Fontana baths and rye-bread tour at Laugarvatn

Fontana is the Golden Circle bath that sits on the route rather than off it: a set of pools and steam rooms built over the hot springs on the shore of Laugarvatn, on the road from Þingvellir to Geysir, with a geothermal bakery where rye bread is dug out of the hot ground. It suits a Golden Circle day with a long lunch, families with children under six (who are free), and anyone who wants sauna rather than a lagoon. It has just reopened after renovations, according to its own page, so recent descriptions elsewhere may be out of date.

The figures, read today on fontana.is: open every day, 11:00 to 21:00 from 1 October to 31 May and 10:00 to 21:00 from 1 June to 30 September, with changes on holidays and for events. Adults 16 and over 7,490 ISK, seniors and disabled 6,490 ISK, ages 6 to 15 4,990 ISK, under 6 free. The bakery tour is 3,350 ISK for adults, 3,000 for seniors and disabled, 2,500 for ages 6 to 15. Tour times differ between the hours page and the FAQ on the same site: the hours page gives 11:45 and 14:30 in winter and 10:15, 11:45 and 14:30 in summer; the FAQ lists 10:15, 12:15, 14:15 and 16:15 in summer and 10:15, 11:45 and 14:30 the rest of the year. Confirm the slot at booking.

#The arithmetic

On the Golden Circle day of the five-day South Coast and Golden Circle journey: Þingvellir visitor centre to Geysir is 61 km and about 60 minutes direct by OSRM on OpenStreetMap; via Fontana it is 32 km plus 29 km, 35 plus 26 minutes. The detour is about one minute. The operator does not publish a suggested stay, so this page allows 90 minutes in the baths, with a 30-minute buffer for parking, changing and a booked bread tour, giving 120 minutes. From a Reykjavík bed as its own trip, Harpa to Fontana is 78 km and about 80 minutes each way.

#What goes wrong

The bread tour, if you want it, sets the day: it sells out and runs at fixed times, so book it first. The lake shore beyond the pools is cold a few metres out. Cancellations inside 24 hours for the baths, or 48 hours for the bread tour, are charged in full, but a sudden closure by the operator gives a full refund or a new date. In winter the last daylight on the Golden Circle is early, so a long afternoon soak can cost Gullfoss its light.

#Alternatives on the same loop

The Secret Lagoon at Flúðir is cheaper and plainer, 20 minutes off the loop. Friðheimar serves lunch in a tomato greenhouse on road 35. The Golden Circle snowmobile tour, from Gullfoss onto Langjökull, takes four hours of the same day.

#Sources

Fontana's hours and prices page and FAQ, both read 1 November 2026; drives by OSRM on OpenStreetMap.