Ever come to the end of a long but enjoyable hike, an exhilarating ride of some kind, or a similarly adventurous pursuit that’s taken its toll on your body. Your muscles are complaining and your shoulders sag because you’re so tired. But you’re on vacation, so you’ve convinced yourself you don’t want to waste a moment of this precious time sound asleep in a hotel room. Instead, perhaps you’ve thought about how much you’ve earned a soak in the bath after all that exertion?

In Iceland, however, you can go one better and luxuriate in the warm water of a geothermal hot spring to soothe the aches and pains, relax and unwind. Best of all, we can bundle up all the arrangements in one temptingly convenient tour package so all you have to do is show up at the start of the day. In this article, we’ll show you how you can combine adventure with relaxation as we walk you through the possibilities of our tour packages with hot springs.

What kinds of adventures can you have in Iceland?

Iceland could really be described as one big adventure playground. Its glaciers are the setting for thrilling snowmobile and super jeep rides, memorable hikes, glacier kayaking and ice cave tours. At the coast, satisfy your need for speed on an ATV ride, board a RIB boat for a high-octane spin on the ocean or opt for a more sedate adventure astride an Icelandic horse.

There are hidden valleys to discover and geological wonders to marvel at – in fact, pretty much any kind of adventure you can imagine. Nevertheless, with a wide grin still plastered across your face, it’s good to decompress and unwind. And of course, there’s no better place in Iceland to do so than at one of its hot springs.

How do you choose between the many different lagoons offered on our tours? You’ll find hot springs and geothermal baths in many parts of Iceland. While choice is a good thing, it can also be overwhelming. So how do you ensure that where you soak is the right fit and that you book tours in the Iceland geothermal spas that suit you best?

Figure out if you’re looking for somewhere natural or manmade

First up, consider the type of environment in which you’d like to bathe. Decide whether you’d prefer an authentic, back to nature experience where the influence of construction has been minimal. Facilities at these types of locations, such as Reykjadalur’s warm water river or some of the more off the beaten track coastal hot pools, tend to be more basic but the landscape that surrounds you is unrivalled.

Perhaps instead you crave a more luxurious soak within architect-designed surroundings? A slew of such places has opened in recent years, including Sky Lagoon and Hvammsvik Hot Springs within easy reach of the capital or Forest Lagoon and GeoSea in North Iceland. Typically, these offer swim-up bars, spa treatments and stylish changing rooms with towels, hairdryers and toiletries thrown in.

Some lagoons have a unique selling point

As well as the differing levels of comfort and sophistication, often the geothermal baths in Iceland have a unique element that makes them stand out in a crowded market. The Blue Lagoon led the way several decades ago, turning the waste water from a geothermal power plant into the top ranked visitor attraction on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Over the years, the facilities have been enlarged and improved, cementing its position.

But the Blue Lagoon isn’t the only one to have found a niche. On the Golden Circle, Laugarvatn Fontana offers visitors the chance to sample rúgbrauð (rye bread) and learn how it’s baked the traditional way using naturally occurring heat in the ground. Further east, Vök Baths makes the most of its lakeside location with two floating infinity pools that seamlessly blend the natural and manmade bodies of water.

Location matters when combining adventure and relaxation tours

Sometimes, it might simply come down to convenience, especially if you are combining activities such as a glacier hike and hot spring tour. It makes sense to minimise the time spent travelling between places or to call in at a lagoon that’s handily located on the way back to your Reykjavik base.

This enables you to have a much more leisurely soak or alternatively frees up your schedule to do other things as well. Holiday time is a valuable commodity, a chance to connect with friends and family away from the pressures of work. Wasting time with an itinerary that doesn’t flow and attractions that require you to backtrack unnecessarily just isn’t acceptable.

What kind of tour packages does Reykjavik Excursions offer that marry a hot spring with more adventurous pursuits?

Our tours and excursions can be mixed and matched for maximum flexibility but sometimes it’s even better to have everything packaged up together. Let’s look at just a few of the many enticing combinations you’ll find on our website with these Reykjavik adventure and relaxation tours.

Volcanic wonders

Volcanic activity has been part and parcel of everyday life on the Reykjanes peninsula throughout Iceland’s settled history but currently we are experiencing a time of heightened activity. Mount Fagradalsfjall woke up after a centuries-long period of dormancy in 2021 and on our Volcanic Wonders with Grindavik Visit tour you have the chance of hiking up to see the resultant cooled lava flows.

It’s a long but manageable hike. Though it’s an unmissable adventure, your legs will probably feel it afterwards. Fortunately, there are a number of hot springs that you can visit in combination with this tour. Choose from iconic Blue Lagoon in the Reykjanes peninsula, upscale Sky Lagoon on the outskirts of Reykjavik or rustic chic Hvammsvik Hot Springs a short drive north of the city overlooking breathtaking Hvalfjörður.

