Iceland attractions

Raufarhöfn

Raufarhöfn is the northernmost village on the Icelandic mainland, on the Melrakkaslétta coast of Northeast Iceland, and the Raufarhöfn campsite puts all of it within walking distance. The campground sits by a small pond next to the elementary school and the sports center on Skólabraut, a short walk from the grocery store and the harbor. The main sight is the Arctic Henge (Heimskautsgerðið), a stone monument on the hill above the village, and around midsummer the nights here barely get dark. Iceland restricts overnight stays in campervans to campsites, so park for the night down in the village rather than up at the Henge. Facilities at the Raufarhöfn camping ground are simple: toilets, washing-up sinks, showers, picnic tables, electrical hookups for campers and motorhomes, and a place to empty portable toilets. Next door, the sports center has an indoor pool and a sauna. An overflow area on the sports field takes extra tents but has no toilets or electricity. The season runs from May 15 to October 1, as long as the weather holds and temperatures stay above freezing. The municipality handed the campsite to a private operator in 2024, so confirm the current rate and how to pay when you arrive. Getting here is part of the trip. Raufarhöfn is about two hours' drive from Húsavík and three from Akureyri, so plan to stay the night rather than turn straight around.

Raufarhöfn Swimming Pool

Raufarhöfn Swimming Pool is a small indoor pool in the sports center (Íþróttamiðstöð Raufarhafnar) on Skólabraut in Raufarhöfn, the northernmost village on the Icelandic mainland in Northeast Iceland. Run by Norðurþing municipality, it's the only place to swim in the village and shares the building with a sports hall, a small gym and a sauna. It's a community pool rather than a spa, and that's the appeal after a cold hour at the Arctic Henge or the long drive around the Melrakkaslétta coast, about two hours from Húsavík. The village campsite is right next door, so campers can walk over for a hot shower and a swim. Public swimming hours are short, so plan your day around them. In summer (June to August) the Raufarhöfn pool is open 14:00 to 19:30 on weekdays and 12:00 to 16:30 on weekends. In winter it opens 17:00 to 19:30 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus 14:00 to 16:30 on Saturday, and the schedule can change, so confirm the current Raufarhöfn pool opening hours with the sports center before you go. Key-card holders can use the building from 6:00 to 22:00 every day, but the pool, changing rooms and sauna stay closed outside public hours. Norðurþing's 2026 tariff lists an adult single swim at 1,300 ISK, children aged 6 to 17 at 520 ISK and visitors 67 and over at 780 ISK. An hour is plenty for a swim and a sauna.

Rauðhólar

Rauðhólar is a cluster of rust-red volcanic mounds in the Heiðmörk nature reserve on the southeastern edge of Reykjavík, about 20 minutes' drive from downtown. The name means red hills, and the color comes from oxidized iron in the cinders. The mounds are rootless cones, also called pseudocraters, and they're the easiest place near the capital to see how this kind of crater forms. About 5,200 years ago, the Elliðaárhraun lava flowed over wet, marshy ground, and the trapped water flashed into steam and blasted out small craters. No vent ever fed them from below, which is why they sit on top of the lava like scattered heaps. What you see today is only part of the original group of more than 80 craters. Much of the red gravel was dug out, mostly around World War II, for Reykjavík Airport and road building, and the quarry scars still show inside several cones. The site was first protected in 1961 and given stronger protection in 1974. To get there, drive east from the city on Route 1 (Suðurlandsvegur) and turn right onto Heiðmerkurvegur. A parking lot appears on the right soon after the turn, and paths for walkers and horse riders lead in among the mounds. An hour is enough for a loop, and you can continue into the woods of Heiðmörk or down to Elliðavatn lake. Rauðhólar is an easy year-round stop on the way out of the city, though the red shows best on a dry summer evening before snow covers it. Stay on the paths, because the loose slopes erode quickly. These are the Reykjavík Rauðhólar, separate from the red Rauðhólar craters in Vesturdalur in North Iceland.

