Krauma Natural Geothermal Baths & Restaurant – what to expect from one of Iceland’s newest geothermal spas
By Paul Johnson on Sep 29, 2022 in Attractions, Europe, Family Travel, Going Out, Iceland, Leisure Travel, Regions, Restaurants, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel, Western Europe
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…
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