Area guide · 4 km east
A 25 metre pool built into the hillside in 1923, fed by a warm spring, twenty minutes' walk up a valley from the car park. Lukewarm, unstaffed, free, and the closest beds to it are ours.
Seljavallalaug was built in 1923 so that the children of the valley could learn to swim, and it is the oldest pool still standing in Iceland. It is 25 metres long and 10 wide, one wall is the mountain itself, and the water comes from a warm spring on the slope above.
Warm is the word to hold on to. It is not a hot spring. The water runs somewhere between 20 and 35 degrees depending on the season and how much snowmelt is coming down, and it is warmest in the corner where the spring flows in. Nobody heats it and nobody cleans it apart from volunteers now and then, so expect algae on the bottom and a green tint to the water. That is part of it.
From the car park at Seljavellir the path follows the river up the valley for fifteen to twenty minutes on flat ground. You cross a shallow stream on the way, so wear something you do not mind getting wet or be ready to hop stones.
There is a small concrete changing hut by the pool and nothing else. No shower, no toilet, no lifeguard, no lockers. Bring a towel, take everything back out with you, and go early or late in summer if you want the water to yourself.
Drive east on Route 1 for a few minutes and turn inland at the sign for Raufarfell, road 242. Follow it to the end at Seljavellir and park there. Door to pool, with the walk, is about half an hour.
In winter the path can be icy and the pool is cooler, but it is still open, because there is nobody to close it. Ask us what the water has been like before you go.
Questions people ask
No. It is a swimming pool fed by warm spring water, and it feels like a tepid bath rather than a hot tub. On a cold day the walk back warms you up more than the pool does.
The pool is free and there is no ticket office. There is also nobody on duty, which is why it is not cleaned or guarded. Leave it as you found it.
Yes, it is open all year because nothing closes it. The path can be icy and the water is at the cooler end of its range, so check with us first and go in daylight.
About an hour and a half from the farm and back, including the walk in, a swim and the walk out. Add time in summer if you want to wait for a quiet moment.
The Garage is the closest place to stay to Seljavallalaug, studio apartments on a working farm under Eyjafjallajökull. Swim in the morning and be back for breakfast.