Reykholt

Reykholt is a small geothermal village in Biskupstungur, South Iceland, just off Route 35 on the Golden Circle between Þingvellir and Geysir. Hot water from the ground heats the greenhouses that keep this part of the country growing tomatoes and cucumbers all year, and on cold days you can see steam rising from vents and greenhouse roofs. Two villages in Iceland share the name, so check which one you mean. This Reykholt is in Bláskógabyggð, while the Reykholt where the medieval writer Snorri Sturluson lived is in Borgarfjörður in West Iceland, well over two hours away by road. The main reason to stop is Friðheimar, a tomato farm at the edge of the village where you eat lunch among the plants inside a working greenhouse. Its kitchen is open every day from 11:30 to 16:00, and in summer it pays to book a table online. Among other things to do in Reykholt, the sports center has an outdoor swimming pool, and Faxi waterfall is about 10 minutes away by car. The drive from Reykjavík to Reykholt takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. That makes the village a sensible overnight base for the Golden Circle, so you can see Geysir (about 20 minutes away) and Gullfoss (about 30 minutes) before the day-trip buses arrive. The village campsite beside the Aratunga community hall is open in summer, and the Secret Lagoon at Flúðir is about 15 minutes south.

Reykjaböð Hot Springs

Reykjaböð Hot Springs is a geothermal bathing and wellness center at Árhólmar 5 in Hveragerði, South Iceland, at the foot of the Reykjadalur valley. It opened in September 2026 and gives you a hot soak without the hike up the valley. The outdoor pools are filled with natural hot spring water, and alongside them are a Kneipp pool for switching between warm and cold, an event sauna and an indoor and outdoor bar. The Nordic bathhouse is a separate circuit of ten spaces that move between heat and cold, steam and stillness. Réttir restaurant is on site, with the kitchen open from 11:30 to 20:30. Hveragerði is about half an hour's drive from Reykjavík and 15 minutes from Selfoss, on Route 1 toward the South Coast and the Golden Circle. That makes Reykjaböð Hot Springs in Hveragerði easy to add at the end of a day trip, or to pair with the Reykjadalur hike if you want a shower and a proper changing room after the trail. Plan on two or three hours if you do the bathhouse too. The Hot Springs Pass starts at 8,900 ISK, and the Hot Springs & Bathhouse Pass starts at 16,900 ISK, with tickets sold online. From June 1 to September 30 it's open daily from 10:00 to 22:00. From October 1 to May 31, hours are 10:00 to 21:00 Monday to Thursday and 10:00 to 22:00 Friday to Sunday, and everyone leaves the water 30 minutes before closing.

Reykjafjarðarlaug

Reykjafjarðarlaug is a geothermal pool right beside Route 63 at the head of Reykjafjörður, a small side fjord of Arnarfjörður in the Westfjords. You see it from the road: a full-size pool of warm water with the fjord in front and steep mountainsides behind. Just above the main pool, a smaller natural hot spring pool sits almost hidden in the hillside. Geothermal water keeps the site warm all year, and there's a simple changing room next to the swimming pool. The Reykjafjarðarlaug hot pool is about 20 km, or 20 minutes, east of Bíldudalur and about 40 km from Dynjandi waterfall, so it fits easily into a drive between the two. From Reykjavík it's a long day of roughly 350 km. Bring your own towel, pack out all your trash and leave the pools as you found them. Plan on 30 minutes to an hour, longer if you have the natural pool to yourself. In winter, check the official road-conditions map before you drive, since conditions on the mountain roads around Arnarfjörður can change quickly.

Reykjanesviti Lighthouse

Reykjanesviti Lighthouse is a white concrete tower on Bæjarfell hill at the southwestern tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 25 minutes' drive from Keflavík Airport. It carries on the job of Iceland's very first lighthouse and looks out over lava fields, steaming ground and a heavy Atlantic swell. Iceland's first lighthouse went up in 1878 on Valahnúkur, the sea cliff just below the hill. Earthquakes and wave erosion undermined it within a decade, so the current tower was built on Bæjarfell in 1907 and 1908, and the old one was demolished. The light still works today and was placed on Iceland's list of protected lighthouses in 2003. The Reykjanes lighthouse makes an easy stop on the way to or from the airport, roughly an hour from Reykjavík, reached through Reykjanesbær on Route 44 and then Route 425. A short path climbs the hill to the base of the tower, though you can't go inside. The best views come from the Reykjanes lighthouse cliffs at Valahnúkur, where the rock drops straight into the surf and a bronze sculpture remembers the great auk, a seabird hunted to extinction in the 1840s. Give yourself 30 to 45 minutes for the hill and the cliffs, or longer if you add the Gunnuhver hot springs about a kilometer away. Wind here can be ferocious, so stay well back from the cliff edges. Because the peninsula has had repeated eruptions since 2021, check the official road-conditions map and safety alerts for closures before you drive.

