Road Trip in Iceland - Day 1: The Golden Circle

Last Updated on 18.08.2023 by Iliyan

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1 Day 1: The Golden Circle

Day 1: The Golden Circle

When we started planning the trip to Iceland we quickly realized that there are so many places to visit which need to be seen. Natural beauty is in abundance and probably one whole lifetime would not be enough to see and explore all corners of the island. We had only six days and we wanted to see all waterfalls, hot springs, glaciers, mountains, canyons, beaches, The Golden Circle etc. Exactly because of that it was extremely hard to decide what to see and what to skip during these six full days.

The first day of our trip was dedicated to The Golden Circle, which includes a series of popular landmarks. After we shopped at one of the local supermarkets we headed to our first stop – Thingvellir National Park.

Thingvellir National Park

Here you can enjoy the wonderful walking trails, lakes and waterfalls. The entrance to the park is free, but you need to pay a fee for staying at the parking. The name is associated with Althing, Iceland’s national parliament, which was established in 930. The most impressive place to me was the valley where the North American and the Eurasian Tectonic Plate divide.

Thingvellir National Park

The Öxaráfoss Waterfall was the first of many others, which we were going to visit during the trip. It is only 20 meters, but an important part of the national park and a favorite place for the locals. According to the legend the waterfall was artificially created, to drain the water, which was supposed to provide water to the members and visitors of the national parliament of Iceland Althing.

Only at this park you have the unique opportunity to swim between two tectonic plates in the Silfra fissure. This is the only place in the world, where you can practise diving and snorkelling directly between the two plates, which get further and further away by 2 cm yearly. It is considered that the water in Silfra is the clearest in the world and no wonder this is one of the top five places in the world for snorkelling.

Haukadalur

The Haukadalur valley is famous for its geysers. You can see the brightly colored ground and the blazing steam on the field. The valley is home to the two biggest geysers in Iceland – Strokkur and Geysir.

Haukadalur

Strokkur was the next stop of The Golden Circle which we visited. This is the most visited active geyser in Iceland. It is located in the Geysir geothermal area. It erupts every 6-10 minutes, reaching an altitude of 30 metres and is one of around 1000 active geysers around the world.

Strokkur

Close to Strokkur is located the sleeping Geysir – the first famous geyser where the word geyser originates from.

Gullfoss

Near the geysers is located another landmark that will take your breath away – the Gullfoss waterfall. Gullfoss Waterfall is one of the most emblematic in Iceland and Europe. Its name means “Golden Falls” in the local language. The water in Hvítá River is moved by the Langjökull Glacier and goes down in two phases with a total height of 32 metres. The first cascade is 11 metres and the second 21.

Kerið

The Kerið volcanic crater lake is located in Southern Iceland along The Golden Circle. Kerið is more than 3000 years old and that’s why its slopes are red, not volcanic black like the rest. The crater is approximately 55 metres deep and around 170 metres wide.
The entrance fee is 400 ISK, but we visited after 21:00 and did not pay anything.

This was everything we managed to see during the first day of our stay in Iceland. After the crater lake we headed to the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, where we stayed the night and had a wonderful view of the waterfall, which I will tell you about in the next chapter.