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Soaking Spots Near Myvatn That Blew Me Away
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items Planning a trip to North Iceland and overwhelmed by hot spring options, geothermal tours, and packing lists? I spent two weeks road-tripping the Diamond Circle and Myvatn region, made every rookie mistake so you can skip them. Here is everything I ac...
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Where I Actually Ate Around Myvatn
Day Trips That Made the Drive North Worth It
Packing Mistakes I Made So You Do Not Have To
Where I Slept Without Breaking the Budget
Gear That Made Geothermal Soaking Way Better
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Everyone talks about the Blue Lagoon, but nobody warned me how uncrowded and surreal the north can be. These spots had me sitting in steaming water staring at lava fields with maybe five other people.
Get here right at opening if you want the milky blue water practically to yourself. I showed up at 10am on a Tuesday in September and counted eight people total. The sulfur smell fades after five minutes and the mountain views never get old.
Earth Lagoon Myvatn (Myvatn Nature Baths) Travel Guide
Walk around the steam vents before your soak. The ground literally hisses under your feet and smells like another planet. Perfect for anyone who wants to feel like they landed on Mars before breakfast.
Geothermal areas in North Iceland
Drive 45 minutes to Husavik for this one. Saltwater instead of freshwater, perched on a cliff overlooking the Arctic Ocean. Bring a waterproof phone case because you will want to photograph the sunset from inside the pool.
Geosea Geothermal Sea Baths
Tiny, no-frills, and right next to cows. Literally. You soak in a little geothermal pot while cattle graze nearby. For the traveler who wants authenticity over Instagram polish.
Start your day with a farm-fresh breakfast at Vogafjós
You cannot swim here anymore, but standing inside the cave watching steam curl off bright blue water is worth the short hike. Jon Snow fans will recognize it immediately.
Grjotagja Travel Guide
Where I Actually Ate Around Myvatn
Food options up north are sparse and pricey, so I learned fast which spots were worth the splurge and which ones saved my budget without tasting like gas station food.
Try the smoked trout and homemade bread baked underground using geothermal heat. Sat next to a glass wall watching cows get milked while eating breakfast. Sounds weird, tasted incredible.
Vogafjós Cowshead Cafe
Grab a pepperoni pizza after a long day of hiking craters. Nothing fancy, but hot cheese and a cold Gull beer at 9pm when everything else is closed? Lifesaver.
Daddi's Pizza Mývatn
Pair the fish stew with dark bread and local butter. The dining room feels like your Icelandic grandma's living room. Portions are enormous so skip the appetizer.
Gamli Baukur
Keep this in your back pocket for emergencies. The lamb soup costs around 2000 ISK and it is shockingly good. Sometimes the best meal is the one you did not plan.
Detroit Smash Burger Review at Sunoco Gas Station
Splurge on the whale watching combo dinner if you did the morning boat tour. Fresh catch changes daily and the harbor view makes the price sting less.
Salka Restaurant
Day Trips That Made the Drive North Worth It
Myvatn is the base camp, not the whole trip. I burned a full tank of gas exploring within a two-hour radius and every single detour paid off.
Wear waterproof everything. The mist soaks you from 100 meters away and the roar is so loud you cannot hear the person next to you. Most powerful waterfall in Europe and it shows.
Dettifoss Waterfall Travel Guide
Bring hiking poles if your knees complain on uneven ground. The horseshoe-shaped canyon floor is flat and forested, which feels completely wrong for Iceland. That contrast is what makes it special.
Asbyrgi Travel Guide
Free to visit, smells terrible, looks unbelievable. Bubbling mud pots and orange sulfur fields stretch out like a painting. Spend 30 minutes max because the wind carries that egg smell into your clothes.
Hverir Geothermal Area Travel Guide
Stop here on your way to or from Akureyri. Less dramatic than Dettifoss but more photogenic. The semicircular cascade is easy to reach and there is parking right there.
Godafoss Waterfall Travel Guide
Drive up to the crater lake Viti and peer into turquoise water sitting inside a volcano. Short walk from the parking lot, so even if your legs are toast from yesterday's hike, you can handle this one.
Global Volcanism Program | Krafla
Packing Mistakes I Made So You Do Not Have To
September in North Iceland swings from sunny and 10C to sideways rain and near freezing within the same afternoon. I packed wrong the first time and learned fast.
Wear this as your outer layer every single day. It blocked horizontal rain at Dettifoss when my travel partner's jacket soaked through in minutes. Worth every penny in Icelandic weather.
