Stunned

anskupo

Ehkä yksi maailman upeimmista paikoista. Näin talvella ei ketään muita missään.🤍

Lilluttiin kuumassa kuopassa, erämaassa keskellä ei mitään, vuorien ympäröimänä.

L O V E L O V E!

Islanti vaan on.🇮🇸🤍

A very brief overview of just a wee bit of soaking info from Iceland. Maybe a shorter read for a change. To start off the year so to say.

Almostthereadventures has a list (May 14) of 22 Icelandic hot springs :

'Hot springs in Iceland are where strangers meet. The people of Iceland have a deep connection with geothermal activity that is centuries old, so it’s no wonder there are so many geothermal pools in Iceland. Hot springs are a part of Icelandic culture and provide a place to connect or meet friends and family all year long. When you have amazing Icelandic scenery paired with a natural hot water source it makes for a perfect match for relaxing'.

Most though of the commercial kind.

The Reykjavik Grapevine reports (Dec. 13) on the first fully publically accesible hot tub:

'The new hot tub will feature a ramp, allowing wheelchair users to roll directly into the water'.

in_sain_i

Don't know what Eva was telling but it was funny, I guess :-D

Pic by @blende_eins_zwei_photography

Funny girl @evalilienthal

Doing a break from the fantastic costumes and photoshootings we take in iceland :-D

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Fault

Totaliceland has updated (Nov. 29) their piece on birthday suit swimming on the island. Change?

'Anyone visiting Iceland ten years ago could have enjoyed many Icelandic steam baths and geothermally heated pools and lakes without difficulty in their birthday suit. Not any more.

...

You can no longer bathe naked anywhere here without difficulty; loud screams from Japanese tourists and constant pointing and whispering among people from the United States. And some fancy places as the very expensive Blue Lagoon or Fontana steam baths in Laugarvatn explicitly forbid any kind of nudity.

This is a shame indeed and entirely the fault of the growing number of foreign tourists making demands about civility.

However, there are loads of places available for nude bathing but these are far away from the popular tourist destinations in or around Reykjavik area. In the highlands you can still do very much as you please and there are places and times where nudity will bother no one but those places are far off the beaten tourist track'.

icelandic.naturist

Hotspring trips are always refreshing for the soul. This is also a good place to enjoy the sun when she comes out to play.

#naturism #befree #skinnydipping #secretplace #hotspringsiceland #bodyfreedom #nakedinnature #nudeisnotlewd #naked #freespirit #enjoyinglife #hotsprings #lovetheskinyourin #befree #gonaked #feelthefreedom #daretobare #friendship #enjoythemoment #enjoylife #capturethemoment #freedom #freethebody #friends #soakingspirit #soaking #soak #hotspringsiceland #hotspring #iceland #icelandicnature

TravelerTina visits (May 21) the Netherlands (most), but this blog entry also deals with Iceland:

'Nude bathing in Iceland, on the other hand [to the Netherlands], is a bit more challenging. While nudism in Iceland is legal, you generally don’t do it when there are other people around. All of the local spas and pools require that you wear a bathing suit (though single-sex nude showers are required beforehand). Much though you might want to, you cannot be naked at places like the Blue Lagoon, Sky Lagoon, or the fabulous Hvammsvik Hot Springs.Nude bathing in Iceland, on the other hand, is a bit more challenging. While nudism in Iceland is legal, you generally don’t do it when there are other people around. All of the local spas and pools require that you wear a bathing suit (though single-sex nude showers are required beforehand). Much though you might want to, you cannot be naked at places like the Blue Lagoon, Sky Lagoon, or the fabulous Hvammsvik Hot Spring'.

kittenimsmitten

i know instagram is forcing us all to make reels or our posts aren’t seen

i’m trying for sure

but i’m not very good at it

anyway here are just a couple regular old photos of me (and one of mathias) in a hot spring we found in iceland

it was a very long drive to get there, we didn’t really know where we were even going or what we would find

but i mean there were sheep

and rainbows (hi sissy)

and rolling hills

it was really pretty

and i just feel like it’s worth sharing 🌈

Prox

nelliebenner

Iceland , wat ben je coool ⛄️✨🫶🐋

An Icelandic special. Not too rambling I believe.

We start off with TheWorldPursuit which lists 30 hot springs in Iceland (Feb. 4). Instead of Blue Lagoon they say. 

Highly trendy, especially as the Blue Lagoon needed to be evacuated mid-March due to the most recent eruption very nearby. Q&A by Icelandreview (Mar. 18):

'Q: Is the Blue Lagoon in Iceland open after the eruption?

