The classic golden circle tour where you'll see the Gullfoss waterfall, Thingvellir National Park and the world famous Geysir geothermal area.

The Golden Circle refers to a trip or tour to three of the most famous and spectacular attractions in Iceland.  The Golden Circle attractions are the Geysir area, Gulfoss Waterfalls and Thingvellir National park. The Golden Circle tour is a fun and easy way to experience these wonders of Iceland without a rental car and figuring out schedules yourself. On this tour, you'll see all three, the geysirs, Gulfoss falls, and Thingvellir National park.

Gulfoss Waterfalls
The first stop on the Golden Circle tour is to the Gulfoss waterfalls. By the numbers, the Gulfoss waterfall is quite large by any standard and actually contains two separate 'stages' of 11 and 21 meters (36 and 70 feet) into a crevice over 100 feet deep.

From our Golden Circle Tour stop, we walk along a smooth path of crushed black rock, a common path material in Iceland, and slowly approach the falls.

Gulfoss Falls from upper portion of trail

The walk takes about five minutes and takes us far out of view of the roadway, surrounded only by the rock formations of the falls. As we walk, the falls come into view and reveal themselves slowly until finally we are in the mist of the falls and hear the tremendous roar of the crashing waters. While the falls are immediately impressive from above, standing at the edge of the falls after walking down, or climbing on the rocks if you dare, is yet another experience!

The falls are unforgettable, and for many, the most impressive of the three parts of the Golden Circle tour.

Thingvellir National Park
The second stop of the Golden Circle Tour is Thingvellir National Park. Pronounced Thing-vett-lir, and written as Þingvellir in native Icelandic, Thingvellir translates to parliament meadows. Quite literally, Thingvellir is partially a meadow and is the site where Iceland's first parliament gathered and where the first parliamentary government was formed in 930 AD and remained until 1789.
Thingvellir was chosen as a meeting place both for its central location and for the partial protection provided by the natural geographical barriers provided by the massive rock formations on the windward side.

The assembly of government was called the AlÞing. Here, the elected Lawspeaker would recite the laws of the land from memory at the Law Rock. Also, it was at the Law Rock where rulings of the council were announced and legal actions were brought. Anyone attending was entitled to present his case from the Law Rock.

The Golden Circle tour's visit to Thingvellir begins with a slight downhill walk on another smooth path of crushed black rock. As we descend this natural corridor, the rock walls on both sides seem to rise above us.

After a few minutes of walking, the rocks on the right side of the path taper down to the ground and the valley, the lake and the ancient Law Rock, are all revealed. One of the original assembly areas is visible and accessible, a large round platform bordered by stone. For some, standing on the platform inspires a sense of the power and majesty of the location. The lake is Thingvallavatn, (Þingvallavatn) the largest natural lake in Iceland. The park's pathway crosses the river Öxará and winds around and over some of the many small streams.

Also at this second stop of the Golden Circle tour is the Atlantic Rift, the location where the earth's tectonic plates (North American and Eurasian) meet. This meeting and shifting of the plates is the reason for the active geology in Iceland.

The Geysir area
The Geysir area is a geothermally active area in Southwest Iceland where heat from the earth's core is quite visibly and spectacularly displayed in the form of Geysirs! (Geysers in the US spelling). One of the anchors of the Golden Circle, the geysir area has a number of geysirs, with the most well-known geysir called Strokkur, which means 'the churn' and is pronounced Strau-ker.

The geysir area is on a very slight incline across the street from the geysir center, where we stop and have access to the souvenir and snack shop. The walk to the geysirs is a smooth path and you'll be able to get close the geysirs and literally see the hot water running along the ground after it erupts into the air! The Strokkur geysir erupts about every 5 minutes, so you will surely see it several times at least, and there are other smaller geysirs which will likely not erupt during your visit but that provide a beautiful and unique spectacle of nature - clear, hot water, with mineral-encrusted edges and slight natural smell of sulphur.

This Golden Circle stop is exciting and fun and provides a close-up view of one of the most unique geologic areas in the world. This is the last stop on the Golden Circle tour and includes the convenience and comforts of the geysir center's bathrooms, snacks, souvenirs, etc. After this visit, we return to Reykjavik!

Price For Children : 4.900 ISK

Included : Bus fare, guidance in English every day, German on Tue & Sat, French on Thu & Sun and Scandinavian on Fri and entrance to Geysir Museum
Excluded : Lunch and refreshments not included.
Meeting Point : Hotels / guesthouses 30 minutes before departure