Travel advice for Iceland
From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to Iceland
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written by Mike MacEacheran
updated 15.11.2018
Going to a spa in Iceland can feel wonderfully alien. Against a backdrop of barren moonscapes and denuded hills, the waters are so preternaturally blue, so exaggerated and preposterously warm, that a simple dip can feel borderline indecent. Venture from the capital Reykjavik as far as Reyðarfjörður in the extreme east and you’ll also find that the country hides hundreds of out-of-this-world geothermal pools and naturally-heated hot tubs.
But it first pays to know the rules. Because in Iceland, the right spa etiquette is taken deadly seriously. Here are five dos and don’ts to bear in mind.
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This themed road trip will take you around Iceland, home to many filming locations of the hit TV series, Game of Thrones. Travel around the country's coastline, past the many dramatic glaciers and cliffs, relax in geothermal spas, and spot whales in the rough seas. Warning: Spoiler alert!
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Take a flight to the East where you get to enjoy the enchanting Eastfjords before you drive south. If you are looking to focus on a few regions with a mix of the most popular sights and something off the beaten path; and to avoid backtracking with a one-way domestic flight, this is the perfect trip.
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Discover the best of North Iceland and Snaefellsnes! The area around the volcanic Lake Myvatn is surrounded by impressive geological sights, stunning waterfalls and mighty canyons! The Snaefellsnes peninsula is known as “miniature Iceland” for the diversity of landscape it offers.
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Take the road less travelled around the Westfjords and Snaefellsnes peninsulas. Visit places unspoiled by humans and see the wonders and creativity of nature at their very best! The wild Westfjords feature a stunning landscape of towering mountains, deep blue fjords, and thundering waterfalls.
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Drive around the Lake Lagarfljot and visit Hengifoss waterfall and the Hallormsstadur forest. Continue to the South Coast with its beautiful waterfalls, glacier lagoons and black sand beaches. Take a detour to spend a day in the stunning Westman Islands and end your trip with the Golden Circle.
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In just under 2 weeks, explore the highlights Iceland has to offer. From the popular Golden Circle, follow the Ring Road and explore waterfalls and lagoons on your way around the island. This itinerary leads you all the way to the North and the Westfjords of Iceland.
customize ⤍Incredible Iceland in 12 days
This driving trip trip will take you to some of Iceland’s most incredible sights and natural wonders. Drive through glacial valleys and across towering mountains as you gaze over stark landscapes of shining silver steaks and marble lava fields patched with emerald green moss...
customize ⤍West & Arctic Coast Way Highlights
The area around the volcanic Lake Myvatn is surrounded by impressive geological sights, stunning waterfalls and mighty canyons. Visit the 'capital of the North' Akureyri before continuing to the Snaefellsnes peninsula, known as “miniature Iceland” for the diversity of landscape it offers.
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Glaciers, volcanoes, black sand beaches, lagoons - Iceland offers stunning landscapes to explore. This itinerary allows you to discover the south in your own rental car. Drive the famous Golden Circle and discover waterfalls along the way.
customize ⤍First, read the rules. They’re pinned to every changing room wall and notice-board, as well as being published in English, French, German and Danish, so you really have no excuse not to follow them.
Second, get washing. Scrub your head, armpits, feet and groin with soap beforehand, and – most importantly – do it in your birthday suit, not bathing suit. A quick rinse just won’t do, especially because most geothermal pools use freshwater and far lower levels of chlorine, even at the Blue Lagoon at Reykjanes.
And having just read the rules, you have no excuse not to get naked. You have been warned.
In Reykjavík, hot tubs and pools are more like social clubs where people catch up on news and discuss politics: and they’ve done so since the twelfth century when poet, scholar and politician Snorri Sturluson built the first stone hot tub outside Reykholt.
To get the best of the conversations, go to a local’s pool such as Vesturbæjarlaug, a short walk from Reykjavík city centre, or Nauthólsvík, a geothermal saltwater pool by a golden beach.
Around seven o’clock on a weekday morning, the conversation bubbles as much as the thermal waters. There is no social hierarchy, and everyone is treated like an equal.
For something more romantic, take a date to Sundhöll, built in the 1930s, it's open late and is one of the oldest baths in the capital.
The reason? Many spas and indoor pools were built in the 1960s and loud noises echo down the corridors of the indoor pools and steam rooms.
“Our bathhouses tend to venerate tradition above anything else,” says spa aficionado Birgir Þorsteinn Jóakimsson, who visits Reykjavik’s Vesturbæjarlaug every day. “Talking loudly is a nasty habit, especially at an Icelandic spa - so you won’t be popular with the locals. It’s not a circus.”
It also pays to be alert, as hawkish pool attendants may ambush you, showing you the door. They’ve been known to throw tourists out for less.
In Reykjavík at Laugardalur Park, also known as the Valley of the Pools, the water used to hover at a white-hot 45 degrees Celcius, punishing unsuspecting dive-bombers. Such waters have since been cooled due to health and safety regulations, but with most still nudging upwards of 37 degrees, it’s an odd juxtaposition between bathing in hell, while feeling like you’re in heaven.
To maximise enjoyment, remember to swim in an anticlockwise direction. No one can really explain why, but Icelanders swim in circles from right to left, and so should you.
“Everyone has their favourite they want to keep,” says Guðrún Bjarnadottir, a spa professional working at the Blue Lagoon. “If you talk to locals – and they like you – you may get lucky. My personal favourite is somewhere in the hills north of Hveragerdi. It’s in a mystical place known as the Smoky Valley, but the exact location and directions – well – that would be telling.”
Explore more of Iceland with The Rough Guide to Iceland. Compare flights, find tours, book hostels and hotels for your trip, and don’t forget to purchase travel insurance before you go.
Header image: Blue Lagoon © Rui Serra Maia/Shutterstock.
written by Mike MacEacheran
updated 15.11.2018
Mike MacEacheran is a travel journalist & guidebook author based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has reported from 108 countries for National Geographic, Conde Nast Traveller, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Wall Street Journal, Mail on Sunday, The Independent, Evening Standard, The Sun, The Globe and Mail, Scotland on Sunday, The National and South China Morning Post. Follow him on Twitter @MikeMacEacheran
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From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to Iceland
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