Hostels in Laugarvatn, Iceland

Laugarvatn, Iceland, is a very small town that has Highway One along one side of the road and a beautiful lake along the other. The town has a restaurant, a café, and a food shop to buy groceries if you need during your stay here. They do not have banking facilities or a petrol station here, so you will need to fuel up in the next town.

Your options for a Laugarvatn, Iceland hostel will locate you on a side street off the main road. It is all walking distance from one place to the next, and if you enjoy a good lake walk, then there is a path and a park bench along the lake where you can take a short stroll.

The town is on the Golden Circle and close to the Thingvellir National Park. This national park is a massive historical site of Iceland and is the location of the first known parliament in the world, the Althingi. It has quite a number of lovely hikes and a load of reading about the parliamentary actions that went on during the time including executions, the decision to establish Christianity as the main religion of Iceland and also the announcement of Iceland's independence from Denmark during World War II.

The national park also is the site where the tectonic plates of the European and American continental plates meet, so the landscape has some incredible fissures in it. The most popular of these is the Silfra fissure, which is underwater, and you can either snorkel or dive through these amazingly crystal clear, freezing waters to experience what it is like to be between the tectonic plates. Laugarvatn is also close to the Laugarvatnheller caves, which have some stunning formations.

Continuing in the other direction on the Golden Circle, you will find the Stokkur geyser erupting at Geysir and the Gullfoss Waterfall. They are quite popular destinations with the tourists and the buses, so try pick a time to go where the buses won't be in full force if you have the luxury of your own car to drive.