Hvammsvik Hot Springs

Hvammsvik opened in 2022 on a private estate on Hvalfjordur, and the pools are built at the tideline rather than above it: eight of them, at different temperatures, with the sea washing into some at high water so that the temperature in those shifts through the day. The land was a farm and, during the Second World War, part of the Allied naval base that used this fjord as an anchorage. There is a sauna, a cold plunge in the sea itself, and walking routes on the estate. Hvalfjordur was bypassed when the tunnel opened, so the road round it is quiet.

What you actually see

• Eight pools at the tideline - some flooded by the sea at high water.
• Temperature that changes with the tide - not fixed like a normal spa.
• A wartime anchorage - the fjord used as an Allied naval base.
• Sea plunge and sauna - on the shore beside the pools.

When to go

Year round; the tide decides how the pools behave on the day. Two to three hours.

Honest expectations

Booking is required and slots sell out. It is expensive, in line with the newer Icelandic spas. Which pools are usable depends on the tide, so the experience varies. Getting between pools means walking in the open.

Nearby

Glymur is at the head of the fjord; Reykjavik is forty five minutes south.