Seljavallalaug Geothermal Algae Pool, Iceland

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I'm going to let you into a little secret, Seljavallalaug, the hidden pool on the south coast of Iceland, and I highly recommend you visit. 

How to get to Seljavallalaug

It is not the most easily reached swimming pool you will ever go to but it's certainly not too challenging to get to. I've listed a few images from the walk below, and maps above, which will hopefully help you find your way. It's a 10-15min walk, pretty easy, the only difficulty is crossing the river but honestly, it's pretty shallow and you are only running the risk of getting wet feet in the icy cold water (maybe bring a spare pair of socks and shoes).

We drove along Highway 1, the main highway ring road filled with sightseeing tourists, waterfalls, volcanos, and much more on the south coast of Iceland. We passed through Selfoss, Hella and Hvolsvöllur on the way from Reykjavik. Head towards Ásólfsskáli and Holt, look out for the Eyjafjallajökull Erupts exhibition (run by a local farmer) on the right and the turning is shortly after on your left, I think it is the second road. Road 242 acts as a loopback onto Highway 1, take this road and drive halfway up. You will see a small track which leads straight up towards the mountains, go up this road and it will take you towards the valley and the newer pool opened in 1990. Park here, and leave your valuables safely in the car, and start walking up through the valley and upriver (image 3) to the old pool for a very special swim. 

After a few minutes, you will reach an open area, like a dry river bed, (image one) walk straight through that and you will come to the river (image two) which you need to cross. We crossed on the stepping stones laid by previous visitors and added some more on our way back. It was fine, no issues but this might be different depending on the weather. From here it's easy, walk a few more minutes along the river’s edge and not up the hill, you will see the pool just around the hillside (image five). 

What’s Seljavallalaug like?

It is basic but it's absolutely adequate for the experience. You can change in the small white building at the end of the pool. It offers three rooms with a bench and some coat hooks. It’s very basic, cold, and often damp so you will want to be in and out quickly. There might be a queue so have a quick check to see if anyone is lurking in the pool keeping warm but ready to jump in front of you in the wait for a free room. There are no showers or toilets so it’s a case of stripping down to your swimming stuff and enjoy the pool before braving the cold when you get out and get changed. You might want to bring a couple of towels to wrap yourself in and maybe a pair of flip-flops if you don't want to walk barefoot around the algae poolside. Other than that, it’s pretty much not been touched since it was built which makes for a very authentic and beautiful experience. 

Swimming at Seljavallalaug

One of the oldest pools in Iceland, built in 1923, this man-made pool was originally built to teach local children how to swim as part of compulsory education from 1927. 25m long and 10m wide, Seljavallalaug was the largest pool in Iceland until 1936. It might look a bit ominously green but trust me, it’s all good and the water is lovely and warm from all that Icelandic geothermal heat. Either jump in at the end by the white wall where it’s deeper than you can stand or use the ladder by the changing rooms and take it slowly. The floor of the pool is obviously going to be slimy, I believe it is cleaned annually by volunteers in the summer, so just get on with swimming in this unique 25m pool...lie back, enjoy the view and warmth of the water, and think of the beauty and health benefits of bathing in algae. 

What a setting, it’s pretty unique. 

An amazing experience and a very special place that not many people either know of or make the effort to find. If you go, please do make a donation to help maintain and preserve Seljavallaug. 

Have you visited Seljavallalaug?

Jökulsárlón, The Glacier Lagoon, Iceland

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Jökulsárlón, the Glacier Lagoon, is quite possibly one of the most impressive natural sites I have ever seen. I had no idea what to expect, other than a load of water with a few lumps of ice floating in it, BUT this was mind-blowingly cool.

We drove to the lagoon via Vik and stopped off for lunch to break up the 3+ hour drive. The weather was utterly miserable, rain from all directions so you couldn't see much of the scenery other than the odd sheep on the road or bridge to break up the monotony. When we did arrive, I planned my venture out into the rain wisely. This meant counting to 3, jumping out of the car, and making a mad dash for the boot where my spare shoes and waterproofs were. Back in the car to change, waterproof layer on and we were off. 

I was pretty excited by this point, let’s be honest, it had been building for hours whilst staring out at the grey day and knowing we were driving past waterfalls, mountains, and glaciers hidden by the gloominess. Speed-walking from the car park up to the top of the hill, I caught the first glimpse of the glaciers and was speechless. Yes, a pool of floating compacting snow, but just look at it!! I let out an excited yelp and then a frustrated moan to my boyfriend to hurry up. He, being the typical Icelander, was walking up the hill wearing a waterproof, pair of shorts and flip-flops. It was raining upward and we were soaked already. I started walking down to the shore where he proceeded to kick off his flip-flops and go for a paddle in the icy water. 