Reykjavík Eco Campsite

Reykjavík Eco Campsite is the main campsite in the capital, at Sundlaugavegur 32 in the Laugardalur valley, about 2 kilometers east of downtown Reykjavík. It sits next door to the city's biggest geothermal pool, which is about the best morning routine a camper in Iceland can ask for, and it holds a Vakinn environmental certification at bronze level. The Reykjavík campsite is open year-round, including winter, though what you can bring changes with the season. From October 15 to April 15 only Area A is open, and only to motorhomes and campervans, so tent campers need to come in summer. Caravans, folding campers and trailer tents are accepted from May 15 to October 15, and stays are capped at seven nights in any 30-day period. Facilities cover the basics well: a guest kitchen and lounge, toilets and showers, outdoor sinks, wifi across the grounds and a barbecue area (campfires aren't allowed). There's also card-only laundry, paid luggage storage, lockable boxes with a power outlet and free swap shelves where campers leave food, gas and gear. Reception is staffed 07:30–22:00, and there's no shop or gear rental on site. The 2026 online rates are 3,555 ISK for a tent pitch and 3,735 ISK for a campervan pitch without power, or 5,715 ISK with 16A electricity, each including one adult. Extra adults aged 13 and over pay 3,150 ISK, children 12 and under stay free, and a 400 ISK lodging tax is added per unit per night. Booking online gets a 10% discount and the four-digit gate code. Laugardalslaug is a few minutes' walk away, and the Family Park and Zoo and the Botanic Garden share the same valley. Bus 14 runs to the center, which is also a 20- to 30-minute walk, and highland bus tours leave from in front of the campsite each morning. For a campervan trip, the eco campsite in Reykjavík is the obvious first or last night before the drive to Keflavík airport, about 50 minutes away. For a very early flight, though, a campsite near Keflavík saves time.

Rjúkandi Waterfall

Rjúkandi Waterfall is a tiered waterfall on the side of the Jökuldalur valley in East Iceland, right beside the Ring Road about 49 kilometers west of Egilsstaðir. You can see it from the car as you drive past, and it's one of the easiest waterfall stops on the long stretch between Egilsstaðir and Mývatn. The stream drops about 93 meters in total, in a series of steps rather than one clean fall. Its name comes from the Icelandic verb rjúka, to smoke or blow, after the spray that drifts off the water on windy days. That spray is worth seeing up close, and the walk to the base is short. From Egilsstaðir, Rjúkandi Waterfall is around 45 minutes by car on Route 1. A small parking area sits beside the road near the bridge over the stream, and a short trail climbs from there to the bottom of the falls. Most people spend half an hour or less here. The path is easy but rocky and steep in places, and it gets slippery after rain, so wear proper shoes. There's no fee and there are no facilities, so plan food and restrooms in Egilsstaðir. Stuðlagil canyon is in the same valley, which makes the two an easy pairing on one drive through Jökuldalur.

Salalaug

Salalaug is a public swimming pool at Versalir 3 in the Salir neighborhood of Kópavogur, the town just south of Reykjavík. Its warm indoor pool, kept at 33 to 34°C, is what brings families up on a windy winter day, and since the regulars are mostly locals and swim clubs, it's calmer than the big pools downtown. Outside, the main pool is 25 by 15 meters with six lanes and a depth of 1 to 1.6 meters, and two lanes are kept for play during public hours. The indoor pool is shallow, 75 to 90 centimeters, which suits small children. Around them you'll find a jet pool with heated loungers, a water organ with 40 jets, a slide and two hot tubs at 38°C and 42°C. Salalaug in Kópavogur is about 20 minutes by car from central Reykjavík. An hour or two is enough for most visits, and summer evenings and weekend mornings are the busiest times. From May 1 to September 30, the Salalaug swimming pool is open weekdays 06:30 to 22:00, Saturday 08:00 to 20:00 and Sunday 08:00 to 22:00. From October 1 to April 30, weekdays stay the same and weekends run 08:00 to 18:00, with shorter hours over Christmas and New Year. A single adult entry costs 1,330 ISK, while children under 18, disabled visitors and anyone 67 or older swim free. Swimsuit and towel rental is 765 ISK each.

