Latest / Explore Iceland Travel Podcast / E.5: Golden Circle - the Iconic Route You Can't Miss
Transcript
- Monika: Welcome to Explore Iceland Travel Podcast. If you're thinking of visiting Iceland or planning your next adventure there, you're in the right place. I'm Monica the creator of Plan Pack Explore, a travel blog where I help readers plan unforgettable trips to Europe. and I'm here to inspire you to travel to Iceland. And to plan your trip in a fun, stress free way. I'll share all the must know details about places to see, both the iconic landmarks and some hidden gems, proven itineraries tested by me and my family. and practical trip planning tips based on my own experiences and mistakes we made while exploring this incredible country. I'll cover everything I wish I had known before our first trip and things I've learned from all the trips that follow. And I'm not done yet. Think of it as travel advice from tourist to tourist. Honest, helpful, firsthand insights designed to make planning your Iceland adventure much easier and much more enjoyable. Tune in and let's explore Iceland together. If you're planning your first trip to Iceland, chances are you've heard of the Golden Circle. I've also mentioned it in my six day itinerary that we follow during our first visit. It was episode three of this podcast. It was our first full day trip after we've arrived in Iceland. It's probably the country's most famous sightseeing route, especially for first time visitors, and for good reason. In a single day, you can walk between two continents. Watch boiling geothermal springs erupt into the air and get close to one of Iceland's stunning powerful waterfalls. But despite how popular it is, I think many visitors underestimate it. They see it as three quick roadside stops and often wonder whether it's worth visiting at all. So today I'll do my best to convince you that it is definitely worth a spot in your Iceland itinerary. I'll walk you through the three main attractions of this iconic route. And in the next episode we'll go over some additional nearby attractions that you can add to your Golden Circle Day that will make it even a better experience. So what exactly is the Golden Circle? It's an incredibly scenic driving route. In southwestern Iceland near Reykjavik, consisting of three main attractions. Thinkvillier National Park, one of three national parks in Iceland and the first one established in the country, Geysier Geothermal Area, or Geyser Hot Springs as it's sometimes called, and Gulfos Waterfall. Why is it called the Golden Circle? The route gets its name from the Gulfos Waterfall, that it's also sometimes called the Golden Waterfall. And it's a circle because if you start the route in Reykjavik, you can drive to all three main attractions and back to the city in one big loop without backtracking. so where exactly is the golden circle? If you look at the map and find Reykjavik, just imagine going inland towards the east along route thirty-six and then thirty-five. And you'll find all the three main stops easily. the route is about 70 kilometers long, counting from Thingvilier National Park, which is usually the first stop, to Gazier Geothermal Area, which is typically the last stop. And then you have to count the distance from your accommodation. If you start in Reykjavik, your total between Reykjavik and Gazier will be a hundred and fifteen kilometers one way. so to drive the loop without any additional stops, it will take you about three and a half hours, not including any time spent at each of the attractions. It is very easy to drive that route by yourself in a rental car. The roads are paved, they are very well maintained and it's available year round. But if you're not comfortable driving or if you're not comfortable driving in the winter, you can just book one of many really excellent guided tours and I'll have some of the best ones linked in that article that I'm going to post inside the show notes for your reference. If you're driving you can stay in the suburbs of Reykjavik. You know I'm a fan of the suburbs of Reykjavik. I like the location, free parking and just overall convenience. Or depending on where in your itinerary you'll be visiting the Golden Circle You can stay somewhere even closer to it, like Selfos or Flu Deer. If you're taking the tour, I would stay in Reykjavik for easy hotel pickup and access to a meeting point. Now, this is a very popular route, so if you want to avoid the crowds, especially in peak season and summer months, I recommend leaving early so you're always ahead of the big tour buses. So let's hit the road and explore the golden circle. The first stop on the route is Pinkvalier National Park. It is a very significant place. in Iceland both for its history and its geology. It's actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the historical significance. it's a birthplace of the Parliament of Iceland. It's called Al Thingy and that's where they had their first open air meetings. In fact when you're walking and we'll go over that but when you're walking you're going to see a spot marked with an Icelandic flag. That's where the first parliament meetings were being held in the past. that's also where you can walk between the two tectonic plates, the North American and the Eurasian, which I think it's pretty cool. Especially that the plates are moving apart about an inch every year. So get there while you can. So that's the historical and the geological significance of the park. besides its absolute beauty. when you arrive there are many parking lots to choose from. I would just recommend parking in lot number one, P1. That's going to be directly in front of the visitor center, which is where you want to start. and you're going to pay for parking. You can use the pay kiosk and scan the QR code. You can also use the parka app. which is very convenient. and that fee, which as of the recording of this episode, it's