Vök Baths on Lake Urriðavatn

Vök Baths is the East's lagoon and the easiest one in the country to fit into a Ring Road evening: floating hot pools on Lake Urriðavatn, a few minutes from Egilsstaðir, where several journeys spend the night. It suits anyone sleeping in Egilsstaðir, a cold day after the drive from Höfn, and a winter night with a chance of aurora over the lake. It is not cheap by the standard of the town pool, and the bistro is a weekend-only affair in winter.

The figures, read today on vokbaths.is: adults 16 and over 7,690 ISK; students, seniors 67+ and disabled guests 5,290 ISK; youth 6 to 15 3,590 ISK; children 0 to 5 free. Admission includes herbal tea at the tea bar. Towels and swimsuits rent for 1,390 ISK, bathrobes for 1,990. The baths open 10:00 to 23:00 from 15 June to 15 September and 12:00 to 22:00 from 16 September to 14 June; last entry is 45 minutes before closing and guests leave the pools 15 minutes before. There are shortened hours on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. The water ranges from 5°C to 41°C, the lake being the cold end.

#The arithmetic

Egilsstaðir is the sleep town on day 3 of the seven-day Ring Road, days 3 and 4 of the ten-day Ring Road, and the first night ashore on the Faroe ferry journey passes through it. From the town to the baths is 5.7 km and about 8 minutes each way by OSRM on OpenStreetMap. Vök gives no suggested stay; this page allows 90 minutes. With 16 minutes of driving, a 15-minute buffer and rounding up for changing, it costs an Egilsstaðir evening about 135 minutes. In winter the last entry at 21:15 is the real deadline: after a long drive from Höfn, check the time before dinner, not after.

#What goes wrong

Arriving late is the commonest: the 45-minute last-entry rule cuts an hour off the posted closing time in practice. The lake plunge is genuinely cold, at the bottom of the operator's 5–41°C range. Lost wristbands cost 5,000 ISK. Changes to bookings are made by e-mail with the booking number; the cancellation terms are in the booking system rather than on the pages read today.

#Alternatives in the East

The Egilsstaðir municipal pool is the cheap soak. For a day walk from the same base, Hengifoss is 35 km round the lake and Stuðlagil an hour north-west. Further along the Ring Road, the Earth Lagoon at Mývatn is the next bath.

#Sources

Vök Baths' hours and prices page and FAQ, read 1 November 2026; drive by OSRM on OpenStreetMap.