Reykjahlíð camping

I’m not sure whether we are subconsciously drawn to game of thrones sets or if the director just had good taste in adventure destinations but John Snow’s cave is not the first game of thrones scene we have stumbled across.  While in Malta we ran into at least 3 game of thrones sets, with one of my favourites being Azure window. When we were driving the Icelandic ring road, we spent a day and a night in Reykjahlíð, camping in the beautiful  Myvatns site. We stayed right down by the waters edge where we got a great view of the sunset, surrounded by ducklings.

Grjotagjas

We had a car but a lot of people hired bikes from the campsite to explore the surrounding area. As with all of Iceland there is a huge contrast in the appearance of the surrounding areas. From lush green planes to apocalyptic volcanic landscapes the area directly around Grjotagjas had it all. While exploring we came across a fissure in the rock and began to follow it.

We passed some riders out on their Icelandic horses as we drove down a dusty single track road. Eventually we found a sign that said “John Snow’s Cave”. We followed the fissure until we came across a car park. Hungry from our exploring we stopped for a bit to cook up a couple of super noodles bought from Bonus. Those things saved us from the insanely high Icelandic living costs.

John Snow’s Cave

After re-fuelling we followed a sign for John Snow’s cave, graffitied with the words “No clothes allowed” to an opening in the fissure. There were two entrances, both of which lead into a long cavern. We scrambled down the slabs of rocks and found the cave to be filed with hot, crystal clear water. It was clearly a natural spring which was filling the cave, we later found out that this was Grjotagjas’ Hot Pool. I love outdoor swimming and the temptation to jump into the water was huge but just before I dove in a bus load of German tourists pulled up. They stumbled into the cave and the atmosphere was gone.

Game of Thrones Set?

After the group of tourists dispersed we explored around the cave and took some photos, the water really was stunning and very hot. For anyone who doesn’t know which scene in Game of Thrones we are on about, it’s the one where John Snow and  Ygritte get it on. She’s the one who always says “You know nothing, John Snow”. They end up spending the night in a hot tub cave, somewhere north of the wall and the set is based on Grjotagjas’ hot pool. I say “based on” because looking at our pictures and the show’s screen shots, the set is similar but not actually filmed there. Despite this, the place is still amazing.

Worth a visit?

If you can get some time in there with no crowds of tourists turning up then I would definitely recommend it. I wasn’t daring enough to swim this time but next time I’m there I will cross it off my bucket list.

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