Iceland
Hveravellir
A geothermal oasis between glaciers where outlaws once hid among bubbling sky-blue pools.
The hot pool sits in a circle of volcanic rock, steaming against a highland plateau that stretches flat in every direction to the edge of two glaciers. Hveravellir in Iceland's central highlands is an oasis in the truest sense — warmth and water in a desert where 18th-century outlaws hid for twenty years because no one would look for them here.
Hveravellir is a geothermal area on the Kjölur highland route, roughly midway between the Langjökull and Hofsjökull ice caps. The natural hot pools, ranging from 30°C to 40°C, are fed by the same geothermal system that produces the surrounding landscape of silica deposits, fumaroles, and blue-tinged springs. The most famous residents of Hveravellir were Fjalla-Eyvindur and his wife Halla, an 18th-century outlaw couple who survived here for roughly 20 years by stealing sheep from lowland farms and bathing in the hot springs. A staffed mountain hut provides year-round accommodation, though the highland road access is limited to summer months. The surrounding plateau is one of Iceland's most exposed landscapes — flat, windswept, and visually dominated by the two glaciers on either side.
Solo
Soaking in an outlaw's hot pool midway between two glaciers, with nothing but highland desert in every direction — Hveravellir is solitude distilled to its most elemental.
Friends
The highland road trip, the outlaw backstory, and the hot pool soaks after a day on the Kjölur route make Hveravellir a group adventure with built-in recovery.
- A geothermal oasis on the Kjölur highland route, midway between Langjökull and Hofsjökull glaciers.
- The famous outlaw couple Fjalla-Eyvindur and Halla hid here for 20 years in the 18th century.
- Natural hot pools range from 30-40°C, with views of the highland desert in every direction.
- A staffed mountain hut provides year-round accommodation in this otherwise uninhabited wilderness.
Traditional 'Outlaw Lamb Stew' slow-simmered at the remote highland lodge.
Bread rolls baked in the steaming vents of the lava field, served with mountain herbs.
La Amistad International Park
Panama
A binational cloud forest so dense and remote that vast sections remain unmapped.
La Amistad International Park
Costa Rica
A binational wilderness so vast and unexplored that scientists still discover new species inside it.
Sete Cidades
Brazil
Rock formations so orderly that scientists once debated whether a lost civilisation built them.
Wistman's Wood
England
Twisted ancient oaks dripping with moss in a silence so deep it hums.
Heimaey
Iceland
An island where houses remain half-buried in volcanic ash beside millions of nesting puffins.
Seyðisfjörður
Iceland
A rainbow-paved path leading to a pale blue church beneath snow-streaked fjord walls.
Húsavík
Iceland
Wooden sailing ships chasing the exhales of blue whales in a sapphire northern bay.
Stuðlagil Canyon
Iceland
A turquoise glacial river surging through geometric towers of perfectly hexagonal basalt.