Gvendarlaug Hot Spring

Gvendarlaug means Guðmundur's pool. The name goes back to Guðmundur góði Arason, the bishop who blessed springs across Iceland in the early 1200s, and the old stone pot at Laugarhóll is kept as a piece of that history rather than as a bath. You cannot swim in it.

The bathing is next door. There is a swimming pool on the property, with a hot pot beside it that you can get into. The pool water runs at hot-tub temperature, warm enough that swimming lengths in it makes little sense. The historic pot is little, and the way to it over the grass is not obvious. Come for the history and a soak; it is a stop rather than a day out.

• Not a bathing pot. The historic pool is for looking at. To get in, use the swimming pool on the property or the hot pot beside it.
• The way there is unclear. The route from the pool to the old pot crosses open grass, and finding it takes some looking.
• Warm, not cool. The pool water sits at hot-tub temperature and is too warm for swimming lengths.
• A stop, not a destination. The pot is little and the setting remote; plan it as a break on a longer drive.
• Cards are accepted. This is not a cash-only place.

Gvendarlaug stands on the grounds of Hotel Laugarhóll, and people arrive by car, usually as a stop on the way past. Once on the property, the swimming pool is the landmark to head for. The old hot pot lies beyond it, over open grass with no made path, and the way to it is not obvious from the pool. Look around properly before deciding you are in the wrong place.