Geothermal Baths, Region by Region

Secret Lagoon in Flúðir is about 140 kilometres and a little over two hours inland from Reykjanes. Locally called Gamla Laugin, it was dug in 1891 and is promoted as Iceland’s oldest swimming pool. The village learned to swim here before the pool fell quiet; it reopened to visitors in 2014. Allow two relaxed hours in water kept at 38 to 40 degrees, with steam rising from the springs around the pool. Keep children close near those springs. Litli Geysir and its neighbours are actively boiling, and Litli Geysir sends up water and steam every few minutes. The setting retains the mineral smell and simple character of an old village pool at a much lower price than the Blue Lagoon.

Fontana is less than forty kilometres and about forty minutes from Flúðir, on the shore of Laugarvatn. Its pools and steam rooms stand directly over lakeside hot springs, so steam rises through the floor while cold wind crosses the lake. The distinctive extra is rúgbrauð, dense rye bread baked by burying the dough in hot black ground beside the water and digging it up hours later. Set aside two hours for the pools, steam and warm bread. The same geothermal heat warms the room beneath your feet and cooks what arrives on the plate.

Vök is not the next leg after Fontana: the two are about 630 kilometres and nine hours apart. Treat Vök as an East Iceland bath for a stay near Egilsstaðir. It stands beside Urriðavatn and takes its name from vök, the ice-free patches once created by geothermal water rising into the lake. Floating infinity pools extend into the water, placing warm mineral baths beside the cold lake. On shore are more hot pools, a sauna, cold plunges and a tea bar using the same warm water. Allow two calm hours. The only special supervision needed is at the cold plunges on the lake edge, where children should remain close and follow instructions.

GeoSea sits on a cliff above Húsavík, about 200 kilometres and three hours from Egilsstaðir on an anticlockwise Ring Road trip. A borehole drilled for drinking water struck hot, mineral-rich brine instead, so the pools use warm seawater with a faint salt taste. From the infinity edge, the view runs across Skjálfandi Bay to the mountains; in dark months, northern lights may appear above the steam. Two hours here are as much about the horizon as the bath. Húsavík is below the cliff for a meal, and whale-watching boats leave from the harbour in view, making the soak an easy part of a full day in town.

Mývatn Nature Baths, now branded Earth Lagoon Mývatn, is about sixty kilometres and an hour inland from Húsavík. On Jarðbaðshólar, a broad pale-blue lagoon overlooks one of Iceland’s most active geothermal areas. Steam baths, warm tubs and a cold tub sit around the edge, and a light sulfur smell reflects the local source. Allow two easy hours after a day exploring the area. Reykjahlíð is only minutes away for food and a bed, so the lagoon works well as the finish to a northern day rather than a separate destination.

Krauma belongs to a western outing from Reykjavík, not a continuation from Mývatn, which lies about 370 kilometres and nearly six hours away. The baths stand beside Deildartunguhver, widely described as Europe’s highest-flow hot spring. Source water emerges at 97 to 100 degrees, too hot for bathing, then passes through a heat exchanger before reaching six pools: five warm and one cold. The nearby spring remains dangerously hot, so stay behind the signs and barriers. Allow two hours to move through the baths, then stop in Borgarnes for a meal on the return to Reykjavík.

Sundhöll Reykjavíkur on Barónsstígur is the city’s oldest purpose-built indoor pool. State architect Guðjón Samúelsson designed the Art Deco building, which opened in 1937 soon after swimming became compulsory in Icelandic schools. Many Reykjavík residents learned there in a hall four metres deep with cathedral-like acoustics. It was among the first buildings connected to the city’s geothermal district heating, the same resource sold as a premium experience elsewhere. A 2017 outdoor deck added hot tubs, a cold tub, sauna, play pool and shallow lanes, so one municipal ticket covers both the original hall and the modern heitur pottur. A visit can fit into ninety minutes, though the devoted regulars featured in the 2010 documentary Höllin, ‘the palace’, made it part of daily life.