Hot Springs and Cool Arctic Roads

Categories Summer Tours North Atlantic Islands Iceland on Sale! Arctic Tours Adventure & Eco Travel Self Drive Tours Independent Tours

Set your focus on Iceland’s amazing hot spring culture while discovering breathtaking landscapes and incredible photo opportunities. Experience the best of Iceland’s spectacular north and the famous natural attractions of its scenic south. Of course, you’ll enjoy many opportunities to relax in unique hot spring pools.

Combine hot spring relaxation and breathtaking scenery in the land of fire and ice. Enjoy the best of the spectacular north and the famous natural wonders of the south. Visit charming towns like Hveragerði, Vík, Akureyri, and Húsavík. Discover volcanic wonders in Lake Mývatn and on Iceland’s South Coast. Each day has great opportunities for hot spring relaxation in memorable settings.

Summer Option – On Day 6, you have an option of heading back to Reykjavík either by Road 1 or visiting Iceland’s wilderness interior via the Kjölur mountain track. (Note: Kjölur is open 20.6 – 15.9; you need a Category 5.0 4WD vehicle (KIA Sportage 4WD) or higher 4WD category vehicle to drive the Kjölur route).

We Support Iceland’s Nature and Local Communities! All our self-drive tours include carbon offsetting through Kolviður, the the Iceland Carbon Fund (ICF).

Winter Travel Information

We are happy to now offer you the possibility of booking this tour for winter travel. Icelanders drive around Iceland in winter, and your clients can, too! However, clients should be aware of the road conditions and unpredictable weather during Iceland’s winter wonderland season. You should be comfortable with driving in snowy, windy, and icy conditions. Iceland Travel has implemented steps to ensure your safety, and we will keep you updated on any weather changes that might affect their itinerary along their route. We will cover any cost for hotels that need to be changed or cancelled if roads must close due to bad weather. We’ll watch over you, and you can always reach us via the 24-hour emergency line.

Itinerary

Distance:

50 km / 30 miles, with Reykjanes Peninsula 95 km / 55 miles

Once you’ve landed at Keflavík Airport, please pick up your luggage and head through customs. Collect your rental car at the airport and proceed to your hotel.

Depending on your arrival time, you might enjoy exploring the Reykjanes Peninsula, a UNESCO GeoPark and a great introduction to Iceland’s geology and volcanoes, including the site of eruptions between 2021 and 2025. Craters, lava cliffs and fissures line the peninsula, and we recommend a stroll through the surreal Krýsuvík area, where colourful mud pools and steam vents bubble away quite happily on their own schedule.

Reykjanes is also home to the Blue Lagoon, and a soak in its soothing waters is a lovely way to shake off the flight. Important: admission needs to be booked in advance – we’re happy to arrange this for you.

Drive on to your hotel in Reykjavík, Iceland’s colorful capital.

Overnight in Reykjavík.

Please note check-in for most hotels begins at 14:00 – 16:00 (2:00pm-4:00pm).

Our Recommended Hot Spring Experiences: The Blue Lagoon. We’re happy to book this experience for you!

Þingvellir – Kaldidalur – Borgarfjörður – Laugarbakki

Approximate Distance: variable

Head first to Þingvellir National Park, the site of Iceland’s ancient parliament and the place where the North American and European tectonic plates quite literally pull apart. Several walking trails lead to historical points of interest around the rift valley.

From here, the Kaldidalur highland road carries you on the edge of Langjökull and Þórisjökull, a quieter route than the Ring Road and one that shows off Iceland’s interior in a way most visitors never see.

Descending into Borgarfjörður, you’ll find one of West Iceland’s best-kept local secrets. Visit the brilliantly blue waters of Hraunfossar and Barnafoss, and Deildartunguhver, Europe’s most powerful hot spring. The nearby Krauma Natural Geothermal Baths make a well-timed stop, blending the spring’s heat with cool glacial water for a proper “fire and ice” soak and we can happily organise this for you.

Continue north to Laugarbakki in the Miðfjörður area for your overnight.

Overnight in Northwest Iceland.

Optionals:

Krauma Nature Baths

Into the Glacier – Classic Tour (from Húsafell)

Snorkelling Silfra (Meet on Location)

Approximate Distance:

310 km / 193 miles

Skirt Húnaflói bay, well known for its seal-spotting, and consider a stop at the Seal Centre in Hvammstangi if you have time to spare. The scenery shifts into Skagafjörður, Iceland’s horse-breeding heartland, where the turf farmhouse at Glaumbær gives a real sense of how rural Icelanders lived for centuries. If you enjoy history, the 1238: Battle of Iceland virtual reality experience in Sauðárkrókur is well worth a stop, and between mid-May and August, a boat departs from the town’s harbor out to Drangey, the legendary hideout of the outlaw Grettir the Strong.

From there, thread out onto the Tröllaskagi (the Troll Peninsula) one of Iceland’s most dramatic coastal drives. In Siglufjörður, the award-winning Herring-Era Maritime Museum tells the story of the early 20th-century boom that briefly turned this quiet fishing village into gold-rush territory.

