[Iceland] Golden Circle: Þingvellir National Park, Geysir Hot Spring Area & Gullfoss

You can view the full day-by-day route and accommodation on Wanderlog here 🙂

Other Iceland posts:

• Iceland | South Coast Part 1: Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss & Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
• Iceland | Golden Circle: Þingvellir National Park, Geysir Hot Spring Area & Gullfoss
• Iceland | Reykjavík City: Parking, Hallgrímskirkja, Rainbow Street, Best Hot Dogs & Harpa
• Iceland | Pre-Trip Planning Guide: Itinerary, Transport, Weather, Aurora Hunting & Accommodation

The Golden Circle

The Golden Circle is Iceland’s most famous and accessible cluster of attractions — close enough to Reykjavík to do as a day trip, with no self-driving required if you book a tour. Almost everyone who visits Iceland passes through here.

The main highlights:

• Þingvellir National Park: Iceland’s most important UNESCO World Heritage Site, the location of the world’s first parliament (Alþingi), home to Öxarárfoss waterfall and the Law Rock — and a remarkable geological setting where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet
• Geysir Hot Spring Area: The geyser field, with Strokkur erupting roughly every 5–10 minutes
• Gullfoss: “Golden Falls” — one of Iceland’s most spectacular waterfalls, named for the golden glow of its spray in sunlight

There are other attractions in the area too, like Brúarfoss (Blue Pool Falls) and the Kerið volcanic crater lake — we had to skip these because the day brought a Yellow Alert weather warning. We were grateful to get through all three main stops. If your weather is better, I’d recommend tacking on a couple more.

Þingvellir National Park

• Parking: ISK 1,000 (one payment covers multiple car parks in the area)
• Toilets: Free

Our first stop. Þingvellir’s most distinctive feature is its basalt landscape — and what makes it geologically unique is that it sits on the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are currently drifting apart at about 2.5 cm per year. The result is a dramatic series of fissures and gorges you can walk through at surface level.

After parking, we headed up to Öxarárfoss first. It’s a small waterfall by Icelandic standards, but it was our first of the trip and it’s within a national park — worth a walk.

Following the path toward the Law Rock, you’ll pass Drekkingarhylur (“Drowning Pool”) on the right. A sign explains this was the site where women convicted of adultery were executed during Iceland’s medieval period.

Further ahead is the location where Alþingi, the world’s oldest parliament, was founded in 930 AD — one of the earliest examples of representative democracy anywhere on earth.

In good weather the views here are genuinely stunning. The day we visited, the wind was comparable to a typhoon, so we saw the area at speed — we never even figured out which rock was Lögberg (the Law Rock) before rushing back to the car 😅

Geysir Hot Spring Area

• Parking: ISK 1,000 (via Parka: ISK 1,086, so the machine is slightly cheaper here)
• Toilets: Free, at the visitor center

Iceland’s weather will surprise you even within a single day. We arrived at Geysir in a storm and left in brief sunshine — unexpectedly moving.

The geothermal area here is the most tourist-accessible in Iceland, and the visitor center is enormous. The food is apparently good too — if you’re doing the Golden Circle and need lunch, this would be a solid stop.

The geyser field is directly across from the visitor center, on flat easy-to-walk ground. There are two notable geysers:

• Geysir: The original — the Icelandic word geysir literally means “to gush,” and all geysers worldwide are named after this one. At its peak it erupted 60–70 meters high. A sign on the day we visited explained it’s currently dormant, so what you’ll see is just a calm surface. It’s also farther from the path — no need to make a detour if you’re not curious.
• Strokkur: What everyone actually watches. It erupts every 5–10 minutes, shooting water 15–40 meters high. Not as tall as Geysir at its best, but reliably dramatic enough to make the whole crowd gasp. Before it erupts, a large clear blue bubble forms in the center of the pool — if you can spot it forming, you’ll know exactly when to hit the shutter 😀

Gullfoss

• Parking: Free (I believe)
• Toilets: Free, inside the visitor center

Gullfoss is a short drive from Geysir. The walk from the car park to the waterfall doesn’t take long, though we didn’t linger given the weather. There are multiple viewing platforms — we found a spot with a full view and stopped there. Going a bit further would get you closer to the falls.

Accommodation: Hotel Vatnsholt

• Name: Hotel Vatnsholt
• Space: “Three-bedroom suite” — three rooms: one double bed and two rooms with two single beds each.
• Facilities:
  • One bathroom, small toiletry set provided
  • Kitchen: stovetop, oven, fridge, etc.
  • One living room
  • Paid laundry and drying service available
  • Reception area: pool table, aurora alert service, free coffee all day

This is a farm property near Selfoss — we stocked up in Selfoss before driving over. It was one of the few places where you actually need to check in at reception, which had a good amount of amenities. The paid laundry service was reasonably priced and very convenient. The coffee machine ran all day with takeaway cups available — nice touch.

They offered an aurora alert service, but given our day’s weather, the staff smiled apologetically and said they’d register us but chances were low.

The three-bedroom unit is a standalone building with some attached dormitory rooms on one side — not very noisy though. Each bedroom has its own key. The rooms look bigger and newer in the photos than in person, but five people fit comfortably, and the living room is generous. One note: the single beds run small — even for standard East Asian builds, rolling over felt precarious 😄 Not unique to this hotel though; we encountered this at several places.

Bonus: Icelandic horses visible right outside the door. Great for animal lovers 😀

Wrap-Up

Our Golden Circle day was significantly hampered by the storm — but the Golden Circle is also the most accessible part of Iceland, easy to reach from Reykjavík, and realistically revisitable if we ever come back. No real regrets 🙂

Thanks for reading :D

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