Hraunfossar & Barnafoss: Waterfalls on the Hvítá River in West Iceland
A Kilometre of Waterfalls Pouring Out of a Lava Field
Hraunfossar is not one waterfall but hundreds: cold spring water filters through the Hallmundarhraun lava field and emerges from under its edge along nearly a kilometre of ledges, spilling directly into the milky-blue Hvítá — the same river that runs past your window at the Hvítá Inn, about 35 minutes downstream. In July the contrast is at its strongest: peak glacial melt from Langjökull turns the river its most vivid turquoise, against black lava and thick green birch scrub.
Barnafoss, Two Minutes Upstream
Follow the path a few hundred metres upriver and the whole Hvítá squeezes through a narrow lava channel at Barnafoss — a churning chute rather than a curtain. The name (“children’s falls”) comes from the folk tale of two children who fell from a natural stone arch that once spanned the gorge; the arch was later destroyed, so the story goes, by their mother. Paved paths, viewing platforms and a footbridge cover both falls; entry is free and 30–45 minutes on site is plenty.
Make It a Half-Day Loop
- Getting there: Route 50 up the valley, then Route 518 past Reykholt — roughly 35 minutes’ drive from the Hvítá Inn.
- Deildartunguhver & Krauma: 15 minutes back toward Reykholt, Europe’s highest-flow hot spring pushes out around 180 litres of boiling water per second; the Krauma baths beside it are the natural soak stop on the way home.
- Reykholt: the medieval home of Snorri Sturluson, with his 13th-century geothermal pool, Snorralaug, still in the ground.
- Timing in July: tour buses cluster late morning to mid-afternoon — go before 10:00 or after 18:00, when the low evening light also happens to be best for photographs.
Where to Stay
The Hvítá Inn sits on the bank of the same river at Hvítárbakki, which makes it the closest proper base for the Hraunfossar–Reykholt loop — breakfast by the river, the falls before the buses, and Krauma on the way back. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.
Photo: Jakub Hałun via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.