A: No, the Blue Lagoon is currently closed after the volcanic eruption that began at Sundhnúkagígar on March 16. Due to its close proximity to the eruption site, the Blue Lagoon had to evacuate its guests and temporarily close down all facilities. It will remain closed through Tuesday, March 19.

This is the fourth eruption since December 2023 and is, in time of writing, still active'.

More specific alternatives.

National Geographic has a travel article (Feb. 1) on some of the lesser known soaks of Iceland, albeit just Hvammsvík.

'I’m at Hvammsvík. Opened in 2023, it’s the newest addition to Iceland’s impressive collection of hot springs, all of which make use of the country’s abundant geothermal waters'.

Heed the post-script:

'This story was created with support from Hvammsvík, PLAY Airlines and Grandi by Center Hotels'. 

polly_makshein

Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River

#iceland🇮🇸 #iceland #islandia #исландия #island #islandlife #hotsprings #thermal #горячиеисточники #relax #goodday #кайф #travel #travelgram #travelphotography #traveltheworld #travelblogger #travelling #traveling #traveler #lovetravel #travelgirl #river #mountains #góry #горы #nature #podróże

The Reykjavik Grapevine on tour. They head out and report (Mar. 13) on the Forest Lagoon, Akureyri:

'Forest Lagoon, or Skógarböð, opened its doors in May 2022 and has since welcomed more than 200,000 visitors. Natural baths aren’t a new concept in Iceland, in fact, there’s one in almost every corner of the country. But, until Sigríður María Hammer and her husband Finnur Aðalbjörnsson turned their land into a thriving business, providing a haven for both locals and tourists to relax in the region, there wasn’t one in this part of the North.

...

“When they were drilling the tunnel, they found hot water within the mountain that wasn’t supposed to be there. It was quite a surprise,” Sigríður explains.

The discovery of the hot water caused considerable delay for the construction work of the tunnel. “The construction workers were actually working just in speedos, because it was 50 degrees inside,” says Sigríður. “Ever since the tunnel was finished, this water has basically been going into the ocean. Nobody was doing anything with it. What a waste.”

The 50-degree water, rich with oxygen and minerals, wasn’t suitable for heating houses. Finnur, who’s a contractor and has worked on many infrastructure projects in the area, first thought of the idea of building a nature bath. However, the problem was that the hot water vein lay approximately three kilometres from what is now the Forest Lagoon. The project sounded ambitious but very costly.

...

I change into my swimsuit in the shower area, which is equipped with both open public showers and individual shower cabins for those who aren’t used to the Icelandic bathing customs of showering naked. A good shower is essential, highlights Sigríður — the water in Forest Lagoon is free from any chemicals, including chlorine. The only thing Forest Lagoon adds to the water is cold water, exchanging it a few times a day to stay free from bacteria'.

The inevitable, subject wise.

Icelandwithaview on naked showering before bathing in Iceland's mostly hot spring sourced swimming pools (Dec. 8, 2023). Quite something, that you can make an extensive article on something that's actually a non-item.

'Once you overcome the initial shock of having to shower at the pools in Iceland naked, it’s actually quite liberating.

Don’t let it scare you; not only is it an amazing experience, but you also gain a better understanding of the local culture.

I’m not a member of any Iceland naturist community, I swear, but I do think it’s pretty cool!

Thank god we've still got the pictures that soaking in nature in Iceland still exists, phew! 

nomadic_cosmopolitan

When all of Reykjavík has covid, you go on an isolating winter road trip to the west fjords

Victims

Hveravellir 

 

It's off to Iceland for a two part Sascha special. No less than seven hot springs are up for evaluation. 

Starting off in the southwest of Iceland, closer to Iceland's main port of entry and capital Reykjavik. Note that these Icelandic hot pots are also some of the best visited due to ease of access from Reykjavik. Thus more people to share the soaks with ...

In the evaluations Sascha often refers to the Icelandic soaking bible by Jon Snaeland (Thermal Pools in Iceland) a trusty companion to your Iceland travails. 

Note that internet knowledge is getting ever better and you may well be better off seeking advice here (or I mean on internet in general, f.i. Hotpot Iceland), but heed, that once in Iceland's backcountry, there's little mobile reception, so the book will prove to be of more value.

Over to Sascha, who starts off with his harsh opinion on the hot spring by the name of Klambragil, which is very often (if not more often) referred to as Reykjadalur; it was previously highlighted on this blog two years ago.

• Klambragil 

Klambragil was definitively a great place in the past, but is it still the case today?

Klambragil is more a river than a hot spring with different temperatures. 

To get here, head first to the town of Hveragerdi, drive through the town and park your car at a big parking place (free of payment). In the town, there are gas stations, a bakery, a supermarket and a tourist office that seems to explain 500 times each day the way to the hot river. Then follow the masses of tourists (that are often coming here by buses from Reykjavik) on a hiking path for about 40 minutes to reach the place where the river is accessible and has the right temperature (around 35°C-45°C depending on the place). There are changing facilities and a wooden path. 

