Iceland | Golden Circle Tour

The second tour that was recommended to us by What's on Iceland was the Classic Golden Circle Tour run by East West tours.  You can also read about our first tour which was to see the Northern Lights here.

The small group full day tour visits 3 popular sites that form part of Iceland's Golden Circle, namely:

• Thingvellir national park & the Oxararfoss waterfall
• Geysir hot spring
• Gullfoss waterfall

In addition, we enjoyed a yummy late lunch at the Friðheimar Tomato Farm and stopped at the Kerið volcanic crater on the way home.

We were up early to join the tour. Well it felt early, it was 8:30am but still dark! We walked the short distance from our apartment to Bus Stop #1 (City Hall). This is a popular location for a lot of tours to start from, so be sure to get on the right bus! Thankfully we'd rugged up again, even though our mini-bus was heated and they even supplied thermal blankets if required. The bus held about 20 people, and we had 1 spare seat.

Our tour guide, Prentice, was very knowledgeable about the places we visited & kept us informed about the history and legends of Iceland throughout the tour. For example, we learnt that in Iceland they don't have family names, but rather the children take the father's first name combined with either son or dottir, so e.g. if the father's name is Jon Smith then a male child would be Peter Jonsson and female Ingrid Jonsdottir.  Further we learnt that Iceland has no natural dangerous animals.  They do have wasps, an the occasional intercontinental Polar Bear (floated in on an iceberg), and the Arctic tern. 

Thingvellir National Park

The first stop was Thingvellir National Park. The park is located in a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates, namely the North America and Eurasian continents. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Game of Thrones filming location. Historically, the name (Þingvellir) means "assembly fields" and is significant as Iceland’s first democratic parliament was founded here.  It is an amazing landscape!

Thingvellir National Park © Holidays Beckon

Thingvellir National Park © Holidays Beckon

Thingvellir National Park © Holidays Beckon

Thingvellir National Park © Holidays Beckon

It was below zero when we arrive. We were dropped at the "top" of the Almannagjá ravine and given instructions of where to meet the bus after walking through the high lava walls down into the valley.  On the walk we were told to look out for Lögberg, the Law Rock where the Law Speaker stood historically to proclaim the laws, its exact location unknown, and Drekkingarhylur pond where they used to drown women who had babies out of wedlock. 

Thingvellir National Park © Holidays Beckon

At the bottom of the ravine we met our tour guide who instructed us to continue our walk on to Öxarárfoss waterfall.  

Thingvellir National Park © Holidays Beckon

The original waterfall was moved by Vikings to make its location more suitable for the Alþingi parliament meetings!

We were all relieved to get back on the bus as we had lost feeling in our fingers & toes! Not to mention our running noses and teary eyes from the cold!  If you don't already own one, you really must invest in a neck warmer. They are magic things!  You can see that I am wearing one in the picture above. The beauty of these is that you can pull them up over your nose and mouth & continue to breath normally! (Where have I heard that before?). I found mind at The Viking souvenir shop in Reykjavik. It has a motif of the Northern Lights on it, which I thought was pretty cool!

After we were all back safely on the bus we headed towards the Geysir.  On the way, Prentice made a quick stop near the shores of Laugarvatn, a shallow lake. Beneath the lake are hot springs which keep the water warm all year round. However, there are parts of the lake where the water is at boiling point, so care needs to be taken if you plan to go swimming. There are a lot of places where steam rises from the ground around the lake, carrying that slightly sulphuric smell. 

Laugarvatn © Holidays Beckon

Geysir

From here it was on to the Geysir Hot Spring geothermal area where there are many boiling mud pits and exploding geysers. One of these, Strokkur, shoots water up to 30 metres into the air every few minutes.

Geysir © Holidays Beckon

Geysir © Holidays Beckon

Geysir © Holidays Beckon

Geysir lay dormant for years until an earthquake in 2000 caused it to erupt. It is mostly dormant again now, although the hot springs in the area are still active.

Geysir is the one of the most famous geysers in the world, along with the geyser in Yellowstone National Park in the U.S.

Gulfoss Falls

We were soon back on the bus heading for our next destination, Gulfoss Falls. 

It was bitterly cold here due to the wind chill factor bringing the temperature below zero.  In the desolate landscape there was no protection from the wind.  The neck warmer came in very useful, as did the hood on my jacket!  

Gullfoss Falls © Holidays Beckon

Gullfoss Falls © Holidays Beckon

Gullfoss Falls © Holidays Beckon

After doing a round of souvenir shopping at the store we piled back on the bus and head to our lunch stop.

Friðheimar

At Friðheimar, they grow tomatoes all year round under artificial lighting in greenhouses. Visitors to the farm can gain an insight into the processes of the geothermal greenhouse horticulture, and then enjoy a taste of the crop!

Lunch consisted of tomato soup with fresh-baked bread! You can even enjoy a glass of wine! 

Friðheimar Tomato Farm © Holidays Beckon

Kerið

After lunch we headed towards the final stop on our tour, a volcanic crater named Kerið.
This is lake-filled volcanic crater in South-Iceland. It was formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption around 6,500 years ago. You can walk around the crater & it is possible to walk down to the lake itself, time permitting. The land the crater forms part of is privately-owned and there is an  admittance fee charged for maintenance of the area.

Kerið © Holidays Beckon

And that was the end of our full day tour of the Golden Circle in Iceland!  We had a great day, arriving back in Reykjavik after dark - which isn't difficult as it gets dark at 4:30pm! I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone with limited time who wants to see & experience some of the Icelandic countryside. 

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