What is The Golden Circle?

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland is the Golden Circle.  This route takes you on a sight-seeing mission where you’ll create lifelong memories seeing iconic waterfalls, historical landmarks, and stunning scenery.  I toured the Golden Circle in one day, and this article touches on the entire experience.  

The Golden Circle in Iceland – Self Drive Notes and Highlights

We chose to rent a car in Iceland versus hiring a tour company or personal guide.  We did the personal guide experience on our first visit to Iceland and while it was very expensive, it was worth every penny.  

This time, we wanted to really rough it and live like a local, which is the motto of our website. 🙂 

For this reason, getting in a car and figuring it our for ourselves despite not knowing if wifi would actually work or if street signs would lead us to the right places just added to our adventure.

While we drove passed countless sheep and bright green countryside hills, some with tiny little homes built into them without any neighbors in sight, we were captivated throughout the drive.  Every destination and landmark worth spending time at is just a short journey from one another and nobody complained about the amount of time we spent driving.  

We left from our hotel (the SandHotel) in Reykjavík bright and early in the morning and had a list of destinations we’d found online that we wanted to check off.

While many people take multiple days to see everything, we decided to jam it all into one day and rough out the 155 miles round trip. To drive the entire way is about four hours without sight seeing.  Our decision to spend one day doing this gave us less time to spend at our destinations, but to us, it was the preferred way to tour the Golden Circle.  

You Do Not Need a 4 x 4 to Tour the Golden Circle

Many people wonder, do you need a 4 x 4 to tour the Golden Circle?  The answer is no.  The roads are all flat and well kept.  We did have an SUV as that was the best priced option and we didn’t know this in advance, but its not necessary.  However, if you are there in winter months, I’d recommend a 4 x 4 in case it snows.  

Golden Circle Attractions 

Here are some of the main attractions in the Golden Circle that we stopped at and took pictures of.  

Gulfoss Waterfall 

I made a YouTube short of this waterfall if you want to see it live, just click here.  

This iconic waterfall is made up of two different falls, but the most visited part of Gulfoss is the huge drop where water falls 21 meters (69 feet) in height.  (The smaller one is 36 feet or 11 meters for comparison.)

This Golden Circle tourist attraction offers a varied experience depending on when you visit.  When the glacier melts in the summer, the water comes in over the rocks at 459 cubic feet per second.  It’s a violent cascade that you would NOT want to fall into.  On the other hand, in the winter, the glacier melt is subdued and in some places the river water remains frozen which lessens the water flow to 358 cubic feet per second.  

If the Gulfoss Waterfall looks familiar, it’s because it’s been featured in the Vikings TV series as well as other blockbuster films.

Geysir Geothermal Area

Another highly popular must visit Golden Circle landmark is the Geysir geothermal area, simply called Geysir by locals.  It’s been dormant since 2016, but in the past you could see boiling mud pots and even an eruption every 7-8 minutes that shoots boiling water up to 80 meters into the air.  It’s still worth a trip here despite the “main attraction” being dormant because the geothermal area has many smaller pools that bubble up. 

Geysir has very high temperatures and it’s one to approach with caution.  One of the best known geysers across the world, it’s said to have started erupting way back in 1294.  

Thingvellir National Park

Iceland’s first national park is the Þingvellir area.  This area has been added as a UNESCO world heritage site.

I’ll cover the historical significance of this park in another update because to me, the big reason this is such a special stop is because the area was literally torn apart by tectonic forces, which I find to be an incredible part of history in itself.  There are indescribable fissures and gorges in what almost resembles a version of the Grand Canyon.  Almannagjá is the main attraction here.  There’s a hiking path that slithers through Oxara river and a massive cleft, and the entire hike offers views of walls of basalt rocks.

While you are here, check out the Thingvellir Church, which dates back to 1859.

Faxi Waterfall

If you want a pint-sized version of the Gullfoss Waterfall, consider checking out the Faxi Waterfall that falls about 7 meters.  The width of this waterfall is a spectacle itself, being 80 meters wide!

What I found really cool about this waterfall, which is located on the Tungufljót River, is that there is a man-made ladder on the side that actually helps the fish swimming upstream.  In all my travels, I’ve never seen anything so thoughtful in terms of helping out animals or vertebrates.

Kerid Crater

Located in Selfoss, this is an easy stop to make to take in off Route 5.  The crater is filled with water and offers Instagram worthy photo opportunities with the light shimmering off the rocks on the edges of the cater.  The rocks vary in color from a red to a deep auburn color and some have black and green lines that shoot through them.  Current fee’s to enter and take pictures can be found on this website.