about one thousand ISK for a car. That is good for all parking lots for the entire day. So once you park in front of the visitor center you can walk inside. There are helpful attendants that will give you a map and go over what you can do in the park. There is a gift shop, a small cafe, there's restrooms. And once you get yourself all situated, you're gonna wanna walk right back outside of the visitor center. To your right, there's a viewing platform. and that viewing platform is sitting on top of the corner of the North American tectonic plate. And I think that's pretty amazing to just be able to stand on it. and have a good look at the park and also the lake. There is a big lake. Thingvala Vatten, if I pronounce it correctly. One of the biggest lakes in Iceland. And it's just beautiful. Once you've got your fill of the views, just take the path down towards the gorge, the canyon. It's called Almanagia Gorge and that's where you're going to be walking. Between the tectonic plates along that gorge. It does get very busy. It seems very busy at the very beginning of the path. And then the longer you walk, the less crowded it gets for some reason. I would recommend you just keep walking. It's a nice gravel path, pretty even once you go down, pretty flat, not hard at all. and just keep walking until you get to the waterfall. It's called Oxara Foss. The walk takes about a mile, 1.7 kilometers. and you can visit the waterfall. Make sure you check it out. It was one of the first ones that we've seen in Iceland. We were totally amazed by it, not realizing it's actually one of the smaller ones, pretty as it is, but it's small, but it's really nice. So make sure you visit that. And then you have a choice. You can go back to the visitor center using the exact path, or you can cross some of those wooden boardwalks, walkways, to the other side of the park and you can see it clearly, so it's an easy choice to make. And just walk the Pallar route on the other side. And where that's going to get you is to I think Villier Church, which is very scenic, very charming, a nice place to check out. And right next to us is actually a summer resident of the Icelandic Prime Minister. so that's also a nice place to see. And then just make your way back towards the visitor center. So that's the park for you in a nutshell. There's one more thing you can do in the park if you're looking for some adrenaline rush and something more exciting. to do while you're at the park, you can do Silfra snorkeling. That's snorkeling or diving, depends which activity you choose in the waters in between the tectonic plates. So for that you have to book a tour and I also have them linked in the articles. That's going to add significant amount of time, probably at least a couple of hours, maybe two, three hours to your day, to your time at the park. So make sure you accommodate that in your plan for the day and also carefully read the restrictions and the recommendations who that tour is suitable for I haven't done it. It is way out of my comfort zone. But I've heard from people who have done it that it's a wonderful experience. So check out the tours and make your decision. So if you're not doing the snorkeling, I would say about two hours in the park is enough for a nice stroll to the waterfall and back the other way around. and then if you're doing the tour, definitely add the time that's required. and it's specified in the tour description. So that's your stop number one. Stop two will be Gazier Geothermal Area. It's about a 50 minute drive from the national park to Gazier. So it's about sixty kilometers, which will make it thirty-seven miles about from the park. The Gazier Geothermal area is located in Haukadela Valley. and it's basically just a straight stinning drive along a paved road. So again, really easy. by the way, you don't need a four wheel drive for this golden circle route. two wheel drive will do just fine. That's all we had on our first trip and We had no issues. Unless you're visiting in the winter, then if you're gonna drive, get a four-wheel drive. But otherwise, two wheel drive in the summer is perfectly fine for this route. So once you get there and you will see the steam way, way ahead before you get to the actual area. So you'll know you're getting close when you see the steam from the far. You're going to park at the geysier center. it used to be free the first couple of times I went there. It is paid now. I believe it's a thousand ISK per car to pay. it's a big parking lot, no worries about finding a spot. inside the Gazier Center you have many places to get food. you have a few souvenir stores, really nice actually. We got some souvenirs there during our first visit. You also have restrooms, but it does tend to get really busy. So if you're short on time, just be mindful of that and maybe get there before the crowds or after the crowds. but once you park, all you have to do is cross the street and you're going to see the area where the geysers are. When you walk in, you're going to be greeted right on your left side along the path and make sure you stick to the paths. Please don't just walk around everywhere. Make sure you stick to the path. It's an active geothermal area. So you're going to be greeted by this little energetically bubbling little hot spring or hot pole. It's called Little Gazier, a little gazier. And it's really adorable. I loved it. I spent a lot of time just watching it bubble. and then you just continue the path. The actual geyser or the great geyser, after which the area got its name is actually Dormont but a very close neighbor called Strochor. still erupts and it erupts pretty consistently about every ten minutes or so. so just find the big circle of people if you're visiting at the busy time. Grab a spot and just wait. Wait with your phone ready and you're going to see it. Actually during my third visit there when I was visiting with my dad the