The Golden Circle
Last summer we were supposed to meet both sets of our parents in Iceland for a two week roadtrip. Unfortunately this was the same time Heathrow Airport asked airlines to stop flying in and our flights back to Korea were cancelled and our airline couldn’t get us home within a two week time frame so the whole trip was postponed. Thankfully we were all able to reschedule and here we are!
Our first official tour of the trip was the infamous Golden Circle route. Instead of doing a guided tour, we decided to self drive it. We downloaded an audio tour that worked off of GPS and set off on our way. The bummer about this option is that neither of our vehicles are large enough to hold all 8 of so we have to drive two vehicles.
I had an initial itinerary set with stops along the route and the audio tour hit most of those as well. We first stopped at Helgufoss and had the waterfall to ourselves. London says “it was a good chance for selfies!”
After that we moved on to Þingvellir National Park and we were here close to 2 hours. Þingvellir is the site of the first parliament in Iceland in 930 and continued to be used until 1798. Nowadays it’s a major tourist attraction because the park sits in a rift valley on the boundary of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates that can clearly be seen in the cracks.
There’s a lot to do here and the hike down was pretty easy. In some of the rifts you can see the crystal clear water. This is the cleanest water in the world! At Silfra lake, scuba diving and snorkeling is a big tourist attraction as you get the chance to swim between the tectonic plates.
There is no entrance fee for the National park but there is a 750isk (~$5) parking fee.
Our next stop along the way was Bruarfoss which is known as the bluest waterfall in Iceland. There was no audio alert for this but there are 2 signs and a parking lot so it would be hard to miss. Don’t expect tall waterfalls - my dad commented that he had white water rafted bigger rapids! The icy blue of the water here was stunning especially against the landscape. There was a 750isk fee for parking here as well.
Next we headed to see the Geysir geothermal area. We were able to see Geysir (The Great Geysir) which is where the word “geyser” comes from. Geysir itself is no longer active however Strokkur is and it erupts about every 5-10 minutes. We were lucky enough to see it erupt 3 times in our short visit. The girls loved it and stood waiting for the eruption so the steam would blow over them.
Our next stop was Gullfoss which is one of the three main stops on the Golden Circle and it’s name actually translates to Golden Falls. It is one of the most popular waterfalls in Iceland. This was another one of London’s favorite stops because we let her walk all the way down and get soaking wet. It was a beautiful, warm June day but the spray from the waterfall is freezing.
There was no parking or entrance fee here.
There are several other stops between Gullfoss and Kerið including The Secret Lagoon, Fridheimar, and Skalholt Cathedral but we headed to Kerið volcanic crater lake. Kerið was a cone volcano that erupted and emptied its magma reserve. The weight of the cone then collapsed creating the current crater. It gets its reddish color from the iron deposits and it’s teal water color from mineral deposits. Kerið has free parking but a 400isk (~$3) entrance fee to help maintain the land.
You can book a tour to see the Golden Circle however I really enjoyed the fact that we self drove it. The audio tour I purchased was $25/per car whereas a tour would’ve been minimum $50/person. I enjoyed being able to go at our own pace, not feeling rushed, and being able to stop along the way. If you’re self driving, make sure you start with a full tank of gas. There are a few gas stations along the way and depending on your vehicle, this day trip will take you about 3/4 of a tank of gas.
This is a bucket list trip for us and I’m so excited to be here! Is Iceland on your bucket list?
