Námafjall Hverir Viewpoint — Attraction in Iceland

Very active geothermal area with mud pots and fumaroles. Pretty cool for about 15 mins.

The BIGGEST issue - the clay you get on your boots/shoes will NOT come off easily. People were trying to find little puddles of water in the parking lot to slosh around in. But to no avail. If you’re not careful it will get all over your car and clothes and hotel room. Now I understand why all the hotels in the area have wire brush shoe cleaners by the front doors. It still doesn’t get rid of it all. We spent more time trying to get some of the clay off our boots then we did walking around the place. This is not ordinary mud that rinses off…

Ok so that’s maybe not so bad to see a cool natural site (trust me it’s worse than I’m making it seem). What is a bit frustrating is this is a high volume (probably 500 cars a day) parking lot that the private landowner charges about $10 to park. That’s $5,000 a day. Figure 200 days a year at that pace = $1 million a year in revenue. I’m 100% for private landowners making money. But provide something for that $10. Bathrooms (prob didn’t do that since they know it will become a god awful mess with all the clay on peoples shoes). Boot cleaning area (they should charge $10 for a separate service for this!!). What they did spend money on is a high tech parking area system that takes pictures of your license plate so when you go to pay a photo of your plate comes up (pretty cool to be honest).

Anyways…go if you are a big fan of geothermal stuff. It is sort of cool for a few mins. Just know you will have a mess to deal with and the $10 parking fee doesn’t come with any...

I visited Geysir earlier this week and expected this geothermal area to be similar but it really did have its own personality. As is true of all geothermal areas like this, the smell of sulpher is pungent so be prepared. This one offers up close opportunities to experience the interesting aspects of geothermal activity. From the brilliant colors streaking in rivulets across the earth, to the steaming, bubbling outlet of heat, its all very other-worldly. The vast majority of this area is unguarded and wide open, so use care how you move through it. It can pose a risk to you and the area! It was raining when we arrived so when I say the clay made a mess of our boots...I do mean MESS!!!! It cakes right into your treads and doesnt easily let go so be careful what you wear in here and for heavens sakes do NOT enter in open toed shoes! There is a parking fee of 1,200 ISK payable by credit card at the kiosks. There are no WC facilities at this site either so plan accordingly. Exercise caution and enjoy a rare opportunity to glimpse a geothermal...

The place is great. Bubbling mud pools, steam, funky colors.

But it all gets ruined by a greedy private land owner who charges massively for parking. "to improve the area for future visitors and make it more accessible...". Right. An estimated 1000 cars per day paying 8$+ each, your parking lots could offer free champagne on arrival. They don't, though. We stayed 45 minutes and paid 1380 ISK (=9$). That parking was not free was only announced once you go towards the hot springs. In the app, the price was first shown as 700, then 1200, then the final price 1380. My wife was voting for just paying the damn thing, I would have decided not to pay and let them try to get the money through a private lawsuit.

I understand and agree that private land owners should be compensated for offering parking to tourists, but there should be limits. And if you charge like a 5* hotel, at least let people know when they enter your premises - because your parking lot surely does not look...