Mesmerized but interrupted by my need to try and capture these amazing ice structures, their patterns, and the colours, I took my camera out from its new home inside my waterproof and concentrated. A cracking sound and then a quiet splash, a glacier that had just broken in two and a half was now floating down the lagoon and heading out to sea.

The Glacier Lagoon acts like a basin for when small pieces of the main glacier break off and float down headed for the North Sea. They are too big to float downstream and out to sea so sit in the basin until they break down. If you are lucky you might see this happen in front of you. You might also be able, as we did, to spot a seal or two playing in amongst the glaciers. 

Soaked through with a rather rained-on camera, not to mention the cold, we headed back to the car to change and dry off. I don't know if it was the naturally soothing greyish-blue water of the lagoon, greyish white gloomy sky, and a mixture of icy tones in between or the magic of these structures and their variety as they floated slowly, cracking and melting, but I could honestly have stayed there all day.

book a tour to Jökulsárlón, the Glacier Lagoon

2 Day Tour to Jökulsárlón | Blue Ice Cave, Black Beach & South Coast Waterfalls

Have you visited Jökulsárlón, the Glacier Lagoon?

A Drive Through Snæfellsnes Peninsula, West Iceland

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Snæfellsnes

We started off from Reykjavik around lunchtime, stopping for the standard Icelandic service station hotdog on the way, and arrived at the perfect time for the evening meal of fish tacos at my boyfriend’s friend’s house. Armed with a map and a load of 90's CDs to sing and dance to in the car, we hit the road and were headed West in search of Snæfellsnes. 

This part of Iceland is very sparse, exposed, and wild. It’s late summer and still pretty light but cold, wet, and windy. The drive here is beautiful and I have stopped to take many photographs. The moss-covered lava landscape is something I have fallen in love with, I am addicted and mesmerized as we drive past fields of it. We see small villages, towns, the odd church standing proud and bold with mountains and waterfalls as backdrops. It’s stunning. 

We arrived at my boyfriends’ friend’s house where we were staying the night, he also happens to be the assistant park ranger and so gave us a quick tour of the park before it got too cold and dark. We drove around from a white sand beach to a black sand beach, from one lighthouse to the next. As it got darker, the stars started to shine brightly and the moon lit up the lava and mountains with glaciers atop - I am looking forward to seeing the park in daylight. 

The next day we woke early and headed out to find coffee at a local bakery in the town before heading off to the park to see it in daylight. We went straight to djúpalónssandur beach, the black sand beach which is famous for its stones and boulders, laid out as a test of strength for new recruits looking to join fishing boats. The boulders are named fullsterkur (full strong 154 kg), fullsterkur (half strong 100 kg), Hálfdrættingur (half carrier 54 kg), and amlóði (hamlet/weakling 23kg) - needless to say I left the heavy lifting to my boyfriend. We spent some time sitting on the rocks, watching the waves splash and circle around us, chatting and taking in the surroundings, climbing rocks and lava, and enjoying time together.

Snæfellsnes is huge and you could spend a few days wandering the different sites and hanging out on its beaches, walking the cliffside trails, discovering its caves, or hiking up to the Glacier. We spend an evening driving around to get an overview and then a full day revisiting the sites we wanted to. You could do this by bus, or on foot if you have a good few days to plan, but by car is best and means you can shelter from the weather and see lots of different spots.

We then drove around stopping at lighthouses, beaches and even drove into the middle of the Hólahólar crater and had a look around before heading to find a nice warm bowl of soup. We went to Arnarstapi where we spotted the large statue of a character from one of the Icelandic sagas'. This is Bárður Snæfellsáss (below) who was the son of a human mother and half-troll, half-giant father. He had 3 tall and beautiful daughters with his first wife, also half human half roll, and a further 6 daughters with his second wife. The saga tells of a fight he had with his half-brother. This brother had a son who used to play with one of Bárðurs' daughters. Once they were playing on the ice along the shore and the son pushed the daughter out to sea on an iceberg. She drifted all the way to Greenland where she fell in love. Bárður was furious and fought with his brother and brother’s son who then fled the land. He gave away his land and farm, and vanished up to the Snæfellsjökull ice cap where he became known as Bárður Snæfellsáss meaning "guardian spirit". People of the peninsula worshipped him, calling upon him in times of difficulty.

