The Geothermal Wonders of Iceland: Geysers, Steam Fields and Town Pools

Article Summary

The geothermal wonders of Iceland include erupting geysers, boiling mud pots and naturally warm rivers, and this guide covers where to find them and how Icelanders live with the heat.

Who this is for: travellers planning a first trip to Iceland, including visitors from Ireland and the UK on a short break.

Key takeaway: Iceland’s geothermal sites fall into places you look at and places you bathe in, and knowing which is which makes a trip safer and more enjoyable.

Expert insight: “What stayed with me in Iceland was how ordinary the heat is to the people who live there. You can watch mud boil at Hverir in the morning and spend the evening in a small town pool with local families, warmed by water from the same ground.”- Ciaran Connolly, Founder of ConnollyCove.

Quick Facts

• Geothermal water heats roughly nine out of ten homes in Iceland, according to the National Energy Authority (Orkustofnun).
• The Great Geysir gave its name to geysers worldwide, although its neighbour Strokkur is the one that erupts regularly today.
• The Blue Lagoon is filled with water from the Svartsengi geothermal power plant rather than from a natural spring.

The geothermal wonders of Iceland exist because the island sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where two tectonic plates are pulling apart, and above a hotspot that pushes extra heat towards the surface. Steam drifts across fields beside the main roads, and hot water from the ground warms homes, greenhouses and outdoor pools through the long northern winter.

This guide from ConnollyCove, an Ireland-based travel and culture platform, follows the main geothermal regions in roughly the order visitors reach them, from Keflavík airport to the far north. Medieval Icelandic sources say Irish monks lived here before the Norse arrived, and our piece on Norse influence on Irish folklore explains how the two cultures met.

Iceland’s Heat Comes From a Rift and a Hotspot Beneath It

Iceland lies on the boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates, which move apart by about two centimetres a year, and a mantle plume sits directly beneath the island. Rain and meltwater seep down through cracked volcanic rock, heat up near magma and return to the surface as hot springs, steam vents and geysers.

The low-temperature fields supply most of the water used for heating, while the high-temperature fields inside the volcanic zones can be well above boiling point a short way down. The same North Atlantic volcanism also produced the basalt of County Antrim around 60 million years ago, and ConnollyCove’s guide to the geology and folklore of the Giant’s Causeway shows what that older lava looks like once it has cooled and weathered.

The Reykjanes Peninsula Is the First Geothermal Ground Most Visitors See

Keflavík Airport sits at the tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula, and several geothermal sites lie within about half an hour of the terminal, so you can see steam vents on the afternoon you land. Gunnuhver is a field of mud pools named after a woman called Guðrún, whose ghost, according to local legend, a priest lured into the boiling spring. Seltún, in the Krísuvík area, has boardwalks across hillsides streaked yellow and rust red by sulphur and iron.

The Blue Lagoon near Grindavík is fed by water from the Svartsengi power plant, and its milky blue colour comes from silica. The peninsula has had repeated fissure eruptions since 2021, with roads and the lagoon closing at times, so check the Icelandic Meteorological Office and SafeTravel.is before you set off. Our round-up of culturally rich luxury destinations shows how a lagoon stay can fit into a longer trip.

The Golden Circle Holds Iceland’s Most Famous Geyser Field

Strokkur, in the Haukadalur valley, erupts every few minutes and usually sends water 15 to 20 metres into the air, while the Great Geysir beside it now erupts only rarely. The spray drifts with the wind, so stand upwind if you want a clear photograph and dry clothes.

The route also passes Þingvellir National Park, where the plate boundary shows as a line of cliffs and where the Althing, Iceland’s parliament, first met in 930. Our history of the Vikings as raiders, traders and settlers covers the people who founded it. For a soak nearby, Reykjadalur above Hveragerði has a warm stream you can bathe in after a walk of about an hour.