Sandgerði Swimming Pool

Sandgerði Swimming Pool is a public pool in the fishing town of Sandgerði on the west coast of the Reykjanes peninsula, about a 10-minute drive from Keflavík International Airport. That makes it one of the closest pools to the airport, handy if you land early with hours to kill or have a late flight out. The pool is part of the sports center at Skólastræti 2, run by the municipality of Suðurnesjabær. It has a 25-meter pool, a children's pool and two water slides, plus two hot tubs, a sauna and a cold tub. A wash, a soak and a slide take about an hour, which fits neatly into a layover. Sandgerði is about 50 minutes from Reykjavík. If you have more time, the coast road south of town leads past Hvalsnes church toward the Bridge Between Continents, a quiet drive compared with the Blue Lagoon area. In summer (June 1 to August 31), the Sandgerði pool opens weekdays 06:30 to 21:00. In winter (September 1 to May 31), weekdays run 06:30 to 20:30, and weekends are 10:00 to 16:00 all year. Under the 2026 price list, a single adult entry costs 1,250 ISK and a 10-visit card 7,300 ISK. Children up to 18, seniors 67 and over and disability pensioners swim free, and swimsuit or towel rental is 750 ISK.

Sauðárkrókur Swimming Pool

Sauðárkrókur Swimming Pool, Sundlaug Sauðárkróks in Icelandic, is the public pool on Skagfirðingabraut in the center of Sauðárkrókur, the largest town in Skagafjörður in North Iceland. Ask locals where to soak and they'll point you here, and the municipality itself rates its hot tubs among the best in the district. The main pool is a 25-meter outdoor lap pool, with hot tubs, a sauna and a steam bath alongside it. An hour is enough for a few lengths and a long sit in the tubs, though on a cold evening that hour tends to stretch. Sauðárkrókur is about 25 kilometers north of the Ring Road at Varmahlíð, and the drive from Akureyri takes roughly an hour and a half. The town campsite is right next door, so an evening swim is the easiest plan in town if you're camping. An adult ticket costs 1,400 ISK, and children under 7 swim free. Visiting children aged 7 to 18, seniors and disabled visitors pay 425 ISK, and you can rent a towel or swimsuit for 850 ISK each. Opening hours aren't published, so call the pool on 453 5226 before you drive over. As at every Icelandic pool, shower without a swimsuit before you get in.

Seltjarnarneslaug

Seltjarnarneslaug is the public swimming pool in Seltjarnarnes, the small town on the peninsula at the western tip of the capital area, about 3 kilometers from downtown Reykjavík. Every pool around the capital runs on geothermal heat, but here the water comes straight from the town's own borehole and feels noticeably soft. The town says its mineral content suits sensitive skin and eczema. Apart from the changing rooms, everything is outdoors. The 25-meter lap pool has four lanes and is kept at 29°C, and beside it are a 35°C children's pool and a shallow toddler pool at 36 to 38°C. Four Seltjarnarneslaug hot pots run from 38 to 44°C, one of them a massage pool, while two cold tubs at 4 to 8°C let you do the full hot and cold routine. A steam bath, a water slide and play equipment round out the Seltjarnarnes swimming pool. It sits at Suðurströnd 8–10, a short drive or bike ride from the Grótta lighthouse at the end of the peninsula. A walk around Grótta followed by a soak makes an easy half day, and the pool is quieter than the big Reykjavík pools if you're staying in the west end. Plan on an hour or two, longer if the kids find the slide. Opening hours are 06:30 to 22:00 on weekdays and 08:00 to 19:30 on weekends. The pool closes on several public holidays, including Easter, 17 June and Christmas Day, and shuts for five weekdays every May for cleaning. Under the 2026 tariff, adult entry is 1,300 ISK, while children under 18 and people aged 67 and over swim free. Swimsuit or towel rental costs 2,500 ISK, and 1,500 ISK comes back when you return it.

