Latest / Explore Iceland Travel Podcast / E.6: Golden Circle - the Best Detours Worth Adding to Your Day Trip
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 listen to the previous episode, you already know the three famous Golden Circle attractions. The Thangvilier National Park, the Gazier Hot Springs area, and the Gulf West Waterfall. But here is the little secret. Some of my favorite places aren't actually part of the official Golden Circle route. They are just a few minutes off the main route, and many visitors drive right. So today I'll share some stops and attractions near the Golden Circle that I think are absolutely worth adding to your day trip itinerary and your Iceland itinerary in general. Now you're not going to be able to fit all of them in your golden circle day, but you'll have some great choices and can definitely add at least a couple of these stops to your day. I will list them here and you can choose which ones to add based on your interests and how much time you have and how much time they require. Don't try to see them all unless you're going to dedicate about two days in that area, which is a great idea. So number one, I've already mentioned in the prior episode, it's a really quick stop at the brew horse farm. It's between Gazier and Gulfoss. It's a really quick stop to see some really friendly, adorable Icelandic horses. so if you want to interact with some Icelandic horses without actually writing them, That is the perfect place to do that. Number two will be Brewerfoss Waterfall. It is a waterfall that's considered the bluest waterfall in Iceland. And it really is blue. I thought the pictures were edited until I took my own. and the water actually is as blue as it appears in those pictures. the color is as blue as it is because of the glacial meltwater carrying really fine rock dust. that is coming from Langyukal Glacier. And when the sun hits those tiny particles, it reflects as this really bright blue color. So it's really, really beautiful. It really looks unreal, but it is real. You can see that waterfall two ways. The short one, if you're short on time, or if you don't want to hike. the quickest way is to just drive to the Brule Frost parking lot. Is their new parking lot that's literally about five minutes walk from the waterfall. It's a paid lot, it costs about 750 ISK per car. And five minutes later you'll see the waterfall. There is a bridge where you can go on and you can go down to the river a little bit, but be really careful. That river is really powerful. I was actually just there recently and there's some new stairs to go down to a little viewing platform slightly under the bridge just to see it from a different level. So use that, do not go all the way down to the river. the other way to see the waterfall is what I actually have just done now recently on my most recent trip. We hiked. You can go a little bit past that paint lot. on the main road you're gonna cross the bridge and turn left and that's where you're going to have a free parking lot right by the river and you're just going to follow a path it takes about fifty minutes one way to hike but it's a pretty easy hike it's flat there's just some rocks and some gravel so make sure you have good hiking boots and I used hiking poles to go down because it was pouring rain and I did not want to wipe out on wet rocks so it does get muddy in the rain or after the rain, so keep that in mind. I've tested my own hiking shoes and hiking pants and the waterproof value of my jacket during that hike and it all held up but it was pretty wet. So it's better to do it in dry weather. But it's a beautiful hike. You see two other waterfalls along the way and you get to Brewer Foss. From the opposite side of the bridge. So, all in all, it's about two, two and a half hours. counting the time that you're going to spend at the waterfall. But it's a beautiful place to see. So if you can definitely incorporate that into your day. if you're just doing the parking lot, I would say 30 to 45 minutes is enough with the hike. Like I said, about two, two and a half hours depends on how fast you hike. Now, number three is right near the road to the Brewer Frost parking lot. It's called Efste Dollar Farm. It's a working farm, a guest house or hotel, a restaurant, and a beautiful unique ice cream place. You'll get delicious ice cream and you can eat it inside while watching the cows in their barn through the glass. And last time I was there there were also some babies in a separate pen that we could also watch while eating ice cream. So you got two for one, you've got a delicious dessert, And you can watch the cows grazing in their barn while you're eating your ice cream. So a really cool place to see. number four is Friedheimar Tomato Farm. That is one of the most unique dining experiences you're going to have in Iceland. you have to make an appointment to dine. but you dine inside an actual working greenhouse. There's beautiful restaurant style tables set up inside the greenhouse. You're surrounded by tomato vines and you get to taste their signature tomato soup with homemade bread. Both delicious. You get free refills for your soup. But there are also other dishes there and there's also tomato themed desserts. we had cheesecake with tomato jam and we had apple and tomato pie, which both were delicious. there's also tomato ice cream or sorbet that you can buy on the way out. we haven't done it as we didn't have the freezer, so it would have melted, but I'm sure it's delicious as well. So that's a really unique place to visit. They are only open from about noon till four PM, so not a huge window, and you do have to make advanced reservations pretty far in advance actually. and if you're with a bigger group, then you definitely want to book at least a couple of months, if not more in advance. But if you miss your window to reserve the table inside the greenhouse, don't worry. They've opened a wine bar and the name is misleading 'cause it's not only one bar, it's basically just a restaurant right on the same property, just a short walk from the greenhouse where you can have the same soup, the bread and some other dishes. and it's open a lot longer. It's open till ten PM. So if you miss your window for the greenhouse, definitely still visit the place and check out the wine bar and taste the soup. It is worth it. It is delicious. It has very unique flavor too. There's a one secret ingredient that they won't give up. but it tastes really, really good. So it's a great place for lunch or snack during your day. And number four is my all-time favorite Icelandic hotspot. It's called Secret Lagoon. it is one of the oldest swimming pools or swimming lagoons in Iceland. It is not fancy. So if you're looking for fancy you're probably not going to like that. But it is wonderful. It's Quiet, it's relaxed, it's not as busy as any of the more fancy ones. There's just one stone pool. but just the setting and just the atmosphere, it just has that authentic aura. I absolutely love it. It's also very affordable. and right along the perimeter of the main pool, you'll have a few little gaziers just erupting. and you can watch them. there's