Grímsnes county
Region: South Iceland
Coordinates: 64.068611° N 20.643056° W
About Grimsnes county
The main trades of this county are agriculture, services and tourism. A few of the inhabitants are employed by the hydro electric power stations on river Sog and gradually hamlets have developed there at Borg, where it started with a school building, a cultural community centre and a shop.
At Solheimar the development started in 1937. There is an increasing co-operation between this parish and the Thingvellir parish in the areas of education and social services.
The three churches of the Grimsnes parish are at Mosfell, Stora-Borg and Burfell and a chapel at Solheimar, where there is a centre for self supporting mentally handicapped people.
Geothermal power is being exploited increasingly for house heating, fish farming, industry and horticulture. The number of summer and holiday houses is ever increasing and is by far the largest in the country. The most renowned places of the parish are the crater Kerid and Seydisholar, the woodland Thrastarskogur and the power stations on river Sog. The crater Kerid and its neighbour Kerholl are nature reserves.
The Golden Cirkle
The first stop would be Kerið The slag crater Kerid is the northernmost one of the crater row called Tjarnarholar. It is elliptic in shape, 270 m long, 170 m wide, and 55 m deep. The pond in it is 7-10 m deep, depending on the ground water level of the area.
This crater row along with the cluster of larger craters further east, called Seydisholar, and the lava field are about 6000 years old. In 1990, a concert was held on a raft on the crater pond with the audience sitting in the grassy slopes inside it. This was repeated on large rubber boats in August 2004 and 2005.
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Thingvellir, The Parliamentary Plains are the most important historic site of the country. They are located just below the western fault line of the Icelandic Graben within the boundaries of the first National Park,
Laugarvatnsvellir is a large grassy area, a former lake bottom, 5-6 km west of Lake Laugarvatn on the road to The Parliamentary Plains. This is an ancient route and a place where the ancestors rested or spent the night en route. In the lower slopes above the flatlands are caves, which were occupied early in the 20th century.
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Laugarvatn hamlet started developing on Lake Laugarvatn in 1928, when the first of many schools was built there.
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Region: South Iceland
Coordinates: 64.2121° N 20.7348° W
Bathe in the refreshing natural baths of Laugarvatn Fontana while taking in the stunning views of the surrounding mountains and lake Laugarvatn. Enjoy four different hot pools, three steam rooms with varying temperatures and a traditional sauna. You can cool off in between by running across the black sand beach into Laugarvatn lake.
On the way to Fontana, you will drive the scenic route through Þingvellir National Park. Enjoy watching the park while looking forward to bathing in the geothermal baths.
Geysir, This most famous and former largest spouting hot spring of the world probably was created during an extended earthquake period at the end of the 13th century.
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The Golden Waterfalls in the glacial river Hvita count among the world’s most beautiful waterfalls. One of the many stories connected with the falls tells about the fight early in the 20th century for their existence, when a foreign enterprise managed to contracted the rights to harness them for electrical production.
Fontana Wellness Geothermal Baths, Laugarvatn
Other must see places
Apavatn
Coordinates: 64.1722598° N 20.6700072° W
Lake Apavatn has an area of 14 km². The catch consists of lake char and brown trout and the lake is accessible by car.
This lake is historically important as can be read in one of the country’s Sagas (Sturlunga). The lake abounds in fish, mostly rather small but well tasting lake char. It is not very generous except where brooks and streams spill into it. The brown trout is less commonly caught, but it thrives well on sticklebacks and weigh up to 10 pounds.
The distance from the capital
(Hagi area) is about 90 km.
Sólheimar - Sesseljuhús
Region: South Iceland
Coordinates: 64.0556° N 20.6619° W
Weather: °C, Wind at km/h, % Humidity
Population: 100
The only hamlet of the Grimsnes County is Solheimar. About one third of the county’s inhabitants live there. At least five businesses and four workshops are operated there. The first attempt of organic growing in the Nordic countries was carried out there. Mrs Sesselja Hreindis Simundsdottir (1902-1974) founded Solheimar on the 5th of July 1930 as a day nursery and later a service centre for the physically handicapped. She was not only a pioneer in this field in Iceland, but in the whole world when it came to the co-existence of the healthy and the handicapped.
