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The Golden Circle is the classic day out from Reykjavík. It is a scenic route through the Southern Region of Iceland that links three places: the national park at Þingvellir, the geothermal field of Geysir and the waterfall of Gullfoss. In one day you walk through a rift valley, see a geyser erupt and feel the spray of a glacial river falling into a canyon.
Þingvellir is the official name of the national park, which lies in the municipalities of Bláskógabyggð and Grímsnes- og Grafningshreppur. The ground here is a graben, a valley that has sunk between faults, with a long escarpment along its edge. The best-known part is Almannagjá, a canyon that follows one of those faults. Lögberg, a rock and cliff on the side of Almannagjá, is marked today as a historic place.
On the tours you walk along the rift that separates the Eurasian plate from the North American one, then look down over the old parliament plains. The lake Þingvallavatn belongs to the park and drains into the Sog river. Silfra, another fault at Þingvellir, is also a diving site, and one of the trips below takes you snorkelling there.
Geysir and its neighbour Strokkur are geysers in the Geysir geothermal field, in Bláskógabyggð. The area is protected under the name Geysir í Haukadal, after the valley of Haukadalur, and has been since 2020. Strokkur is the one you will see in action: it erupts every few minutes, throwing a column of boiling water into the air. Between eruptions there is time to walk past the steaming, colourful hot springs around it.
Gullfoss is on the Hvítá, a river that later joins the Ölfusá, and lies within Bláskógabyggð and Hrunamannahreppur. It has been a protected area since 1979. The glacial water drops in two stages into a deep canyon, and the paths and viewpoints let you see the falls from the rim and from closer to the spray.
Several tours add Kerið, a volcanic crater in Grímsnes- og Grafningshreppur with a blue-green lake at the bottom and a path around the rim. Others pass Laugarvatn, a village in Bláskógabyggð beside the lake of the same name, between Þingvellir and Geysir.
All eight trips leave from Reykjavík and stop at Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss. Most are rated very easy, with short walks on uneven lava ground. The small-group day tour with hotel pickup adds Brúarfoss, a waterfall of bright blue water, and Kerið from April. The small-group tour with a farm visit also stops at Kerið and at a farm where tomatoes grow in greenhouses heated by geothermal energy, with a look at its stables and Icelandic horses.
Three trips carry on towards Langjökull. The private day trip with hotel pickup and the super jeep tour pass Laugarvatn and climb a gravel mountain track to the edge of the ice cap, where ordinary coaches cannot go. The afternoon glacier tour follows the Kjölur road up to the glacier and makes a dinner stop in the countryside on the way back.
Two trips end in warm water at the Blue Lagoon. The tour with the lagoon ticket included also takes in Kerið. The small-group trip that drops you at the lagoon stops for lunch at Geysir, paid separately, and visits Kerið too; for this one you buy the lagoon ticket yourself, in advance.
For something different, the day trip with snorkelling in Silfra puts you in a drysuit in the fissure after a full safety briefing from the dive guide, then goes on to Gullfoss and Geysir. You need to be comfortable in water and able to swim, and there are age, height and weight limits to check when you book; this one is rated moderate.
Every trip that passes through here is also listed on the Þingvellir destination page.
Þingvellir and its national park, the geysers of Haukadalur and the falls of Gullfoss. All the trips on this page stop at the three.
Yes. Three of the trips go on to the Langjökull ice cap, two of them by super jeep.
It depends on the trip: one of the two lagoon tours includes it, and with the other you buy it yourself before the day.
Not for most of them. The walks are short and rated very easy, though the lava ground is uneven. Snorkelling in Silfra is rated moderate and you must be able to swim.
Sources: Wikidata (CC0).