The drive back was beautiful and we made a few stops for the all-important photographs. Of course, this post would not be complete without featuring some pretty cool examples of Icelandic architecture. These traditional country buildings we spotted at the entrance gates are amazing. We also stopped for a hot chocolate later in the day in one which had been restored and renovated into a cafe at Arnarstapi. Their hairy grass roofs and ultra-thick walls keep them well insulated and they look adorable snuggled, and rightfully so to avoid the cold, into the bottom of a hill.

Have you visited Snæfellsnes in the West of Iceland?

Solheimajokull Glacier Hiking & Ice Climbing in Iceland

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SOLHEIMAJOKULL Glacier Hike & Ice Climbing

I went on the Blue Ice trip with Arctic Adventures and it was amazing!! I wanted to end my time in Iceland on a high so why not hike up a glacier?! 

We set off at about 8 am and were picked up in a minibus from different hotels and points across the city. We headed out towards Selfoss before arriving at Sólheimajökulsvegur where we met up with a few more people and got our gear on. I wore my hiking boots, thick socks, leggings, a thermal layer, fleece, and waterproof. I had a headband (a permanent feature for me in Iceland) and gloves (hardly wore them). We were given a helmet, climbing harness, an ice axe for the abseiling and climbing, and crampons so we could walk on the glacier. 

There were three groups, each with a guide, our group was a little bigger so we had two guides. We started the walk up from the car park to the glacier edge, this took about 20 minutes and was pretty gentle. Approaching the glacier was so exhilarating, it’s like a geography class textbook has come to life and you are about to walk all over it. You can see traces of the highest point and where this amazing ice formation has moved and carved into the landscape, where it has sinkholes and where those sinkholes have gone and left a trace of pure mucky, jagged ridges of ice. It's oddly beautiful. 

Here we stopped and put our crampons on, we were given a short lesson on how to fit them and how to use the ice axe. This all felt very adventurous and exciting but we would be using them to climb out of sinkholes later so adventurous and scary too. Walking on the glacier was cool, it sounds silly but I had never worn crampons before, and being able to walk, or stomp, around on ice was enough to keep me happy. We made our way onto the glacier and towards some of the active pieces of ice. This is where we started to spot cracks, holes, small pools, and sinkholes. This is also where I became very snap-happy and I think I managed about 200 pictures in the 4 hours of being on the glacier!

The guides we had were fantastic, they had a great sense of calm about them and were fantastic at making sure we were all enjoying the trip, seeing what we wanted but safely. They kept an eye on us when we were waiting for everyone at the sinkhole and made sure no one was too near the edge. They were very knowledgeable too but it's hard to take in all the information when you are so mesmerized by your surroundings - they have a pretty cool office!

So, I will try. A sinkhole, from what I understood, is where a small stone (or piece of lava, etc) settles on the glacier and, over time, starts to work its way into the surface of the ice with the help of its weight and exposure to the elements. Over days, weeks, and months this starts to form a dip and then a hole, and then eventually the stone has created a large enough dent in the glacier that it falls to the bottom (some 30m down) and a sinkhole is created. This will often be a place for surface water to also escape down and run under the glacier and out to a nearby river or lagoon so interesting waterfalls are created and the noise of these can be a little eerie. This is what we were up on the Sólheimajökull glacier looking to abseil into. 

Before we reached the sinkhole we were shown some smaller ones. The Icelandic guide found some clay and explained its mineral use and benefits as a mud mask, and allowed us to try the fresh water running down small streams on the surface of the glacier. Looking up at the glacier’s horizon, it was hard to imagine how big it was as we were only on a small tongue of it, and it was vast.

Glacier climbing

I’ve done a bit of climbing and abseiling before, well, over 10 years ago but I thought it would be fun and, to be honest, I didn't think they would make us do anything too challenging. Well, the sinkhole we found was the largest in this section of the glacier and, in my opinion, it was huge. It looked stunning, the layers of compacted snow carved away to create beautiful structures, colours, and patterns. It was hard to focus and not just take pictures so I didn't opt to go first. After watching a few people abseil down and climb back out, making it look relatively easy, I went for it. All harnessed up with my gloves on, ice axes in hand, and helmet nice and tight I made my way forward. Edging over the ice was ok, leaning back was ok and abseiling down was ok but ok was getting a little scary. Maybe it is me getting a wee bit more chicken in my old age…but I was a little nervous halfway down. I did it though and had a quick look around before getting my ice axes and crampons well and truly kicked into the wall of ice to attempt my climb out of the sinkhole. This is where it got challenging. I didn't think it would be that hard but my wee arms were trying, lucky my legs were working it. It took me quite a lot of determination to do it without having to be pulled up but I am glad I did it. My toes felt a little bashed in afterwards so I think I've left my mark on that ice. 

