Iceland Part VI: Hveragerði hot river and hike, and the Blue Lagoon

Before I talk about this amazing day we had, I must start with the idyllic house we stayed in for our last three nights in Iceland. The house is located in between Reykjavik and Keflavik and is set right on the ocean, free of noise and people, with the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in the distant background. When researching for our Iceland vacation I came across a blog that had this house pictured in them. I messaged the writer and she gave me the VRBO link, and we couldn't have been happier with our choice! Our owners Anna and Birgir welcomed us into their home (we had the entire bottom floor of their house), and were so friendly and informative.

Because the sun sets so late at this time of year we had been finding it hard to go to sleep before midnight - though with our eye masks we were able to accomplish this maybe once or twice. Even though the sun does set in the summer (when we were there it set at 11:50pm and rose at 2:45am) it never fully gets dark. If you woke up at 1:30am it would look like dusk outside... it really messes with you if you're not used to it!

Around 11:15 at night

We stayed outside for the sunset one night and I have to say it was the most spectacular sunset I've ever seen. One thing about the sunset is that it takes FOREVER to set. It looks like it's hovering over the horizon for over an hour. The colors were striking, especially after the sun dipped below the horizon and stayed just under it for another hour. The sun, coupled with the beautiful scenery from the house made this a really special moment for us to share.

Hanging out at the small dock

We dubbed our last day in Iceland our "free day". We had accomplished everything we had wanted to do the week before and we had it open to do whatever we chose. We chose to go Hveragerði, which is a town about 40 minutes outside of Reykjavik. The town is known for its intense thermal activity - they have a ton of greenhouses growing vegetables there that are heated from the ground. We had read about a hike just north of the town that leads you to a natural river bath heated from the thermal activity in the ground, but cooled off enough from glacial runoff so people were able to relax in it.

The beginning - looks legit

The hike

Onwards!

BOILING water!

The climb was almost entirely uphill, but you are rewarded with wonderful views, waterfalls, and geothermal pools. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes and our legs were ready to quit... but we knew that just around the bend was the river!

Up in the mountains looking at some small waterfalls

Along the hike with geothermal activity behind us

We made it!

Wooden pathways were a recent addition to the river since it has become more of a "hot spot". Hot steam was coming off of the river and though there were people hanging out in the river, it wasn't crowded by any means. We found an area where we modestly changed into our swimsuits and put our stuff down. Stepping into the water was like stepping into a hot tub. It was so relaxing after an uphill hike! We stayed in the water for about 20 minutes before taking a lunch break on the grass with sandwiches that we packed. We then tried different areas of the water since different parts had different temperatures and water flow.

We then had to change back and hike back down!

Leaving the river, walking through sulfur steam

We had 5pm reservations at the Blue Lagoon so after going back to the house and hanging out for a bit we headed there. It gets pretty crowded here in the summer so it's recommended that you make your reservations a few days beforehand. We decided that we would spend some time in the Lagoon and then eat at the highly rated LAVA restaurant on site.

The locker room was a little crazy... at least on the women's side. It took me a while to find a locker and even then I had to ask a woman if she was leaving and wait while she changed. The set of lockers that I ended up using had a mechanical issue so we couldn't shut or open them. The poor girl next to me who barely spoke English had just finished a shower and couldn't get into her locker to get dressed for maybe 30 minutes. One more thing.. leave your modesty at the door! They always say that they can tell who the Americans are because we cover ourselves up as we get dressed and undressed. So there were naked people everywhere in that locker room! But I have to say it was pretty liberating and I wish that we weren't so uptight in our own locker rooms... it's hard getting dressed while trying to hold a towel around you! Anyway, I digress...

The lagoon is so beautifully done. The hot aqua blue water was so inviting that we couldn't wait to get in. We parked ourselves in an empty area and relaxed in the water. A few glasses of Prosecco for me and a few beers for Jon later and we were very very happy!

We put some silica mud on our skin making it ever so soft and took in a few more of the sun's rays. We probably stayed in the water for about two hours before we were done.

After a shower and getting dressed we met each other at LAVA restaurant for our 9pm reservation (though we arrived early at 8:30). Even though we arrived early and said it wasn't a problem that our table wasn't ready they comped us for our drinks while we waited! We had one of the best seats in the restaurant looking right onto an empty area of the Blue Lagoon. The meal was spectacular and nicely presented.