North Iceland Has the Wildest Steam Fields Around Mývatn and Krafla

Hverir, below the Námafjall ridge near Lake Mývatn, is a bare orange plain of roaring vents and grey mud pots, and the smell of hydrogen sulphide reaches you before you have parked. ConnollyCove’s Lake Mývatn travel guide explains how to get there from Akureyri.

A few kilometres north, Krafla has a steam-driven power station, the Víti crater lake and the Leirhnjúkur lava field, where ground from the eruptions of 1975 to 1984 still steams. Winter brings icy paths and road closures, so plan the northern sites for late spring to early autumn if you can. The table below compares the main sites.

Site	Region	What you will see	Can you bathe?	Best for
Gunnuhver	Reykjanes	Mud pools and steam vents	No	A first stop near the airport
Blue Lagoon	Reykjanes	Silica-rich lagoon	Yes, paid	A comfortable spa visit
Strokkur	Golden Circle	A regular geyser eruption	No	Watching an eruption
Reykjadalur	South	A warm stream in a valley	Yes, free	A walk with a soak
Deildartunguhver	West	Europe’s highest-flowing hot spring	No	A stop near Reykholt
Hverir	North	Steam vents and mud pots	No	The most dramatic steam field

Hot Springs Shaped Where the First Settlers Lived

Reykjavík means “smoky bay”, a name usually traced to the steam Ingólfur Arnarson saw rising from the shore in the late ninth century. Medieval sources also describe Irish monks, known as papar, living on the island before the Norse, and ConnollyCove’s article on Celtic and Norse mythologies looks at how the two traditions overlapped.

At Reykholt in West Iceland, Snorralaug is a small stone pool fed by a hot spring and linked to Snorri Sturluson, the thirteenth-century author of the Prose Edda. Deildartunguhver, a few kilometres away, releases more hot water than any other spring in Europe. Norse belief placed entrances to the world below in volcanic places, and our guide to Valhalla and the Norse afterlife explains how Snæfellsnes fit that idea.

The Town Swimming Pool Is Where Geothermal Culture Really Lives

A municipal swimming pool, or sundlaug, is the best place to see geothermal Iceland as locals do, with people of every age sitting in hot tubs called heitir pottar before work or after school. Almost every town has one, entry costs a fraction of a commercial lagoon, and our list of things to do in Reykjavík suggests how to plan a day around the capital’s Laugardalslaug.

The same heat reaches the kitchen, since rúgbrauð, a dense rye bread, is traditionally baked in pots buried in hot ground around Laugarvatn. Greenhouses such as Friðheimar on the Golden Circle grow tomatoes all year with geothermal warmth.

Visiting Geothermal Areas Safely Means Staying on the Paths

Stay on marked paths and boardwalks at every geothermal site, because the crust beside a vent can be thin and the water beneath it close to 100°C. Stepping off also damages moss and mineral deposits that are very slow to recover.

Icelandic pools require you to shower without swimwear, using soap, before you get in, and silver jewellery is best left in your room because sulphur can turn it black. ConnollyCove’s guide to caves in Iceland covers the lava tunnels near Reykjavík if you want to plan the next part of your trip.

The Best Time to Visit Depends on Whether You Want to Bathe or Explore

Iceland’s lowland geothermal sites, including Strokkur, Seltún and the Blue Lagoon, are open all year, so the season mainly changes how you experience them. Summer brings long daylight and the only window for the highland roads to places such as Landmannalaugar, which usually open from late June until early September. In midwinter, Reykjavík gets around four to five hours of daylight, although sitting in a hot pool while snow falls is a strong reason to visit in December or January.

Spring and autumn are usually quieter, and the northern sites around Mývatn are easier to reach before the first heavy snow. Short winter afternoons also suit Reykjavík’s museums, and our guide to Viking symbols and Norse culture explains many of the designs you will see there. Check the road and the Icelandic Meteorological Office forecast before each drive.

FAQs About the Geothermal Wonders of Iceland

These are the questions travellers ask most often about the geothermal wonders of Iceland, with short answers to help you plan.