‘The best of Iceland in one day’ is
definitely one of the most popular slogans you’ll hear about this well-known
circle accessible just outside of Reykjavik. My guess is that the popularity of
this overly touristic route is indeed based on its convenient location
more than what it actually has to offer, and our brilliant idea to save the
best for last didn’t quite convince us. But what do I mean exactly? To start with, there are three
major stops on this loop that include Thingvellir national park, Gullfoss
waterfall and Haukadalur
geothermal area that’s home for the famous geysers Geysir and Strokkur. Individually
speaking each of these is pretty significant and even mind-blowing, it’s more
the bigger picture that’s less appealing.
The
sense of serenity and raw nature is wiped out by countless tourist busses and
souvenir stalls that are built next to the parking grounds, and the ongoing
stream of people replaces the distinctive feel of Icelandic solitude. Safe to say, that
couldn’t be further away from the real deal of this country. Aside from that,
we ended up seeing some very cool things during this circuit and I'm still glad we went for it. Here are the highlights of the Golden Circle in pictures:
Thingvellir national park
Haukadalur
Gullfoss
To seal the day in a very special way, we
still had something else up our sleeve…a hidden hot spring! We had
looked up the coordinates back at home and ended up driving to a middle of
nowhere to find this spot, but the joy once we lounged in that hot
water…indescribable! Honestly, there couldn’t have been any better way to end
our day (or the entire trip for that matter) than that!
But every hour spent in that water
brought us closer to our departure, and we had to start heading back to
Keflavik and our guesthouse. The drive was gorgeous through green hills that
later turned into deserted lava field as we approached the ocean side. We got
to watch our last sunset as we arrived to Keflavik, and along with the day, our
incredible time in Iceland had come to an end. About six hours later we were already
on the plane back home…
TIPS & LINKS
Did you know that...
- The entire route is about 300km from Reykjavik
and back.
- Thingvellir National Park is listed as UNESCO
world heritage site and it has a strong cultural and geological relevance- it’s
the point where the Eurasian plate and North American plates intersect.
- Gullfoss (The Golden Waterfall) is Iceland’s
most famous waterfall and has two separate falls: first one has three steps
staircase and the second one right after falls into a narrow gorge.
- Strokkur erupts every 4-8 minutes whereas the
Great Geysir is currently inactive.
- Haukadalur is home to many (less known &
smaller) geysers and hot pools
- For all southern Iceland
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