Klambragil is a good example, which shows that Iceland is becoming more and more a victim of its own success. 

My evaluation for Klambragil: 3 stars (of 5).

Rush

Let's continue as Sascha has another couple of hot pots, coming up with Hrunalaug first, again prior blogged here. 

• Hrunalaug

Before Jon Snaeland published Hrunalaug in his book (according to locals, he forgot to inform the landowner), the hot spring was unknown for most of the people and in particular for tourists. This changed completely, so better get there early in the morning when you want to stay alone. 
Today, the spring is part of tour operators and the landowner requests a donation that helps to keep the place clean. Not sure, if many people put money in his box, in any case the place was no littering when I visited the hot spring. Overnight camping strictly forbidden. 

To get here, head to [the village of] Fludir and then drive to Hruni where the hot spring is indicated. Hrunalaug has two pools, the smaller one at the grass covered hut is colder, around 35°C but with a better view [see photo below] than the bigger one which is around 38°C. In former times, the pools were used to wash the sheep, today it is a good place to start or finish the Iceland trip because it is not too far from Reykjavik. 

My evaluation: 4 stars.

• Hveravellir 

This hot spring is quite popular because it is situated close to road F35 that crosses the island over the highlands and is a common stop for tourist buses. A camping site and a lodge with a restaurant are nearby. 

Nevertheless and apart from the fact that the hot springs can be overcrowded, it is nice to soak inside because the pool is quite deep and the temperature varies from 30°C to 44°C. On one side of the pool, 80°C hot water flows in and it is advised to mix the water to get the right temperature. Guests of the lodge are permitted to use the changing rooms, all other tourists have to change their clothes outside or have to pay 500 ISK, around 3,50 EUR. 

About one hour drive to the south is the Kerlingafjöll hot spring that looks interesting on pictures, but has only a temperature of around 32°C. As it was snowing I was not really in the mood to try it out.

 

My evaluation for Hveravellir: 3 stars. 

Next week: part 2 of Sascha's Icelandic soaking saga.

Soaking sources of Iceland

Swiftly becoming one of Iceland's main attractions: an out of the way hot spring, Hrunalaug.

Mllelp:

'Paradis bien au chaud! #hotsprings #iceland #icelandtravel'

The last months have seen a series of entries on personal experiences with Icelandic hot natural springs. 
But only on just a few. 
There are way many more ...

For those of you, who want to explore further, this post will seek to give a good overview of information available.

In print

There's no doubt about it, there's just the single publication which any soaker will need when visiting Islan and that is Snaeland, J.G. & Þ. Sigurbjörnsdóttir's (2010) Thermal pools in Iceland. 

Surprisingly this publication is only available from the webshop of Skrudda and priced at 3990 Icelandic krona, which with today's exchange rate works out to be just under 26€.

The authors present details on roughly 80+ Icelandic soaks, mostly undeveloped hot spring sites; by no means complete but if wishing to visit all 80 mentioned, I would suggest taking a couple of months of holiday! 

All complete with GPS data, the book hopes to highlight the need to visit and respect thermal pools as especially tourists are highly motivated to seek out wild thermal pools.

Top sites

And though there is this book on hot springs in Iceland (soaking enthusiasts will be surprised that there is at least a book) us aficionado's know that printed work on hot springs is usually very scarce. 

Not so with internet web sites.

Your first address to consult would be swimminginiceland. It lists more than 100 thermal swimming pools, all developed as well as a dozen or so, more natural / wilder soaks.

The English / Icelandic islandihnotskurn has a neatly set up website, offering information and photo's on nearly 50 of the nations hot springs. Comes with a Facebook page.

The enjoyiceland website has an overview of 20+ natural hot springs, though not necessarily all soakable.

Beggi and Magga maintain a photographic website, kjoarnir. With their own photo's on nearly 20 hot springs.

Selka Kind on her website whatwegotuptoiniceland notes her best and worst hot pools. In the same mode c'est christine plugs her best places to swim in Iceland: Blue Lagoon, Hofn, Seljavallalaug, Hrunalaug and Hveragerði.

Popular haunt for wild soaking: Rekjaladur / Hveragerði. Source

Much in the same flavour as this website, LA Swimming goes international and Throb's lengthy and entertaining entry counts trips to 13 soaking sites on Iceland.

Then there is a site on Icelandic hot pots; it seeks to explain the love affair between Icelanders and their hot waters.

In town
Away from the uncivilised hot springs (sorry ...), Reykjavik has made taking a hot pot at one of their public swimming pools a trendy thing to do. 