Settlement Center Borgarnes

The Borgarnes Settlement Center (Landnámssetur Íslands) is a museum in the town of Borgarnes, West Iceland, about an hour's drive north of Reykjavík. It tells how Iceland was settled, then follows Egill Skallagrímsson, one of the wildest characters in the sagas, through the district where his family made its home. On the drive to Snæfellsnes or the north, it is the easiest history stop you'll find. Two exhibitions fill the building, and each takes about 30 minutes with an audio guide offered in Icelandic and 14 other languages. The Settlement Exhibition covers how Norse sailors found their way across open ocean and who claimed land first, up to the founding of the Alþingi at Þingvellir in 930. One highlight is a rare model ship by Gunnar Marel Eggertsson, crewed by tiny clay figures from illustrator Brian Pilkington. Downstairs, the Egil's Saga exhibition winds through the old stone cellar of the warehouse like a dark maze. Egill was a poet and Viking raider whose father, Skalla-Grímur, settled this part of West Iceland. Wood carvings and reliefs by several Icelandic artists stage scenes from the saga, and the dim rooms tend to win over kids. The center occupies two of the oldest houses in Borgarnes, on Brákarbraut by the bridge to Brákarey island. The store building went up in 1877 to 1878, and businessman Thor Jensen ran the shop here as a young man before adding the warehouse next door. A newer building linking the two houses holds a gift shop, and the restaurant serves a soup and vegetarian lunch buffet from 11:30 to 15:00. The exhibitions are open daily from 10:00 to 21:00. A ticket for both costs 3,900 ISK for adults, 3,500 ISK for seniors, students and people with disabilities, and 1,500 ISK for children aged 6 to 12. Plan on an hour inside, or closer to two if you stay for lunch.

Seyðisfjörður Blue Church

The Seyðisfjörður Blue Church (Seyðisfjarðarkirkja) is a pale blue wooden church in the center of Seyðisfjörður, a fjord town in East Iceland about 30 minutes' drive from Egilsstaðir. It stands at the top of a short street painted in rainbow stripes, and the pair is the picture most travelers bring home from the Eastfjords. The church has moved more than most. It first stood at the farm Dvergasteinn, was moved to Vestdalseyri in 1882 and blown over by a storm in 1894, then rebuilt and later moved again to the town center, where the current church was consecrated in 1922. A fire during renovation work in 1989 damaged the building and destroyed its organ, which has since been replaced with one of the same type. The Seyðisfjörður rainbow street is Norðurgata, the short road that leads up to the church door. Residents and town staff first painted it on a summer evening in 2016, and locals have repainted it every summer since, with visitors welcome to pick up a brush. Many photos of the rainbow road in Iceland are taken right here. In summer the Blue Church hosts an evening concert series, which in 2026 ran on July evenings starting at 8:30 pm. If you're in town then, check the current program on the series' official website. Seyðisfjörður is about 27 kilometers from Egilsstaðir on Route 93, which crosses a mountain pass that can be snowy outside summer, so check road conditions before you set out. The Norröna ferry from Denmark docks here too. Allow 20 to 30 minutes for the church and the street, longer if you stop at one of the cafés nearby.

Siglufjörður Swimming Pool

Siglufjörður Swimming Pool (Sundhöll Siglufjarðar) is the public pool in Siglufjörður, the old herring town at the northern tip of the Tröllaskagi peninsula in North Iceland. Its 25-meter lap pool is indoors, which makes it one of the more sheltered swims in the region when the wind comes straight off the Arctic Ocean. The pool is 10 meters wide and shares a sports center with a gym and a sports hall at Hvanneyrarbraut 52. Outside, there is a large hot tub with massage jets, a cold tub and a sauna, so you still get to sit in the open air while the swimming happens under a roof. Under the 2026 price list, adults pay 1,090 ISK, and children, visitors aged 67 and over and disabled visitors pay 520 ISK. If you forgot your gear, a swimsuit or towel costs 1,090 ISK each, or 3,150 ISK covers entry with both. There is no need to book, but ticket sales stop 15 minutes before closing. The winter schedule, in place since 20 August 2026, runs 06:30 to 19:45 on weekdays, 14:00 to 18:00 on Saturday and 10:00 to 14:00 on Sunday. School swimming closes the pool on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, so a weekday afternoon is the safest bet. An hour is plenty for a swim and a soak. Siglufjörður is about 77 kilometers from Akureyri, roughly an hour and 15 minutes by car through the Héðinsfjörður tunnels. If you would rather swim outdoors with slides, the Ólafsfjörður pool is about 20 minutes back through the tunnels.

