When I was planning my trip to Iceland one of the tours that kept being recommended on other travel blogs and in guide books was the Golden Circle Tour, and I must say it is totally worth all the hype.
We booked our tour through GeoIceland, which is a smaller tour company and run groups of no more than 18 people. There are lots of tour groups in Iceland and many of these run big coaches, which is fine for many, but we choose a more intimate tour (it meant we did not have to wait ages for 90 other people to get back on the coach before we could go to the next location on the tour).
Almost all the tours pick you up at your hotel, generally between about 8.30 and 9.30am, and so as you can imagine it can get manic in the hotel lobby with lots of people waiting for picks up. Don't worry though most of the tour guides come inside the hotels and either call out the names of the guests on their tour or call out the name of the company - just keep your eyes and ears open and stand close to the doors!
On some of the tours there are lunch stops or at least a stop to pick up something for lunch, but my top tip would be to make sure you take a drink and some snacks with you, that way you don't have to worry. Also a lot of the tour groups stop at the same lunch stop (not many on the route) and so the queues can be quite long. You could always take a cheeky bread roll, apple or croissant from the hotel breakfast buffet!
Now the important stuff - here are the places you can enjoy on your Golden Circle Tour:
Faxi Waterfall
This waterfall is not tall like Gullfoss but it is wide and impressive. The tour buses drop you off at the top of the waterfall and you get a great view of the falls from above. There is a path that goes down to the waterfall, which I definitely recommend taking. Just be careful in the winter as the path can be very icy.
Gullfoss Waterfall
This waterfall is very impressive and demonstrates the stunning force of nature. This waterfall is fed by Iceland's second largest glacier Langjokull, and the sound of the falls is deafening. Once again if you go in winter be careful as the spray from the waterfall means the surrounding paths are very icy. Also in the winter make sure you have layers including a hat and a scarf you can wrap around your face, as the wind by the waterfall can be icy cold (to the point where it makes your eyes water).
Geysir Hot Springs and Haukadalur Geothermal Area
Here you will be able to see an impressive Geysir erupt into the sky, but bear in mind you might have to wait a few minutes - patience really is a virtue here and you will be rewarded if you stand around and wait. Quick note - at this stop there is a visitor centre with a restaurant inside where you can grab some lunch.
Thingvellir National Park
The scenery here was stunning and it is here you can see first hand continental drift between two tectonic plates, which for a geography nerd like me was amazing! You can see the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates pulling apart and stand on both plates. It is worth noting though the gorge between the two plates is not small and so you can not straddle the gap and stand on the two plates at the same time, this is a misconception the rift is in fact huge. The national park has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site, as it was here in 930AD that the oldest existing parliament in the world assembled for the first time, so it is also steeped in history. We did not get to spend long here and I definitely want to go back and explore more and maybe dive in the rift between the two tectonic plates.
If you are planning a trip to Iceland I would definitely recommend the Golden Circle tour, but remember to wear some good walking shoes :)
Happy exploring!
We booked our tour through GeoIceland, which is a smaller tour company and run groups of no more than 18 people. There are lots of tour groups in Iceland and many of these run big coaches, which is fine for many, but we choose a more intimate tour (it meant we did not have to wait ages for 90 other people to get back on the coach before we could go to the next location on the tour).
Almost all the tours pick you up at your hotel, generally between about 8.30 and 9.30am, and so as you can imagine it can get manic in the hotel lobby with lots of people waiting for picks up. Don't worry though most of the tour guides come inside the hotels and either call out the names of the guests on their tour or call out the name of the company - just keep your eyes and ears open and stand close to the doors!
On some of the tours there are lunch stops or at least a stop to pick up something for lunch, but my top tip would be to make sure you take a drink and some snacks with you, that way you don't have to worry. Also a lot of the tour groups stop at the same lunch stop (not many on the route) and so the queues can be quite long. You could always take a cheeky bread roll, apple or croissant from the hotel breakfast buffet!
Now the important stuff - here are the places you can enjoy on your Golden Circle Tour:
Faxi Waterfall
This waterfall is not tall like Gullfoss but it is wide and impressive. The tour buses drop you off at the top of the waterfall and you get a great view of the falls from above. There is a path that goes down to the waterfall, which I definitely recommend taking. Just be careful in the winter as the path can be very icy.
Gullfoss Waterfall
This waterfall is very impressive and demonstrates the stunning force of nature. This waterfall is fed by Iceland's second largest glacier Langjokull, and the sound of the falls is deafening. Once again if you go in winter be careful as the spray from the waterfall means the surrounding paths are very icy. Also in the winter make sure you have layers including a hat and a scarf you can wrap around your face, as the wind by the waterfall can be icy cold (to the point where it makes your eyes water).
Geysir Hot Springs and Haukadalur Geothermal Area
Here you will be able to see an impressive Geysir erupt into the sky, but bear in mind you might have to wait a few minutes - patience really is a virtue here and you will be rewarded if you stand around and wait. Quick note - at this stop there is a visitor centre with a restaurant inside where you can grab some lunch.
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| Geysir getting ready to erupt |
The scenery here was stunning and it is here you can see first hand continental drift between two tectonic plates, which for a geography nerd like me was amazing! You can see the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates pulling apart and stand on both plates. It is worth noting though the gorge between the two plates is not small and so you can not straddle the gap and stand on the two plates at the same time, this is a misconception the rift is in fact huge. The national park has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site, as it was here in 930AD that the oldest existing parliament in the world assembled for the first time, so it is also steeped in history. We did not get to spend long here and I definitely want to go back and explore more and maybe dive in the rift between the two tectonic plates.
If you are planning a trip to Iceland I would definitely recommend the Golden Circle tour, but remember to wear some good walking shoes :)
Happy exploring!
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