed. Dried off, bought some fancy face masks, and got some sushi. Absolutely lovely.

Jun8

Visiting Hvammsvik hot spring and spa

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Friday, 17-May-2024


My second hot spring spa of the day was Hvammsvik, pronounced more like “K-ams-vick” – a sort-of competitor to the Blue Lagoon in terms of tourism, at least from what I could tell looking at the various ads for each of them in the airport when I first landed in Iceland. Which, incidentally, was at least one of the ways I’d heard about it. Advertising does work!

I’d tried to swing by before, nearer to the beginning of my adventure on the 14th, but they’d been closed to clean the pools out. Which I’m actually okay with, since I’d been able to find a tiny little hot spring in the woods, all alone, instead… but that’s another story.

Hvammsvik was lovely. I don’t have any photos from the pools, since it seemed weird to have my phone on me in such a private place, but I can 100% confidently state that the pools were lovely, at excellent temperatures, and that their mineral content was absolutely lovely. I luxuriated, recovered from some of my aches and adventure pains, and felt glorious.



Afterward, I followed by tradition from Krauma, and got myself a very lovely dinner – a lovely dinner that I could take pictures of! Melty cheese, delicious seafood soup, and even a fancy health-shot of… something… vaguely spicy? It felt a little woo-woo magic-crystals, but it was tasty and I felt pretty good afterward, so I’m taking it as a win and being happy for it!

Which is the theme, here. Two hot springs in one day, getting to watch the sun slide down toward the cliffs, and having an excellent meal afterward? Yeah, I’m not going to be complaining at all.

An absolutely lovely visit to a lovely spa.

Jun7

Deildartunguhver hot springs, and Krauma Spa

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Friday, 17-May-2024

My second stop on my last day of #van_life wasn’t planned originally. I noticed it on the drive in to the horse farm, and got curious… so, after my ride, I headed back to see what there was to see.

What there was to see, it turns out, was Deildartunguhver hot springs and the Krauma spa attached to it.

Now, Sturlureykirhorses may have the first geothermal heating system in Europe… but Deildartunguhver is the highest flow-rate. 180 liters per second, highest flow rate. The water flows so quickly that, not only does it feed the spa nearby, but it’s also piped 21 miles away to one town… and 40 miles away to another.

I’m kind of geeking out on hot springs, being in Iceland, if you couldn’t tell.

(Ed Note: If you also couldn’t tell, Ben has left out pronunciation guides for these two places. That’s because he has no idea how to pronounce them. Bet you didn’t notice that on the previous post about the horse farm, huh?)

It’s really cool.

What isn’t really cool is the spa. It was warm, and lovely, and lovely warm. I finally bought a bathing suit, and luxuriated in the various pools at various temperatures, reading my book and appreciating the warmth and minerals on my suddenly-tired legs. Horse riding is hard, it turns out.

You know what, though? Totally worth it. As I sank into the 108 degree mineral water, I was absolutely certain that it was totally worth it.

After soaking and completely melting most of what remained of my all-of-me, I stepped out, cooled down, and grabbed some food at the attached cafe.

That’s one of the really nice things about Iceland – it really is a tourism-focused country, and they’ve done a glorious job of making us annoying tourists feel welcome. Great spas, amazing food… There is no way I could complain. Frankly, even the prices were reasonable – at least in comparison to Oregon, that is.