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​Sesseljuhus Enviromental Center provides an educational experience focusing on sustainable building and environmental exhibitions. There are education programs and workshops on environmental issues held for students at all levels. In addition there are forums, meetings and seminars where all are welcome. Environmental presentations are also held all year round.
In addition, there are excellent facilities for meetings, courses and conferences as well.
For more information about the center and events, visit: www.solheimar.is
Solheimar is considered the oldest eco-village in the world. Solheimar was established as a children’s home 80 years ago, but today Solheimar focuses on offering people with special needs varied and creative employment opportunities, jobs in organic horticulture and forestry in a close-knit community that focuses on environmental issues and vivid cultural life. Solheimar workplaces include six creative art workshops, Nærandi – an organic bakery and food processing unit, Olur – organic forestry, Sunna – organic horticulture, Guesthouse Sesseljuhus, and Graena Kannan – an organic café. All products are sold in the Vala grocery store and art gallery.
In April 1997, “The Global Eco-Village Network” proclaimed Solheimar the first sustainable hamlet of the country. In Solheimar the following businesses and undertakings are to be found: The shop Vala, an arts centre, The Tree Nursery Olur, The Horticultural Centre Sunna, a small candle factory, a musical instrument factory, a toy factory, a weaving factory, a handicraft centre, the guesthouse Brekkukot, a swimming pool, a sport theatre and the Solheimar homes for the handicapped and young.
Thrastarskógur
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Region: South Iceland
Coordinates: 64.0061511° N 20.973710400000073° W
About Thrastarskogur
Mr. Tryggvi Gunnarsson, a renowned businessman and a Member of Parliament, donated a 45 ha area on River Sog to the Icelandic Youth Fellowship on his 76th birthday on the 18th of October 1911. Two years later the forest received its name “Thrastarskogur”.
The Icelandic Youth Fellowship has been cultivating and taking care of the area ever since and nowadays it counts among the most beautiful wooded areas of the country. Nowhere else in the country are there more holiday houses than in the Grimsnes County in the surrounding area of the forest. Hiking paths have been organized all over the area and many people enjoy the camping site. At the entrance is a restaurant.
Skálholt
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Region: South Iceland
Coordinates: 64.1167° N 20.5333° W
The ancient seat of the Icelandic bishops, Skalholt, was the centre of ecclesiastic and worldly power, culture, and education for centuries. The first of 32 catholic bishops took his seat there in 1056 and in the wake of the reformation in 1540 13 Lutheran bishops sat there until 1801, when the seat was moved to the capital. The country became one see again in 1798. The northern see was established in 1106.
Most of the few artefacts preserved from the older churches of Skalholt are kept in the National Museum in Reykjavik. Late in the 18th century some books were printed at Skalholt, among them the first one in the Icelandic language. Other historic traces are the ruins of a fortress for the defence of the place, constructed in 1548, a monument stands on the spot, where the last catholic bishop and his two sons were beheaded in 1550, a cairn originally built by the students of the school in the past has been reconstructed and a part of the sub terrain walk between the churches, the school and the dwellings of the bishops has been reconstructed as well.
Many topographical names in the area are tightly connected with historical events. The former churches, 10 of them altogether, were built of unendurable material, wood. At least two of them were much larger than the present one (consecrated in 1963), two were consumed by fire, and other two were destroyed by bad weather. During the excavation for the foundations of the present church, a stone coffin of bishop Pall Jonsson (†1211) was discovered and is now on display in the church’s cellar. There has been a school in Skalholt from the beginning and nowadays its buildings are used as a hotel in summer. Two Icelandic female artists, both deceased, decorated the church (stained windows and the altarpiece).
oto Credit: Christian Bickel
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Region: South Iceland
Coordinates: 64.162225° N 20.299395° W
Natural hot spring
Secret Lagoon natural hot springs are located in the small village called Fludir and are in the Golden Circle area. We have kept it natural and unique for our guests so they can get the true Icelandic feeling. The pools natural surroundings and steam rising into the air gives the place a magical feeling. The warm water holds 38-40 Celsius all year. In the whole area there are several geothermal spots and a little Geysir which erupts every 5 minutes, showing off for the guests relaxing in the hot spring. During winter, the northern lights are often giving a great lightshow above Secret Lagoon. What other way is better than relaxing in warm water to view the spectacular lightshow above?
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