Men's Torrentshell 3L Rain Jacket
Bring at least three pairs. My feet stayed dry and blister-free across lava fields and muddy trails for nine straight days. Cotton socks up there are a recipe for misery.
Men's Hiker Micro Crew Midweight Hiking Socks
Fill it with hot cocoa from your guesthouse before driving out to waterfalls. Cold hands wrapped around a warm bottle while standing in mist? That is peak comfort.
Be Right Back
Use it as a neck gaiter when the wind picks up at geothermal sites. Weighs nothing, packs flat, and saved my face from sulfur-scented gusts more times than I can count.
Buff Original Multifunctional Headwear
Swap your sneakers for these before you even land. The lava rock terrain around Myvatn chews up regular shoes. Ankle support matters when the ground looks like a broken parking lot.
Women's Moab 3 Mid Waterproof Hiking Boots
Where I Slept Without Breaking the Budget
North Iceland accommodation books up fast in summer and thins out by September. I mixed guesthouses, a farm stay, and one splurge night to keep costs reasonable.
Snag a room with a kitchen so you can cook pasta and save your restaurant budget for the good stuff. Walking distance to the lava formations and quiet enough to hear nothing but wind.
Dimmuborgir Guesthouse
The family who runs it left homemade cake in the common room every evening. Small, personal, and the kind of place where the owner draws you a custom map of local spots.
Hlid Bed and Breakfast, Myvatn (updated prices 2027)
Treat yourself to one night here if your budget allows. The dining room overlooks the lake and after four days of guesthouse showers, the hot water pressure alone felt like a reward.
Fosshotel Mývatn
Use this as a stopover if you are driving from Reykjavik. Quiet fjord setting, friendly dogs on the property, and breakfast included. Arrived exhausted and left feeling human again.
Skjaldarvik Guest House
For anyone who wants to wake up surrounded by Icelandic horses and zero neighbors. The silence at night is almost unsettling if you are used to city noise. Bring earplugs anyway because the wind howls.
Narfastadir Guesthouse
Gear That Made Geothermal Soaking Way Better
Nobody told me that hopping between hot pots in cold wind requires a mini strategy. After one freezing sprint in a towel, I figured out what to bring.
Toss your dry clothes in here while soaking. The changing areas at smaller hot pots are basically a wooden bench in the wind. Keeping your stuff dry is not optional, it is survival.
Ultra-Sil Dry Bag
Bring these if the silica or minerals irritate your eyes. The Myvatn water is milky and mineral-rich. My contact lenses and I learned that lesson the uncomfortable way on day one.
Speedo
Ditch your cotton towel for this. Dries in an hour even in Icelandic humidity, rolls up tiny, and does not smell like wet dog after three uses. Cotton towels stayed damp for two full days.
Quick Dry Towel Set Best of the Bestsellers
Wear these for the walk between the changing room and the pool. Bare feet on cold concrete in September wind is a mistake you only make once. They also double as campsite shoes.
Classic Clog
Slather this on after every soak. The mineral water is incredible for relaxation but it dried my skin out like paper. Apply generously before bed or wake up looking like a lizard.
Moisturizing Cream
Driving Tips for the Diamond Circle Route
Renting a car and driving the Diamond Circle solo was the best decision I made. But the roads, weather, and gas station spacing up north play by different rules than the south coast.
Book the smallest 4x4 they have. You do not need a massive SUV for the Diamond Circle, but you absolutely need four-wheel drive for the gravel roads near Dettifoss. Regular cars bottom out.
Blue Car Rental Iceland
Check this every morning before you leave. Road closures happen overnight with zero warning. I almost drove into a washed-out section because I skipped it once. Never again.
Vegagerdin
Grab one at the first N1 station you see. Gas stations in the north can be 80+ km apart and some only accept prepaid cards after hours. Running low on fuel with no open station nearby is a panic I do not recommend.
Save on fuel while travelling in Iceland
Keep this as backup even if you have phone data. Cell service drops completely between Myvatn and Asbyrgi. My phone went blank for 45 minutes on a gravel road and the GPS kept me on track.
Garmin DriveSmart 66, 6-inch Car GPS Navigator
Throw this on your windshield every night at the guesthouse. Scraping ice at 7am with a credit card while your coffee gets cold is a terrible way to start a day. Learned that one in Husavik.
Killer Whale Orca 2-Piece Windshield Shade