Krauma Natural Geothermal Baths & Restaurant – what to expect from one of Iceland’s newest geothermal spas

The journey from Reykjavik to the geothermal baths at Krauma is just under an hour and a half, so this is easily a place you could visit on a day trip out of the capital. For us, the journey was an even shorter one, as we happened to be travelling from nearby Húsafell. Although only 25 minutes away, we chose to take in two of Iceland‘s iconic waterfalls along the way – Hraunfossar and Barnafoss – an area that was declared a national monument in 1987.

You can easily visit both falls on foot from a car park situated just off route 518, following marked trails and a series of viewing platforms. The Hraunfossar waterfalls are the first that you’ll come to; these falls consist of numerous springs of clear water that emerge from the Hallmundarhraun lava field before flowing into the River Hvitá among rocks and birch-scrub vegetation. Surface water and meltwater from the glaciers runs between layers of pillow lava, forming the 1km-wide Hraunfossar falls

The Barnafoss waterfall, or Children’s Falls, on the other hand, is a much narrower, more violent torrent of water that rushes through rocks and stone arches, sculpting them with its force. The average flow rate is 80 cubic metres per second, but in flood it has reached up to 500 cubic metres per second.

There’s a sad tale that accounts for the waterfall’s name, and for the disappearance of the stone arch that used to bridge the waterfall. One Christmas day the household at Hraunsás went to attend mass, with the exception of two children who were to stay at home. When they returned, the children has vanished but their tracks led down to the river. Very sadly, the children had fallen off the stone arch and drowned. Their mother then had the arch destroyed to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy.

With our detour complete, we continued along route 518, enjoying the open road, beautiful scenery and some big, dramatic skies.

If you want to experience hot spring culture in Iceland, then you’ll want to look up Krauma, but first take a moment to admire Deildartunguhver, the highest flowing hot spring in Europe, producing 180 litres of hot water – 100°C (212°F) – per second. Afterall, it’s the reason why Krauma exists.

Situated in Reykholtsdalur (the valley…