The road continues through some of the country’s highest coastal mountains, past waterfalls tipping straight into the sea. Whale watching departs from Dalvík (we can book this for you!), and if you fancy something a little different, the Beer Spa in Árskógssandur does hot spring bathing with a twist.

Overnight in the Akureyri area.

Optionals:

Classic Whale Watching from Akureyri

Akureyri – Lake Mývatn – Húsavík

Approximate Distance:

180 km / 112 miles

Today’s loop takes you out from Akureyri and back, so there’s no need to repack the car. Head first to Goðafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods, where glacial water tumbles around a half-circle of lava in one of North Iceland’s defining images.

Continue to Lake Mývatn, a geological wonderland that includes the peculiar lava citadels at Dimmuborgir, the pseudo-craters at Skútustaðir, and the bubbling, sulphurous slopes of Námaskarð. It’s easy to see why this otherworldly landscape has caught Hollywood’s eye over the years. A stop at the Earth Lagoon Mývatn is well worth the detour, with azure geothermal water.

From Mývatn, head on to Húsavík, Iceland’s whale-watching capital, where boat tours run regularly through the summer months. The GeoSea Geothermal Sea Baths make a fine way to end the day, soaking in naturally warmed sea water while looking out towards the Arctic Circle. We will be happy to help arrange the entrances to the lagoons for you.

Return to Akureyri for your overnight.

Optional Tours

Earth Lagoon Mývatn

GeoSea Geothermal Sea Baths in Húsavík

Húsavík Silent Whale Watching (Carbon Neutral)

Akureyri – Kjölur – Golden Circle – Flúðir

Approximate Distance: variable

Today’s the big one: the unpaved Kjölur track carries you straight through Iceland’s uninhabited interior, threading between the glaciers of Langjökull and Hofsjökull and connecting North and South Iceland without a single detour back to the coast.

Not far into the crossing, stop at Hveravellir, an oasis in the middle of the highlands with a natural hot spring pool where you can bathe (for a small fee) and walk around the hot springs before continuing on. Further along the track, a worthwhile detour leads to the Kerlingarfjöll mountain range, where the Hveradalir Valley offers a magnificent geothermal area surrounded by small glaciers with hiking paths through multicolored landscapes and steam vents.

Kjölur is usually open from 20 June to 15 September, weather permitting, and a Category MC vehicle (KIA Sportage 4WD or similar) or higher is required.

Emerging back into the Golden Circle, stop at Gullfoss, widely considered Iceland’s most beautiful waterfall, and the geothermal field at Geysir, home to the ever-reliable Strokkur. There’s no shortage of ways to unwind here afterwards. The Secret Lagoon, Laugarvatn Fontana, or the newer two-story Laugarás Lagoon are all local favourites. We will happily arrange the entrances for you and if time allows, we recommend a stop at the Friðheimar greenhouse farm to taste their famous tomato soup.

Overnight in the Flúðir area.

Optional Tours

Secret Lagoon

Laugarás Lagoon Entrance

Fontana Geothermal Baths

Flúðir – Fjallabak – Vík

Approximate Distance:

variable

Today’s route follows the highland road F208, into the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, one of the most beautiful areas of Iceland’s highlands. The route crosses several streams and rivers as you drive through a moonlike lava landscape en route to Landmannalaugar and the wider Fjallabak highlands, a landscape of rhyolite mountains striped in ochre, pink and green that looks almost too vivid to be real.

Descending South, a detour will bring you to the volcanic fissure of Eldgjá and, if you fancy stretching your legs, hike to the beautiful Ófærufoss waterfall.

This route is usually open only from end of June to early September. This route includes river crossings and a 4WD vehicle is required (cat. SL Dacia Duster or higher) . If you’d like to stop at Landmannalaugar itself, a parking space must be pre-booked in advance and a service fee paid to secure it.

You’ll then rejoin the coast near Vík, Iceland’s southernmost village. Nearby, Reynisfjara‘s black sand beach is as dramatic close up as they look in every photo you’ve seen, and Dyrhólaey‘s rocky headland offers sweeping coastal views (please note Dyrhólaey is closed during nesting season, from around mid-May until 23 June).

Overnight in the Vík area.

Vík – South Coast – Reykjavík

Approximate Distance:

190 km / 118 miles

Head west along the South Shore, stopping at Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss, two of Iceland’s most photographed waterfalls and, in our experience, worth every one of those photographs. On a clear day, you’ll also catch sight of Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that briefly grounded half of Europe’s air traffic back in 2010.

Continue to Reykjavík for your final night, with the evening free to enjoy the capital’s restaurants and nightlife. If a last hot spring stop appeals, the Sky Lagoon sits right on your route into the city, we can arrange this for you.

Overnight in Reykjavík.

Optional Tours

Black Sand Beach & Plane Wreck ATV Tour

Sky Lagoon Pass

Lava Tunnel Tour – Caving (meet on location)

Approximate Distance:

50 km / 30 miles

Drive back to Keflavík International Airport. We recommend leaving your hotel no later than three hours before your flight departure. It takes approximately one hour to drive to the airport, and check-in starts two hours before departure

Notes