Bathe in a river that runs hot out of a hillside

Reykjadalur is a valley in the hills above Hveragerði where the ground steams. Hot springs feed into the stream that runs down it, so for one stretch the stream is warm enough to sit in, out in open country with nothing around it but the hills.

Getting there is on foot. The path starts at the edge of town and climbs for about an hour through ground that smokes on either side, until the valley opens out and the steam is coming off the water itself.

At the top there are wooden boardwalks along the bank, and the river. Everybody changes on the bank. The temperature changes from one spot to the next, so the way in is to walk along the bank, try it, and move on until it is right. Then sit down in it and look at the hills.

There are no facilities at the river, and the boardwalks are there to protect the vegetation along the bank. The bathing stretch is about three kilometers from the trailhead, and its main pool runs at around 28 to 30 degrees, warmest near where the springs come in. Nobody is meant to get in right above the hottest inflows.