Skagaströnd Swimming Pool

Skagaströnd Swimming Pool is a small outdoor pool on Einbúastígur at the western edge of Skagaströnd, a fishing town on the east shore of Húnaflói bay in Northwest Iceland. It sits close to the Spákonufellshöfði headland and its coastal path, and bathers in the hot tub are traditionally offered a cup of coffee. The pool measures 6 by 12 meters, is heated by the town's district heating and was recently given a thorough renovation. Beside it is a hot tub, and the changing rooms and showers are in good shape. It is better for a slow soak than for lap swimming, which suits families, campers from the town campsite and anyone coming down stiff from a walk on Spákonufell. Skagaströnd is about 20 minutes' drive north of Blönduós on Route 74, so the pool is an easy detour off the Ring Road. Plan on an hour, or a little more if the conversation in the hot tub gets going. As at every Icelandic pool, you shower without a swimsuit before you get in. Adults pay 900 ISK under the town's 2026 tariff, while children under 16 and seniors aged 67 and over swim free, and towel rental is 700 ISK. From June to August the pool opens 10:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and 13:00 to 17:00 on weekends. From September to May, weekday hours are 16:00 to 20:00 and Saturday is 13:00 to 17:00, with no Sunday opening listed, so call 452 2806 before a winter Sunday swim.

Skógar Museum

Skógar Museum (Skógasafn) is a folk, open-air and technical museum in the village of Skógar on Iceland's South Coast, a minute's drive from Skógafoss. It holds more than 15,000 objects from the farms and fishing families of the region, spread across three museums and a cluster of historic buildings. It's the best reason to linger in Skógar once you've seen the falls. The collection started with one man: Þórður Tómasson founded the museum in 1949 in the local school and kept collecting and curating until he retired in 2013, at the age of 92. In the folk museum, the centerpiece is Pétursey, an eight-oared fishing boat built in 1855. It was rowed off the harbor-less sand beaches here until 1946, which tells you a lot about how hard a living the South Coast offered. Save most of your time for the open-air museum outside. You can walk through a turf farmhouse with a communal sleeping room (baðstofa), an open-hearth kitchen and a cattle shed, then climb past a country schoolhouse, a church and a wooden house built in 1898. Every building was moved here from the surrounding districts and rebuilt on site. The Technical Museum, opened in 2002, covers transport and communication in Iceland, from working horses and river ferries to telephones and the work of rescue teams. Freya Café inside serves breakfast and lunch, and the museum shop shares the hall. The Skógar Museum is open daily from 9:00 to 18:00 from June to August and from 10:00 to 17:00 the rest of the year, closing only on December 24, 25 and January 1. Tickets cost 3,000 ISK for adults, 2,000 ISK for students and seniors and 1,600 ISK for teenagers aged 12 to 17, and children under 12 get in free. Skógar is about a two-hour drive east of Reykjavík on Route 1. Plan on 90 minutes to two hours at the museum, then walk over to the waterfall to round off the stop.

