The Best Geothermal Baths in North Iceland

Why is North Iceland Worth Exploring?

Like I’ve shared in my previous articles on the Diamond Circle and the Arctic Coast Way I’m a huge fan of Iceland’s northern region.

Call me bias, but for me it comes down to a myriad of reasons. The landscapes are beautiful, the people are generally friendlier than the capital region, the attractions are bigger and more bizarre, and you’ll often have wide stretches of road without any other travellers around you.

Essentially, for those of you who enjoy getting an authentic experience when visiting a country, the north of Iceland is the place for you.

Without going into too much detail in this article, the ripe combination of quirky towns, boutique shops and a rugged wilderness of volcanic and mountainous terrains, you’ll have plenty of time to see and encounter something unique when journeying north.

For the nature lovers among you, I’d highly recommend completing the Diamond Circle whilst ensuring you add in whale watching tour from Husavik. And for those of you interested in sampling the culture, try stopping off at the beautiful towns of Akureyri and Husavik as well as Hofsós, Siglufjörður and Dalvik around the picturesque Tröllaskagi peninsula.

In case you still can’t tell, I love this region!

Photographers will be pulling the car over at every turn in the road and layby they see, whilst hikers will have plenty of trails to ramble through. And your evenings can be spent outside under clear skies watching the wondrous Aurora Borealis dance over the Icelandic skies in Iceland during winter.

The north is also a personal favourite of mine for sampling the most delicious cuisine. With an abundance of fishing towns sitting along the coastlines and at the base of some spectacular Icelandic fjords, your meals will more often than not be caught that very day just offshore.

In fact, if you treat yourself to stay in the town of Siglufjörður you will regularly be able to sit by the harbour and watch as the trawlers bring in the catch of the day that will be gracing your plate in a matter of hours. Call me boring and old-fashioned but that really makes for a proper Icelandic experience.

The Beer Spa

Ok, now before I burst into song about everything I think you should see and do in North Iceland, let me explain about what I discovered when taking some spontaneous decisions to visit the various spas I passed.

Driving directly from Reykjavik with a plan to rest up in Dalvik, after around 5 hours of driving up and down mountain passes me and my partner passed by Iceland’s beer spa.

Situated just outside the small village of Árskógssandur, the beer spa is placed in the scenic location right on the shoreline with the snowy peaks of the Tröllaskagi peninsula mountains framing this fully black and enigmatic building.

With a quick and silent nod to each other to acknowledge that the idea of taking a bath in a tub of beer is definitely still on our bucket list (after 5 years together, we don’t ever need to say that out loud) we headed inside and booked a couples experience.

After a quick change in the pristine facilities, the host then took us to one of the couples rooms which, though relatively small, had a large tub filled to the brim with a combination of young beer and live beer yeast. And, if that wasn’t enough there was also your very own beer tap which you are allowed to drink as much as you want during your allotted 30 mins.

Now, first of all if there are any Icelandic police authorities reading this blog, I definitely didn’t sample the beer. For everyone else, of course I did!

This made for one of the best experiences of our trip. By chilling out in privacy in a bathtub full of beer whilst sipping on a couple of cold ones, after a long and sometimes tense and achy drive this was the perfect remedy.

We both would have liked extra time in the room to enjoy it even more, but the time spent in the warm waters felt more than sufficient.

I know what a lot of you are thinking, and no, sadly you can’t drink the beer directly from the bath. And, no bathing in it or breathing in the powerful and tantalising aroma of the hops won’t make you drunk.

After your time in the bath is up, your host will reappear and take you to the relaxation room. Both myself and Katie (a little tipsy at the time) couldn’t help but giggle at the fact we were being wrapped up like giant babies and hearing the odd burp on the other side of the room from some Icelandic patrons who had clearly taken advantage of the unlimited beer option.

Once you’re fully relaxed and ready to leave the relaxation room you can explore the other facilities. There’s a selection of hot tubs outside with views of the surrounding fjord and mountains, or the indoor saunas helping to cleanse your body even more.

This certainly was one of the best spontaneous choices we took on this trip.

Geosea Geothermal Sea Baths

After spending the day in Husavik, where we decided to take a rocky boat ride out to get a glimpse of a series of Humpback whales, we knew we had to rejuvenate in the highly recommended Geosea Spa.

Situated just outside of the town towards the east, you can find this spa right beside the minimalist but incredibly photogenic Husavik Lighthouse.

Deciding to stick with our spontaneous approach we headed inside, quickly got changed in the very modern and comfortable facilities and headed out past the bar and into the baths.

Now, what makes Geosea worth stopping at in particular is it’s location. Resting high on the cliff edge of the world famous Skjálfandi bay, these series of geothermal baths allow you to relax in comfort whilst looking over the edge in search of the great whales that make their home below.

That’s right, let me reiterate - you can relax in warm waters with a drink in hand whilst watching out for whales. I’m not sure there’s any other place on Earth with this on offer!

And, as the expression at the start of the article predicted, we saw a series of humpbacks surfacing and diving from the comfort of the Geosea baths, leading to one of my greatest experiences happening all at once.

Myvatn Nature Baths

The last spa we visited on our trip north was to the much acclaimed Myvatn Nature Baths.

Often referred to as the Blue Lagoon of the north, these natural series of geothermal pools sit overlooking the wonderful region of Myvatn.

Myvatn itself was formed after a huge basaltic lava eruption roughly 2300 years ago, and now humbly sits amongst a series of hot springs, craters and the famous old lava formations of Dimmuborgir.

The baths themselves are very modern with a collection of pools you can choose from depending on your temperature preference.

The best part about our visit during the autumnal months is that we were blessed with one of the most beautiful sunsets to the west while resting peacefully in the baths. If you haven’t watched a sunset over the cusp of a selection of volcanic steam vents, then you haven’t yet ticked off one of the most impressive views on the planet.

This was then topped off even further by walking out of the nature baths under one of the most spectacular of Northern Lights displays I’ve seen in Iceland.

From one beauty to the next, this cemented the expression in our minds of how we need to travel when things finally start opening up once more.

Conclusion

Having followed this old expression for a couple of weeks taking our time adventuring around the vast beautiful spots of Iceland's north I can confirm there’s a strong validity in it’s assertion when experiencing some of the best things to do in Iceland.

Though, at the time of writing, travel for more or less all of us is at a total stand still, it’s important to reflect on how we should explore and journey when the future brightens up.

If I can offer anything from my decisions to chuck in a fistful of spontaneity on my recent travels, it’s that not everything needs to be fully coordinated, and that more often than not the greatest adventures are those that find you rather than the other way around.

My thoughts to everyone who wants to travel to Iceland right now and can’t - we all very much look forward to seeing you soon. I can confirm that Icelands nature is still just as epic!

Guest Blog by Chris Ayliffe, Chief Marketing Officer at Traveo.