Some swimming pools are old and weary but thus novel whereas others are very modern affairs. 
The Reykjavik Grapevine has an article on Sundhöllin, Reykjaviks oldest and most central swimming pools. It's a great place to experience a night time hot pot.
The Icelandic Times has an extensive article on Laugardalslaug, probably the biggest of Reykjavik.

Note: 
Snaeland, J.G. & Þ. Sigurbjörnsdóttir (2010) Thermal pools in Iceland. Skrudda, Reykjavik, Iceland

White-out

Gem hunting

Few soaks come better than those in the hinterland of Hveragerði.

The village of Hveragerði, which is located 45 km's due west of Iceland's capital of Reykjavik, is a minor hot spot in it's own rights. Those just passing by on Highway 1 can notice the greenhouses all running on geothermals, while on the river which flows north of the village, one sees quite a bit of steam rising.

The local website tries to entice more of those passing by to stop:

'Without doubt, Hveragerði´s, most precious gem is it´s geothermal park'.

The park has it's own Facebook page. 
Especially during summer, the village highlights it's geothermal background, there's even a geothermal oven to bake bread! It's good to see that the inhabitants take pride in their village and it's geothermalism.

However, despite Hveragerði having it's own hot swimming pool, those tourists with non-fixed programmes can seek the hills yonder. 

Guidance

Alternatively the area where I am heading is named as Reykjadalur (which means steamy or smokey valley), Hengill (after the volcano), Klambragil (one of the springs) or Rjúpnabrekkur, probablt the most accessible site. The former is explained:

' ... named so because of the winter population of ptarmigans in the area'.

With the possibility of mixing these up, let me start at the trail to Reykjadalur valley, the starting point which may or may not be called Rjúpnabrekkur. To get here, from the main highway one turns into the village itself and takes a left once the main drag has come to an end. 

Looking back at the car park

Then follow the river (named Varma), the asphalt surface runs out where a loop around grassland one comes to a parking spot near a bridge over the now much smaller river. 

Beyond the bridge crossing the river, are a number of hot springs, though it's not here that tourists are heading. Instead avid soakers zig-zag through the springs up the steep hill.

Note though that Throb of LA Swimming also mentions there are some hot soakable springs near the parking lot. Other mentions are made of luke-warm springs.

This way up

Beyond the steep ridge, more ridges are to be traversed but after a good half an hour hike, the path rejoins the river once more. That's not before a couple of great vista's have come and gone: behind one, out towards the ocean or of the valley itself with a rather big waterfall.

Once back near the stream itself, there are a number of hot springs, on the west bank, it's very evident by the steam. One can bypass these boiling hot pots including a few muddy ones. If into mud take a sample to use once cooled down!

This is easy soaking territory. You predecessors have already enhanced the soaking opportunities with the construction of small dams, making small pools up to half a meter deep.

Small world

My visit was on an eery snow laden day. The track up was do-able, but once beyond the ridges, the track was barely visible under the snow. And out to sea more snow threatened. So taking the trail up, soaking and heading back down it was all done in a rush.

Despite the adverse weather conditions, there were still a few other soakers in Reykjadalur. 

All that was needed to make a great soak, was to make a choice of pool: your predecessors have constructed small dams making 30-50 cm deep pools. Helped on by differing temperatures, one could take a soak in the white landscape.

Despite the lack of gawkers, todays dress code was well-dressed? 

If one continues onwards, a left turn brings one to the hot spring of Klambragil. Further up the valley a shelter used to exist, while the other valleys nearby also have their own springs, not sure what their soaking qualities are though.

In summer many tour companies organize activities in the hills above the village: cycling, hiking, horse-riding. Naturally all expecting to finish with a soak!

Otherwise

There's plenty of info on Reykjadalur and the other hot springs nearby, fear not. For instance Gonguferdir.net has a couple of photo's plus a link to a walking track, great to download on your mobile whatever electronic device: if need be, you can seek advice.

Other good resources (and reads) are besides already mentioned Throb's trip account are those from Unlocking Kiki and alavigne which describes a good and entertaining entry on a hot spring hunt. 

Note that Reykjadalur is rated as one of Iceland's best soaking sites (source).

Finally, in Snaeland & Sigurbjörnsdóttir's Icelandic soaking bible, the authors have separate chapters on Klambragil and Rjúpnabrekkur / Varma. 
They describe ways of getting to both (they note an alternative way from the Hellisheiði power station) and have pointers on temperature; in Klambragil these of course they can vary, while at Rjúpnabrekkur temperatures are a little low, 33C.

Note:
Snaeland, J.G. & Þ. Sigurbjörnsdóttir (2010) Thermal pools in Iceland. Skrudda, Reykjavik, Iceland