Skógarböðin

Forest Lagoon (Skógarböðin) is a geothermal spa in Vaðlaskógur forest on the east shore of Eyjafjörður, about 5 minutes' drive from Akureyri in North Iceland. It opened in May 2022, and its hot water comes from a spring that engineers hit while boring the Vaðlaheiðargöng road tunnel nearby. The setting is the draw: birch trees on one side and Akureyri across the fjord on the other. On clear winter nights the northern lights sometimes show over the water, while in June the evenings stay light until closing. There are two pools, both 125 cm deep. The main pool runs at about 37 to 39°C and the smaller, quieter one at 39 to 41°C, with two swim-up bars between them. Next to the Finnish dry sauna (about 80°C) is a cold pool of around 12°C, and Skógur Bistro serves light meals with a fireplace and a view over the fjord. The Forest Lagoon sits just off Route 1 by the western mouth of the tunnel. A free shuttle runs from the harbor in summer and from the town center year-round, with priority for lagoon ticket holders, and the ride takes under 10 minutes. That short hop makes it one of the easiest things to fit into an Akureyri cruise stop. In 2026, the basic Warm ticket is 7,490 ISK, and packages with a towel and drinks start at 10,150 ISK. Children aged 6 to 15 pay 3,790 ISK, children 5 and under go free, and towel rental is 1,400 ISK. Only Icelandic krónur are accepted on site. Forest Lagoon opens every day from 10:00 to midnight, with the last booking at 22:30 and everyone out of the water by 23:30. Book online, since walk-ins only get in if there is space, and plan on about 2 hours. Under-16s need an adult guardian, and children under 12 are not allowed in after 20:00.

Skútustaðagígar Pseudocraters

Skútustaðagígar is a cluster of grassy pseudocraters on the south shore of Lake Mývatn in North Iceland, beside the hamlet of Skútustaðir. The cones look volcanic but never erupted lava of their own. These rootless cones formed about 2,300 years ago, when a lava flow rolled over wetlands and shallow water. Trapped water flashed to steam beneath the hot lava, and the explosions built up the mounds that ring the pond today. Few places in Iceland show the process as clearly, and you can walk right over the rims. The Skútustaðagígar pseudocraters sit on Road 848, about 15 kilometers south of Reykjahlíð. Coming from Akureyri on the Ring Road, turn onto Road 848 after the Laxá bridge, and the craters are about 5 kilometers on. The drive from Akureyri takes a little over an hour, so they work well as a first stop on a loop around the lake. Two marked trails start near the roadside. The Crater Ring (Gígahringur) is a 1.5-kilometer loop over and between the nearest cones, and 30 minutes to an hour covers it with time on the rims. The longer Pond Ring (Tjarnarhringur), 3.5 kilometers, circles Stakhólstjörn, a pond almost enclosed by craters. Late spring and early summer are the best time for birds, when nesting ducks, grebes and red-necked phalaropes fill the ponds. In winter the Crater Ring is staked, though snow can hide the edges, so wear traction on your boots. The area has been a protected natural monument since 1973, and the cones erode easily, so stay on the paths and keep off the slopes. The restrooms nearby are for customers of the hotel and restaurants.

Snaefellsjokull Glacier

Snæfellsjökull glacier is the ice cap on a 1,446-meter stratovolcano at the far western tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in West Iceland. On a clear day you can see it from Reykjavík, a white cone floating across Faxaflói bay, and Jules Verne picked its crater as the way into the underworld in Journey to the Center of the Earth. The Snæfellsjökull volcano is dormant rather than dead. Its last eruption, around 1,800 years ago, spread ash over the northern half of the peninsula and sent the Háahraun lava down its southern slopes. The ice on top is small and shrinking, and Icelandic glaciologists have warned it could be gone before the end of the century. Most travelers see the mountain from the coastal road around the peninsula, about 2.5 hours' drive from Reykjavík, where it rises behind Arnarstapi, Hellnar and Djúpalónssandur. The summit is often wrapped in cloud, so if the glacier is the point of your trip, keep a flexible day and check the weather forecast before you set out. For a closer look, the rough mountain road 570 climbs the glacier's eastern shoulder between Arnarstapi and Ólafsvík. It opens only in summer, often late because of snow, and suits high-clearance 4x4s only, so check the official road-conditions map first. Walking onto the ice is a different matter. Snæfellsjökull has crevasses hidden under snow, so go with a certified guide, who will supply crampons, a harness and rope. A guided summit hike from Arnarstapi takes most of a day: 40 to 60 minutes from the parking area to the ice, three to four hours up and about three hours down. Groups usually turn around at 1,418 meters, below the steep rock and ice peak at the top. Glacier tours run between April and September, when the snow cover makes the route safest.