Gracier hiking

After everyone who wanted to had tried abseiling, we headed back. We were all confidently walking on the ice and snapping the last few pictures. It was quite surreal and I kept having a look back as we walked back down to the car park. On the way back to Reykjavik we stopped off at the beautiful waterfall of Skógafoss which is huge and sprays you as you approach - a chance to reflect on the day before the journey back. 

Skogafoss waterfall in Iceland

An amazing day trip, and if you have the time and budget then I would say go for it, it's not often that you get to climb a glacier. For more information, check out the tours on offer with Arctic Adventures. 

book a tour

Glacier Walk and Ice Climbing on Solheimajokull (from Basecamp)

Iceland: The Academic Work Trip

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ICELAND: The Academic Work Trip

I am just back from a short but amazing visit to Reykjavik, Iceland. This was another academic visit where I met with our agent and some local college and university faculty, visited some schools of design, spoke at a recruitment event, gave a lecture on design portfolios, and attended the opening of a Photography exhibition. Even though this was officially a work trip, I arrived a day early so I could have a little look around. 

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My first impressions of Reykjavik were "Wow", it's amazing. The airport is very modern and early to get around. I flew Icelandair from London Heathrow, and they were very welcoming and attentive, which helped as I still had a presentation to put together. My colleague had visited Iceland before so she advised buying transfer bus tickets on the flight as they are slightly cheaper. The bus journey takes about 40 minutes from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik, the capital city, and will drop you at the bus station where you can get a smaller bus connection to your hotel. I stayed at Hotel Odinsve which was ideal, the room was adequate with a very comfortable bed, TV, wardrobe, and ensuite shower room. Breakfast was served downstairs in the cute restaurant - check out the bar made of reclaimed doors.  

The tourist version: picture with a polar bear, the northern lights (not seen or photographed by me) and the winters light of an average day.

The landscape on the approach to the city is just so different from anything I have ever seen. The drive through the lava landscape (something which might be similar to Mars) from the airport into the city is just incredible. The buildings stand out, exposed to all elements, and the weather can change almost every five minutes, at least in winter, which gives way to a stark blank canvas. It's inspiring and has to be said, very Christmassy with fairy lights everywhere. 

This trip was slightly more relaxed than most of the academic visits I get to make and since I had arrived a day early, I used my day to go exploring. I met up with a friend and we drove around looking at the architecture and general neighbourhoods. I love getting out of the tourist areas and getting to see how people live.

We drove out of Reykjavik and headed to the Blue Lagoon, a natural geothermal hot spring set amongst some incredible landscapes. It is pretty pricey, worth booking online beforehand, but oh so worth it and I will never forget this experience. We sat chatting in the lagoon as it changed from rain to sleet, sleet to snow, and then the sun came back out. It's pretty damn cold outside though so I tried not to get my hair wet. We took shelter from the sleet in the cave where you can listen to some information on the lagoon. There are wooden boxes around the lagoon with the famous silica mud mask for you to try. It's a fantastic experience but one which will dehydrate you so slap on that conditioner and leave it in your hair whilst you soak, and drink plenty of water afterwards. We didn't realise at the time but you can use the swim-up bar for a refreshing drink and pay with your bands so no money needs to be carried, and you can stay warm in the lagoon.

Other than Harpa (the concert hall) and some rather statement churches, the buildings in Reykjavik are not hugely decorative or iconic but Iceland seriously does interiors. I visited KOL, a very trendy restaurant for a delicious meal and some cocktails featuring local ingredients. The Laundromat is a very cool laundrette downstairs/cafe upstairs with a bar of colour-coded bookshelves. It's a great place for a filling breakfast and an opportunity to try the local Skyr (delicious yoghurt). I spotted some great design shops as I walked around the city centre, especially ceramics, and picked up a few interesting gift cards.

I still can't believe how lucky I was to get to visit Iceland, even for a few days, and the Blue Lagoon was a highlight. I loved the crazy and changeable weather, the landscape, the inspiring sculptures and graffiti, the delicious food, the good company, and of course the design schools.

We visited the Reykjavik School of Photography whose exhibition I attended at the Harpa, and the Iceland Academy of the Arts where I took a tour of the different departments - the perfect place to take a ceramics class or just sit at a window in the inspiring studio and draw all day long.

Even though I only had a few days in Reykjavik it made such an impression on me - I can't wait to go back and discover more.

who’s excited to see more of Iceland?