Hveragerði sits at the junction of Iceland's Ring Road and the routes south toward the coast and north toward the interior highlands, which makes it a convenient base for a large amount of the country's most visited scenery.
The Golden Circle — Þingvellir National Park, the Geysir hot spring area, and Gullfoss waterfall — can be done as a full day from Hveragerði. Þingvellir is about 45 minutes northwest; Geysir is an hour northeast; Gullfoss is a further 10 minutes beyond Geysir. The circuit from Hveragerði is shorter than from Reykjavík and avoids some of the bus-tour congestion by starting earlier.
South along the coast, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss are around an hour east on Route 1. Seljalandsfoss is the waterfall you can walk behind; Skógafoss is taller and more powerful. Both are worth combining in the same trip. Þórsmörk, the mountain reserve above the glaciers at the end of Route 249, is another two hours east and requires a high-clearance vehicle — but the scenery is outstanding and substantially quieter than the Golden Circle.
Selfoss, the nearest town of any size, is 15 minutes east and has a supermarket, a swimming pool, and the services that Hveragerði lacks.