Southern Peninsula Region

The Reykjanes Geopark is a UNESCO Global Geopark covering the Southern Peninsula (Suðurnes) in southwest Iceland, around Keflavík Airport. It has held the status since 2015, and it is the only place in the world where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge can be seen above sea level. Fresh lava from the eruptions of the 2020s lies within half an hour of the airport, so this is where you can see the forces that built Iceland at work. The geopark lists 55 geosites, and the best-known cluster is at the peninsula's southwest tip. Gunnuhver's steaming mud pools, the sea cliffs at Valahnúkur and Reykjanesviti lighthouse are all a few minutes apart there. Reykjanesviti stands on Iceland's oldest lighthouse site, first lit in 1878, and the present tower dates from 1907 to 1908. A short drive along the coast, the Brimketill rock pool and the Bridge Between Continents over a rift in the lava complete a half-day loop. Farther east, the geothermal field at Seltún and the lake Kleifarvatn near Krýsuvík are worth a second stop. For the geology behind it all, the geopark's visitor center exhibition at the Duus Museum in Reykjanesbær explains how the peninsula formed. The ground here is still moving. A series of eruptions on the Sundhnúkur crater row north of Grindavík ran from December 2023 to the summer of 2025, and in late September 2026 the Icelandic Met Office reported slow uplift continuing at Svartsengi, with a new eruption still considered the most likely outcome. Check the official hazard updates and weather warnings on the day, stay on marked paths, and respect every closure. The southwest tip is about an hour's drive from Reykjavík and 25 minutes from Keflavík Airport, so the Reykjanes geosites fit neatly into an arrival or departure day in any season. Allow half a day for the tip and a full day if you add Krýsuvík and a geothermal soak.

Sprengisandur Route

Sprengisandur is a high plateau of gravel and sand in the central highlands of Iceland, between the Hofsjökull and Vatnajökull ice caps. The F26 highland road crosses it from south to north, and driving the Sprengisandur route means about 200 km of track without a single village, with glaciers on the horizon whenever the clouds lift. In Icelandic the road is Sprengisandsleið. Its southern end is near Lake Þórisvatn, where it meets Route 26 (Landvegur) about two and a half hours' drive from Reykjavík, and its northern end is in the Bárðardalur valley in North Iceland, where it joins Route 842 close to Aldeyjarfoss waterfall. Side routes branch off toward Askja (F910) and Skagafjörður (F752). F26 is an F-road, so Icelandic law allows only four-wheel-drive vehicles on it, and no insurance covers damage from crossing a river. The road opens only in summer, once the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration declares it passable, and the date shifts with snow and meltwater every year. Check the official road-conditions map and travel alerts before you set out. Roughly halfway across, at about 830 meters, the Ferðafélag Íslands huts at Nýidalur are the main stop. The two huts sleep 54 and have a campsite, showers and a summer warden, and they are usually open from early July to early September. Meltwater from Tungnafellsjökull crosses the track near the huts, so look at the depth before you drive in. July and August are the best time to drive Sprengisandur, when the road and huts are open and the long days give you light for the whole crossing. Plan on a full day with stops, and start with a full tank, food and water, because there are no villages or shops between the two ends. In winter the plateau is an expedition for specialist vehicles and experienced crews only.

Stefánslaug, Neskaupsstað

Stefánslaug is the outdoor swimming pool in Neskaupstaður, the town at the end of the road in Norðfjörður, East Iceland. It sits on the hillside above the town center, and with two long waterslides and a hot tub that looks straight down the fjord, it is the most fun pool in the Eastfjords. A pool has stood on this spot since 1943, though it was almost entirely rebuilt between 2001 and 2006. Besides the main outdoor pool, you get hot tubs, a sauna, a sunbathing deck and the slides, which keep kids busy for hours. A gym on the lower floor keeps the same hours as the pool. Neskaupstaður is a dead end, so you come here on purpose. From Eskifjörður, the Norðfjörður tunnel brings you into town in about 20 minutes, and Egilsstaðir is a little over an hour away. Allow an hour for a swim and a soak, longer if the slides win, and aim for late afternoon on a clear summer day, when the sun is still high over the fjord. Stefánslaug is open all year. Summer hours (June 1 to August 31) are 07:00–21:00 on weekdays and 10:00–18:00 on weekends, while winter hours are shorter, especially on Fridays and weekends. Under the Fjarðabyggð tariff valid from May 1, 2026, adult entry costs 1,145 ISK, teens aged 16 and 17 pay 325 ISK, and children under 16 swim free.