a boardwalk set up along the main pool that you can walk. if you're brave, you can get out of the hot water. Take a little lap around, check out the gazier's erupting and get right back in the water, or you can just do it while you get dressed. But definitely worth looking into. There's also cute dwarf houses on one of the grassy hills. So just the whole area is just very different from any other hot spring so it is definitely my favorite you don't need reservations either you can just show up and they typically have a spot you can just buy your ticket on site and then number six is another hot spring this time it's a natural hot spring it's called Hroonalog or Hruni it's really close I think it's about 10 minutes maybe drive from Secret Lagoon It is a natural hot spring, but it is also paid. It's just a little less than the secret lagoon. you pay at a little booth near a parking lot and you just take a short walk through the meadows. We saw some sheep when you walk. and you get to this beautiful green valley. and you have just a little round stone-lined hot. spring with a old turf house that used to be I think a sheep hut and now it serves as a makeshift changing room. And that's when you change, leave your clothes and you can get in the water. It does get really busy really quickly because it's so small. So we walked up without paying. We walked up just to see it. We didn't want to go in because I had my heart set on Secret Lagoon. but we checked it out and it's just really beautiful. It's a unique place to see. I personally feel Secret Lagoon is a better value as it's only just a little bit more money than Hernie, but I'm not discouraging you from checking it out. just make sure that you know. it has a really rustic feel or a really authentic feel. So moving on, number seven is Lauger Vatten Fontana Geothermal Bath. So another hot spring on the Golden Circle route. This one is more of an upscale hot spring. Not as expensive or as luxurious as Blue Lagoon or Sky Lagoon, But it's definitely a little more modern than my favorite secret lagoon. You have a few pools right by the lake, that's the unique feature of it, and you have some steam rooms. But the biggest claim to fame of that place is their geothermal rye bread that they bake by putting a pot with the dough inside the ground for 24 hours, and that's how it gets baked in the hot ground. The geothermal heat of the ground bakes the bread. And I've tasted that bread, it is delicious. you can actually book a bread baking demonstration there. It's only once or twice a day depending on the season. But if you miss it, you can just walk into the cafe and just buy a couple of slices. sometimes they serve it with butter, sometimes they serve it with a couple of different kinds of paste or pesto. Whatever you put on that bread is just going to be delicious. It is really worth it. So Definitely highly recommend if nothing else just go in there and try the bread. Number eight is Skalhold Cathedral. It's a historical place, another historical place in addition to the Thinkvillion National Park. There's a cathedral, there's a museum, it's a burial place of bishops from that area. There is a tunnel that leads to an archaeological site with ruins of historic settlement that used to exist there. It's a very quiet place. It's really beautiful, very underrated. Most people think it's just a church. It is a lot more and you also have really beautiful views around. We visited on a cold but sunny day and it took me by surprise. It was really beautiful. So definitely recommend that you stop by. There's also Hotel Skalholt nearby and inside that hotel you have Vaughn Restaurant. They described our menu as Experimental kitchen of traditional Icelandic food with a modern twist. That's a direct quote from their website. So if you're up for an Icelandic dish with a modern twist, that's definitely a place to go get it. And number nine, we have Carried Crater. It's a really unique volcanic crater, fairly young by volcanic crater standards, about six and a half thousand years only. It is unique due to its coloring. It's red volcanic rock and green moss and they form almost like striations or stripes. So when you look at it, it's a little red and green stripes on the volcanic craters. So it's really cool to see. I love that it's one of my daughter's favorite place in that area of Iceland. You leave your car in a parking lot. The parking is free, but you do pay an entry fee to actually enter the path. and it's per person. Last time I checked it was seven hundred ISK per person. So not the cheapest place to visit, but it's definitely worth it. you can go up the stairs and along the whole perimeter of the volcanic crater and just Check out the views and you can also go down the stairs towards the lake. There's a bright not blue but like emerald green lake at the bottom that is really beautiful, kind of matches the coloring of the crater. Don't swim in the lake. It's forbidden. But you can go down and there's a little bench if you want to just rest and take it all in. You there's also a path that you can walk around the lake at the bottom of the crater, which is really, really unique. I'm thinking about it right now. there is no other volcanic crater that you can actually do it at. So that's another unique feature of it. and if you're lucky, you might even see a rainbow. During our very first visit, we visited at the very end of the day. It was kind of a gloomy, cloudy day, and we still saw a rainbow there. It was one of our first rainbows in Iceland that we saw, so that that was just a cherry on top for us. So that's it for the detours or additions to your golden circle route. Which ones did we add to our itinerary? We added Secret Lagoon and Carrot Crater. To our day when we visited the Golden Circle during our first trip. we really wanted to visit the tomato farm. But by the time we were done with Gulffoss, it was already four o'clock and the wine bar was not yet open, was not yet in existence. So we decided we're just gonna have to come back, which we did. So after visiting the national park, the geyser and the gulfas, we went and had a soak at the secret lagoon. In the rain, which made it even more interesting, and then we went to Carrot Crater and went right back to our apartment. So as you can see, there is a lot more to the Golden Circle route than just geology and history. You can add some adrenaline pumping activities like the sulfur snorkeling, you can add a soak in a hot spring. You can have a unique lunch experience inside the greenhouse and then have ice cream for dessert while watching the cows in their barn. You can even hike to another waterfall or visit a volcanic crater. There is a lot more than just the three main stops and just history and geology. So in my opinion, the Golden Circle is a great easy day trip either from Reykjavik or wherever you choose your accommodation. and it's a nice laid-bike route. to either start or finish your Iceland adventure. And adding one or two of the detours we just cover it can really enhance your experience. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions and I will see you in the next episode.