What do you do after driving a camper all the way around Iceland in six days? Return your rental RV, pick up a rental car, and drive 35 minutes from Reykjavík to a town where you can boil eggs, bake bread, and soak your toesies in a geothermal playground. Hveragerði is home to a giant rundown greenhouse with ice cream and parrots, a geothermal park in the center of town, bakeries selling bread baked in hot springs, and a hiking trail leading to a valley with a river of sweet, sweet hot water.
Between the Hot Springs Valley and the Town
Just a couple miles outside of Hveragerði is the trail head marking the start of the hike to Reykjadalur (Smokey Valley), a geothermal valley famous for boiling mud pits, clouds of smoke-like steam, and a naturally-heated river perfect for bathing. Chris and I had done the hike once before and spent a blissful afternoon soaking in the hot river and hiking around the valley, but this time we only walked a short way up the trail to the first warm spring-fed hot pot five minutes from the dirt parking lot.
Hveragerði Hot Pot
Dad’s leg was injured, so after a short walk exploring the warm springs, wild cotton, and green hills we headed back to town for the thrifty person’s version of a spa day. Chris and I had never been to the Geothermal Park in the center of Hveragerði before because why visit a tourist trap when you can hike up to soak in an entire heated river? I admit we’d made a mistake. The Geothermal Park wasn’t so much a tourist trap, as a tourist oasis (on a quiet day anyway).
We Visit the Hveragerði Geothermal Park
We started our self-guided tour in a little greenhouse and cafe with an exhibit about geothermal hot springs. Dad and his injured leg didn’t make it past the cozy cafe where you can buy a single egg to boil in the hot springs for about a dollar. While he waited patiently, Chris, Mom, and I continued on into the park to see the boiling mud pits, colored sands, sink holes, hot springs, and steaming pools and pipes.
The Official Spot to Boil an Egg at the Hveragerði Geothermal Park
When we were done wandering the garden paths through the park and reading about geothermal features and energy my mom surprised us with a treat. She had purchased us all some time in the foot mud baths for the extravagant amount of around $15 a person. That fee included access to the special geothermal mud boxes, a fancy wooden bench to sit on, a spatula and hose for after-mud foot cleaning, clean towels, and finally the right to soak our now mud-free feet in the biggest pool of the hot springs.
Geothermal Muddy Foot Spa
It was a blast; definitely worth the price of admission. The mud was super slick and slippery with a cold layer on top that got warmer the deeper you pushed your feet. I don’t know if we had more fun squelching the mud between our toes all the way up to mid calf or trying to scrape it all off with a couple of spatulas. Everyone that walked by looked at us enviously, and on a busy day I’m sure that the mud foot spa has a long line. Luckily for us, we got to the park early on an overcast day with a hint of rain and were able to take our time.
Hi-Tech Mud Scraper-Offer Spatula
It’s not easy to get that much mud off your feet and legs with a spatula while trying not to wash away such a valuable commodity, but it’s certainly amusing to watch someone try. The pay off after all that work was the moment when we got to slip our now chilly but tingly clean feet into the steaming water of the hot springs.
Mom Moves to Hot Springs Foot Spa Stage While Chris Finishes His Foot Detailing
We must have spent at least an hour muddying, un-muddying, and soaking our feet in the greenish geothermal pool. From our wooden perch by the side of the hot spring, we could see the whole park and our feet had view of the whole algae-swirled pool. I know what our feet saw because I took a photo from their perspective with our waterproof camera. By the time we left our feet were as soft and wrinkly as champagne raisins.
Foot’s Eye View of Hot Spring at Hveragerði Geothermal Center
After our spa treatment on the cheap, it was time for lunch so we headed to a nearby bakery known for its geothermal-baked rye bread. The window display lured us in with fresh pastries and marzipan sculptures of children’s story characters and adults sexing it up (not in the same sculpture). The sandwiches were good, too.
Yes, That’s a Sex Scene Sculpted in Marzipan in the Bakery Window
We did a little more sightseeing in Hveragerði (we briefly got caught in the tourist trap that is the giant geothermal greenhouse where some sad looking plants and parrots entertain tour buses) and then drove south past the main highway to find a kilometer-long, partially-collapsed tunnel in the ground. I’d been wanting to explore a lava tube ever since we came to Iceland and there just happened to be one — Raufarholshellir — around 20 minutes from Hveragerði. It’s difficult to see a hole in the ground from the road, so we kept a sharp eye out for a sign in a gravel lot on the right side of road 39 (there isn’t much else around but open country).
Instruction Sign at Lava Tube
This particular lava tube is thousands of years old and said to be one of the largest you can explore in Iceland. In winter it supposedly fills with icicles and ice formations, which I would love to come back and see someday. The cave has multiple entrances, but the easiest one to access seemed to be the entrance right next to the sign just off the road.
Chris Standing on Caved in Ceiling of Lava Tube
Our guidebook recommended helmets and headlights for any cave exploration, so we brought our backpacking headlights. Because my parents were waiting outside the cave, we only explored the first part of the tube. The ceiling had partially collapsed in several places letting in beams of soft sunlight, and making it difficult to traverse the rocky floor. It was amazingly beautiful and a little eerie to stand in the ruin of a tunnel that looked like it could have been built by people, but was formed by hot lava long before anyone had settled on Iceland.
Chris and I Lighting Up the Lava Tunnel
A little cave exploration was the cherry on top of a perfect day trip, and one of my parent’s last days in Iceland. Chris and I always meant to go back to that lava tube to do some more exploring while we lived in Reykjavík, but we never had the chance. I guess someday we’ll just have to go back to Iceland to finish what we started.
Day’s End
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