Ice, Ice, Baby.... Where might we jump in, Reykjavik?

June 29, 2017 3:45 AM

Baby lóóóóóóóóóóóóóóves swimming! Pools and other recommendations for travel with a baby under a year old?

Swimming and nonswimming spot and activity recommendations for Reykjavik, (solo travel with a < 1yr baby) are very welcome!

A Reykjavik stopover will be a welcome stop to break up a long trans-atlantic flight, looking for activities that don't involve long car rides (the hour between the airport and Reykjavik is about our limit). Staying with friends in Mosfellsbaer.

There are many blogs that speak of Iceland's great tradition of teaching babies to swim and enjoy the water at an early age. My baby (8 mos) has been in swimming lessons at a local hospital since his second month, and looooves the water. Blue lagoon, while mentioned on numerous blogs, has an age limit of 2 years in the water (I called to ask). But thankfully Reykjavik has many great public pools. We are traveling in July- which ones might be best to visit?

We'd enjoy both shallow splash pools and deeper (~4ft)/larger pools. We'd prefer a pool that is heated to the temperatures he's used to (the therapeutic pool at the hospital is warmer than a standard public pool) so we don't have to travel with a wet baby wetsuit, yet not toooo hot - mindful of heat/hydration issues. If there are any baby swim club meet-ups I'd also be happy to hear of them!

YANML (you are not my lifeguard ;) I'm aware that many waters may not be suitable for the baby to accidentally ingest, and temperatures have specific considerations, so will research all proposed pools before diving in, thanks!

posted by iiniisfree to Travel & Transportation around Reykjavík, Iceland (4 answers total)

I spent many hours at Laugardalslaug with my two kids (both 8+yo). There are a few heated lounge/splash pools of different temps and depths, kids' float-y/climbing structures, and two slides--one massive, with disco lights. That's in addition to a number of hot pots of varying temps and water sources (saltwater hot pot, I miss you...), a large lap pool (the coolest of the pools, but still heated), steam rooms, and a cold plunge pool. You can't go wrong. My Icelandic friends live near the Vesturbaejarlaug pool and go frequently with their two-under-six-year-olds, so that's an obvious thumbs up, too.
posted by cocoagirl at 6:52 AM on June 29, 2017

Best answer: Here's a Reykjavik city pools resources page in English.
posted by mareli at 8:12 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

We had a layover in KEF on our way home in 2014. There is a good public pool with a little kids area, wading pool, these big mushroom things that squirt water, baby slides, etc in Keflavik, the town that is closest to the international airport. It was less than 10 mins by taxi from the airport. The kids area is indoors, but there are huge windows, so you get light, but not sun or wind. I don't recall any sulfur smell in the water. We were the only ones there, but the staff turned on the water in the kids area when we wandered over to it. I don't think the water meets your warmth requirements, but we had a 3 year old at the time and we had to pry him away from the place after half an hour. (It's heated, just not as warm as you're looking for.)

There's an indoor and outdoor pool. The outdoor pool was being closed when we were there in late August. We were able to store our carry-on luggage in lockers at the pool without a problem.

Within walking distance was a surprisingly good thai restaurant. It's in the Lonely Planet. They were kind enough to call us a cab to get back to the airport. I don't have it handy now, so I can't give you a name. We also walked to the beach and a kids' playground from the pool. Proximity to the airport meant we were less stressed about traffic issues making is late for the outbound flight. Enjoy!
posted by thenormshow at 9:55 AM on June 29, 2017

Do you have time to make it out to Hveragerdi?
posted by at at 11:24 AM on June 29, 2017