Slakki Petting Zoo and Family Park

If you are traveling with a family, having your children be immersed with Icelandic animals is a perfect stop while touring the Golden Circle.  In the petting zoo you’ll find the following animals:

• piglets
• puppies
• parrots
• turtles
• kittens
• guinea pigs
• mice
• rabbits
• ducklings
• fish
• chicken
• arctic fox
• turkeys

The Secret Lagoon

Known in Iceland as Gamla Laugin, the Secret Lagoon is the oldest swimming pool in the country. It dates back to 1891 and offers a spa and pool in South Iceland just 20 kilometers from the aforementioned stops of Geysir and Gullfoss.  The warm water is composed of pure Icelandic sulfur water.  

Unlike the popular Blue Lagoon, this is a non-crowded venue (hence the name Secret Lagoon) that is untouched and preserved.  While the Blue Lagoon offers a more upscale, tourism-driven experience, the Secret Lagoon is a more authentic, locally facing experience.  The pool was a destination for swimming lessons up until the 1940’s!

Helgufoss Waterfall

With very close proximity to Reykjavik, the Helgufoss Waterfall isn’t as dramatic or powerful as the aforementioned options, but it’s very serene and Instagram-worthy.  Water cascades 12 feet down from a mossy cliff into a river below surrounded by lava rock on both sites.  You can find locals having a picnic here admiring the local sheep, wild Icelandic horses, and even churches and barns in the distance.  

Helgufoss is not one of Iceland’s most powerful, dramatic, or tall waterfalls, but it is one of the country’s most picturesque and serene. At twelve meters, it cascades down a mossy cliff into the shallow river below, sheltered on two sides by walls of old lava rock.

Brúarfoss Waterfall

This waterfall isn’t one that a lot of people choose to see when touring the Golden Circle in Iceland, we were told, which made it a must visit for us!  The local guide who passed along this information wasn’t wrong, we found it to be a much more quiet, less traveled experience compared to the others.  

You can park adjacent to the Bruarfoss waterfall.  There is a small parking fee which assists in managing the venue and keeping the tourism growth in check in an effort to preserve the beauty.  While you can see the waterfall from the parking lot, you can take a short path to a bridge that overlooks the falls.  It’s a perfect spot for you guessed it, an Instagram-worth experience.

Fridheimar Tomato and Horse Farm

The Fridheimar Tomato and Horse Farm is a great place to see a very cool farm as well as get a bite to eat or a libation of your choice.  

We weren’t able to get a table as we showed up unannounced and they were full, so we opted for a drink at the bar.  However, this pic shows how you can actually enjoy a meal while being surrounded by the indoor tomato farm!

You can access the Friðheimar tomato farm about 30 minutes from Gullfoss Waterfall. The farm grows tomatoes all year using artificial lighting that serves as a parallel to Mediterranean growing conditions.  Heat is provided to the greenhouses using the geothermal water in the area, making it a very cool sight to see and something you probably won’t experience anywhere else. 

The farm also breeds horses on location and has horse shows.  Here’s a link to their official website to see show times for your upcoming trip.  

Thorufoss Waterfall

Thorufoss, or Þórufoss as they call it locally, is another hidden gem that is lesser traveled by tourists.  

Standing at 16 meters, this is 15 minutes from the Thingvellir national park off the Golden Circle, making it less traveled due to it not being directly on the Golden Circle route.  This waterfall flows gently into the Laxa River and offers the opportunity to hike to the river below.  The rocks surrounding it offer a range of colors with a lot of moss.  

The river is very well known for it’s Atlantic salmon fishing.  In fact, “Laxa” translates to “Salmon river” in Icelandic.  

Thjorsardalur Valley

The Thjorsardalur Valley has a lot to offer including snowy volcanoes, sky high mountains, and active geysers.  

This is an hours drive off of the Golden Circle, so make sure you know where you are going and plan ahead.  The best directions to arrive here I found on this website.  

Running along the longest river in Iceland, Þjórsárdalur offers hot springs as well as the Burfell woods, where you can find rare species of moss, grass, and wildflowers.  

For any of you “Game of Thrones” fans, the small village here was featured in the hit series.  

Final Words

If you are visiting Iceland and up for adventure, the Golden Circle offers you many lifelong memories at the many stops outlined here in this guide.  If you have any questions about traveling to Iceland or want help with an itinerary, please reach out to us or visit our travel forum.

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