gazier erupted twice in a row. It went down and it just went right back up, which was pretty amazing and nobody was ready for it. Everybody had already put down their phones. but it was a big you know, collective gosh, it just did it twice. It was really cool to see. so you will see it erupt and it's really cool. On a windy day just be careful because once the water goes up and the wind blows you might get wet. And don't get discouraged. It is a busy place or it can be a busy place. especially midday when there's a lot of people visiting during summer months. But you will always find the spot, you will always find a place to see it, to record it, and to just make memories. So don't get discouraged by a number of people. the second time around we actually were there around 8 a.m. on the way to the highlands, and we stopped by and we basically had the place to ourselves, so it was wonderful. but strucker is not the only interesting geyser to see. Once you've seen it awrap, just keep walking up. A little bit and you're going to find a hot spring that looks like a pair of glasses. It literally looks like a frame of glasses. And it's called a blessing. And you're going to recognize it because at least one of the pools, one of the lenses, so-called, is really bright blue. It's really cool to see. So just make sure you find that. And if you want to have a really good view of the area, you can hike to the top of Mount Laugrafial. It's just a little hill. It's about 20 minutes up. It's not a huge hike. and once you go up to the top, there's a viewing platform and you can see. the geothermal area in its entire glory. It's really nice. I haven't done it. Every time I went, we were either short on time or the weather wasn't the best for hiking. but my friends have done it and they actually really enjoyed that short hike. So that's something that you can do. Otherwise, just walk around the area, check out all the hot springs. as you explore, you can see stroke or erupt again from the far. And that's about it to that area. So how long do you need? It all depends on how long you're going to stay and watch. I would say thirty to forty five minutes is a safe bet. unless you're doing the hike, then I would add another hour because it takes about twenty minutes each way to hike. And then just add any time that you think you may spend getting food and souvenirs at the geizer center. so that's how much time it would typically take to visit the gazier hot springs area. And then moving on to stop number three, Gulfass waterfall. That's only a ten minute drive from the Gazier Hot Springs. So it's about ten kilometers just under four miles. So Gulfoss has two parking lots and good news as of The recording of this episode, both of them are free. There's a lower lot located just at the entrance of the main path running towards the waterfall. And then there's the upper lot, which is by the Gulf's Panorama Restaurant. The first time we visited we parked in the first parking lot and just walked the path all the way up to the very end viewing platform. It was wonderful. You could hear the waterfall roar you can you could feel the mist. you can get a little wet. We had our hoods on. But it was wonderful. You're really close to it. You can see it. You can see the power of it. The second time we visited that parking lot was blocked off for some reason. So we went up to the top and it's actually really nice. There's a restaurant there, restrooms, a small gift shop and a large free parking lot and then from there you just take the stairs down. There's multiple viewing platforms so you can see Ghoulfoss from above and the entire path that you would have taken if you parked at the lower parking lot. And so you have a choice. If you don't want to get too close to the waterfall and just see it from the top, that's the parking lot to go to. but you can go all the way down to the path, take the remainder of it And go all the way to the end where there's it's not so much a viewing platform. It's just like a rocky flat area to see the waterfall up close. Be really careful, it can get pretty slippery and wet from the mist from the waterfall. So just have good shoes and good waterproof gear so you don't get too wet. if you're lucky you're gonna see a rainbow. We were in that lucky I've never seen a rainbow over Gulfass. I've seen it over some other waterfalls, but even without the rainbow, it is a beautiful, beautiful waterfall. and a little bonus, we'll go over some extra stops in the next episode, but I'll give you one today. Between Gazier and Gulffoss, you're going to pass on your left side, you're going to find Brew Horse Farm. You'll see the horses right by the road. Just pull in and take a look. They are adorable. They're very friendly. Sometimes you can purchase some food and feed them. you're actually allowed to pet them there. So if you wanted some islandic course interaction without actually writing them, that is a really good place to do it. each time I'm in that area, we actually stop to see those horses because they are just adorable. I love Icelandic horses. So those were the three main stops of the Golden Circle. And most visitors think they've done the Golden Circle after those three stops. And yep, you have covered the three main attractions. that's what the circle consists of: Thingvillier National Park, Gazier Hot Springs, and Gulfless Waterfall. But I'm guessing that you still might have some time left in your day to add a thing or two. and to be honest, most of those golden circle detours are just as interesting as the stuffs we've just covered. And some of my favorite places in Iceland are actually among those detours. And that's exactly what we'll talk about next time. So I hope I helped you plan your golden circle trip and I've convinced you that it's definitely worth visiting. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions and I will see you in the next episode.