Hellulaug

Hidden gem of Westfjords

Tucked into a quiet bay on Barðaströnd in Vestur-Ísafjarðarsýsla, just below the roadside and often left off maps, lies Hellulaug — a small, naturally formed hot spring carved into the rock.

Hot water seeps down from the hillside and flows directly into the pool, just a few metres from where the Atlantic Ocean crashes against the shore. Most people who find it do so on a whim — spotting steam rising in the distance, pulling off the road, and following the short footpath down to the water’s edge.

It’s one of the most minimal, and perhaps most magical, geothermal pools in Iceland.
There’s no building. No ticket booth. No rails or barriers. Just you, the warm water, and the wide-open fjord.

Whether you sit here in the rain or at sunset, watching the sea blur into the sky, something quiet settles in — a sense of being completely connected to the natural world.

And best of all? It’s free. Just one of those little Icelandic gifts, waiting to be found.