geothermal

October 14, 2019 By Eric Leave a Comment

Krauma Thermal Baths in West Iceland

Krauma Thermal Baths are in West Iceland, near the town of Reykholt. Note that there are 2 towns named Reykholt in Iceland: the other one is in the South of Iceland, in the Golden Circle area. Krauma opened at the end of 2016, the first in a trio of new premium thermal baths. GeoSea in North Iceland opened in 2018, and Vök Baths in East Iceland opened in 2019.

All of these feature hot outdoor pools heated by nearby geothermally heated water, and Krauma makes sure you know this the moment you step out of your car. It’s located right next to the Deildartunguhver geothermal area, and its clouds of hit sulphuric steam. Deildartunguhver is Europe’s most powerful hot spring. (That’s defined by total flow rate.)

August 16, 2019 By Eric Leave a Comment

The Reykjadalur hot river hike near Hveragerði: A review and guide

I find hikes to be more satisfying if there’s a destination. Hike to a glacier, or a waterfall, or … another waterfall. The Reykjadalur hike is different, and unique. Hike to a hot river. Change into a bathing suit, and hop in!

Well, there’s a lot more to it than that. The hike took us an hour each way. So you’re looking at a 3 hour time commitment, assuming you want to have some time to relax in the water. And so you need to take bathing suits and towels, as well as water to drink and maybe some snacks. My backpack was stuffed full (and full of wet bathing suits and towels for the walk back!) Let’s dig in to the details.

July 27, 2019 By Eric Leave a Comment

The brand new Vök Baths in Egilsstaðir

We’re making our way through Iceland right now, to update our web site and book. We knew we would be in Egilsstaðir in East Iceland on July 27th. Vök Baths was scheduled to open on July 1st … then it was pushed to July 15th … and then to July 27th. It’s just outside of Egilsstaðir.

Through nothing more than luck, we ended up here on their very first day. And we were very glad we did.

August 7, 2016 By Eric Leave a Comment

Sunday, July 31 update: Nauthólsvík Geothermal Beach, Nordic House, The Volcano House

This morning I headed to Nauthólsvík Geothermal Beach in Reykjavik. Let’s cut to the chase: It’s free, and I think your kids will love it. Strangely, there is a fee for the locker rooms in the winter, but everything is free in the summer.

June 27, 2016 By Eric 5 Comments

Saturday, June 25 update: Geothermal, lava caves, and Hveragerði

We left Hafnarfjörður and headed toward the Golden Circle area. Our first stop was the Onpower Geothermal Energy Exhibition.

You will see the steam as you drive past on Route 1. The buildings are massive, but the Visitor’s Center is in the small “arrow” in the middle. [Read more…] about Saturday, June 25 update: Geothermal, lava caves, and Hveragerði

June 16, 2016 By Eric Leave a Comment

Wednesday, June 15 update

After a relaxing morning, we headed to take a factory tour of Saltverk. Founded 5 years ago, Saltverk has revived a 17th century process to extract salt from the ocean using geothermal energy. This process results in a “flaky” salt. When we got there, we weren’t sure we’d really found it: