Landbrotalaug, Iceland - what to expect

Landbrotalaug is a natural hot pool on Snaefellsnes that holds two people comfortably and three at a squeeze, set in a small stone-lined hollow in open ground with a slightly larger and cooler pool beside it. The water sits around 36 to 40 degrees. Its reputation came from photographs rather than from any scale, and the result is the familiar problem: a tiny pool on private grazing land receiving a steady stream of cars, no changing facilities, no toilets and no capacity. Access has been restricted at times when the landowners have had enough. Anyone going should expect to wait, or to find someone already in it.

What you actually see

A pool the size of a bath - two people, three at a push.
A cooler pool beside it - the larger of the pair.
Private grazing land - with no facilities of any kind.
Access that has been closed before - when pressure got too much.

When to go

Year round; early morning and late evening are the only quiet times. An hour.

Honest expectations

There is a real chance of arriving and finding it occupied with nowhere to wait. There are no toilets or changing space, which is exactly the problem the landowners face. The track in is rough. Leaving anything behind here is what closes places like this.