About
About Iceland Compass
Iceland Compass is an independent, bilingual travel guide to all of Iceland — made to help you plan your trip and point you to what's genuinely worth it, not just the busiest tourist stops. Everything is in one place: an interactive map, a dedicated page for every place, and practical guidance that accounts for Icelandic weather, roads and seasons.
What you'll find here
The guide brings together destinations, hiking trails, swimming pools and geothermal baths, attractions, restaurants and Icelandic local makers from all eight regions — each with its own page, a location on the map, photos and practical details.
You can pick a region on the interactive map of Iceland, filter by type, build your own trip, and browse themed routes like the Golden Circle, the Diamond Circle and the South Coast. Dedicated maps show every swimming pool in the country and all the local makers in one place. Everything is free to use, with no intrusive ads.
Independent and Icelandic
This is an independent Icelandic project — not part of a large travel agency, hotel chain or marketplace. No one but us decides what goes on the site, which means we can tell it straight: recommend what's good and skip what's overrated.
The goal is simple: to be the cleanest, most trustworthy and most complete free guide to Iceland — as useful to an Icelander heading into the countryside as to a first-time visitor.
A local's perspective
The big tourist sites show the same ten places over and over. We look wider. The perspective is local: we give the small rural pool, the remote waterfall and the little countryside brewery as much attention as the famous headline sights.
That's why a whole section is devoted to Icelandic local makers — small producers, knitters, farms selling direct from the farm, and little village shops — each with a link straight to their own store. It's our way of supporting what makes Iceland special.
How the content is made
Every page is built on research and fact-checking. Businesses are checked to confirm they're still open — we remove places that have closed — and opening hours, prices and facts are cross-referenced against primary sources as far as possible.
The pool list is compared against specialist sources to be as complete as we can make it, and the map itself is built from open geographic data. Photographs are by photographers on Unsplash and Pexels, each credited.
No guide is ever perfect, though, and information goes out of date. Always check opening hours and prices with the place itself before you set off.
Two languages
The site exists in Icelandic and English, and you can switch between them with a single click anywhere. Place names and proper nouns are kept in Icelandic — Goðafoss stays Goðafoss, not “God waterfall” — so you can ask for directions, type them into a map and recognise them on road signs.
Honesty and how we're funded
No one pays to be listed — places and businesses are included on merit, never for a fee.
Some booking links (accommodation, tours, car rental) are affiliate links: if you book through them the site may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. That's how a free guide like this sustains itself — and it has no bearing on which places we recommend.
Feedback and corrections
The site is always evolving and we welcome any feedback. If you spot something to fix — a place that has closed, wrong information, or something missing — let us know and we'll update it. Local makers who'd like to add or correct details about their own place are especially welcome.
Safety while travelling
Iceland's nature is powerful and the weather changes fast. Before any trip — especially in the highlands, near volcanic areas, or in winter — always check safetravel.is, vedur.is and road.is (the Road Administration). The information here is for guidance and never replaces the latest official forecasts.
Get in touch: hello@icelandcompass.com