Laugardalur washing pools

About Laugardalur washing pools

The Laugardalur washing pools (Þvottalaugarnar) are the restored remains of the hot springs where the women of Reykjavík did the town's laundry for more than a century. They lie in the Laugardalur valley, about 3 km east of the city centre, between the Laugardalslaug swimming pool, the Botanical Garden and the Family Park and Zoo, and they gave the whole valley its name, which means valley of the pools.

People began washing clothes in the hot water here at the end of the 18th century, when water from boiling springs ran into a small pond. By the 1830s almost every household in Reykjavík sent its laundry to the pools. The work was done by women, often maids and washerwomen, who carried heavy loads, buckets, washboards and food on their backs along the path from town; that path became Laugavegur, the pool road, now the city's main shopping street. Shelters for the washerwomen were built in 1833, 1888 and 1901, and the pools fell out of use around 1930, when Reykjavík began piping geothermal water to homes.

Today the pools are mostly dry, but the stone-lined channels have been restored, and information boards tell the story of the laundresses and of how the springs led to the city's district heating system. It is a quiet, free open-air site that takes 15 to 20 minutes to see and is open at all times.

The washing pools make an easy stop on a walk or cycle through Laugardalur, which also has walking paths, sports grounds and the Ásmundarsafn sculpture museum. The valley can be reached on foot from the centre in about 40 minutes, or by city bus. Finish with a swim at Laugardalslaug, Reykjavík's largest pool, a few minutes' walk away.