Golden Circle adventures

Iceland’s famous Golden Circle is far more than just a sightseeing route. Within this spectacular region, the diverse array of landscapes provides myriad opportunities for adventure tourism. These can easily be combined with a ticket for any one of the area’s delightful hot springs, such as stylish newcomer Laugarás Lagoon and our meet on location option for the long-established Laugarvatn Fontana.

One of the most unique activities you can enjoy on the Golden Circle route is to snorkel in the crystal clear waters of Silfra Fissure. It’s possible to combine it with Laugarvatn Fontana on our self-drive package. Alternatively, try our Golden Circle and Glacier Super Jeep tour, where you get to ride across the icy surface of Langjökull, Iceland’s second biggest glacier. It’s a ten hour tour, but that still leaves time for a restorative soak somewhere like Sky Lagoon afterwards.

Other adventure and hot spring combos

If you’re happy to have some downtime in Reykjavik between tours, you might also consider pairing a morning and an afternoon activity. This makes geographical sense if Reykjavik is midway between two tours you were hoping to do anyway. So there’s nothing to stop you taking a breather in the capital for lunch or dinner before heading out into the countryside again for a stint in a geothermal lagoon.

There are a plethora of other options. For instance, Krauma Geothermal Baths fits neatly into a Silver Circle excursion in West Iceland, while the Blue Lagoon is a logical point to break your journey on the way back to Keflavik Airport (or shortly after you arrive if you really can’t wait). Iceland hot springs tours can really take any form you want if the timings work out and the geography makes sense.

Turning an activity into an Iceland wellness tour with the addition of a hot spring or luxury lagoon is easy, particularly if you’re happy to meet us on location. Along the south coast, you might sign up for an Askur ice cave adventure, a challenging but doable hike on Sólheimajökull glacier or a glacier buggy experience on Mýrdalsjökull before heading back to the city for a dip.

The starting point for these and a number of other adrenaline-fuelled Iceland adventure tours is about two and a half hours from Reykjavik. Typically, activities last anything from one to four hours; the duration for each is clearly indicated on our website. That means there’s still plenty of time afterwards to reserve a slot at many of the geothermal lagoons.

It doesn’t even matter if it’s dark when you get there as they’re still popular places to socialise late into the evening. From autumn to spring you might even be treated to the sight of the Northern Lights while you relax in the warm water, which when you think about it is probably the laziest way to pull off an Iceland adventure tour.

How should you prepare for an Iceland adventure and hot springs tour?

Combining a couple of very different activities in the same day’s itinerary means you’ll need to plan ahead for the second one, as you won’t be able to pop back to your accommodation in between. It’s a good idea to read the tour descriptions carefully on our website as these will give you information about the gear that’s provided, usually specialist equipment such as helmets and crampons that you wouldn’t be expected to bring yourself. In practice, preparing effectively means you should bring out a day pack to carry your swimsuit, comb, deodorant and anything else you’re likely to need during or after your soak. It’s also important to think about how you’ll get your damp swimsuit back without getting the rest of your possessions wet.

If you’re on one of our tour packages, it’s likely to be possible to leave a bag on the bus while you’re doing your first activity; failing that, there’s often an office where you register for your tour where you might store a bag. However, it’s never a good idea to leave valuables so make sure you have a zip up pocket of some kind in the clothing you’ve chosen for essentials such as your wallet and mobile phone. In most of the geothermal lagoons, particularly the high end establishments, there are lockers that you can use to store your things while you bathe, so there’s no issue when it comes to storing gloves, hat and even walking poles if the locker’s large enough. Normally, outdoor boots are left on a rack before you head into the changing room to avoid treading mud and dirt into a space where everyone’s barefoot.

Often you can come and go to your locker during your time at the hot springs. This can be useful if you want to take a few selfies and then put your phone away; if not, consider a sealed waterproof pouch that can hang around your neck. Some lagoons sell these if you don’t have one already, though they’re typically cheaper if you purchase them online or in a store beforehand.

As we’ve demonstrated, if you’ve chosen to be based in Reykjavik, many of our adventure and relaxation tours are easily combined. Thanks to the inspiration you can find on the Reykjavik Excursions website, maximising your time through tours to come up with a curated, well balanced itinerary is straightforward. There are numerous options for mixing indulgent soaks and pampering Iceland spa experiences with thrilling activities on the country’s glaciers, beaches and mountains to achieve a bespoke Iceland wellness tour, so why not have it all and book a hot spring tour package today?