Trip Report: Golden Circle (Iceland)

One of the most popular tourist activities in Iceland is to drive or take a tour bus along the "Golden Circle". Located about an hour east of Reyjkavik, it's an area that bridges the rift valley that cuts through Iceland and is thus full of geothermal activities.

This giant lake takes up a large part of Þingvellir National Park which is located along the circle.

Snowcapped mountains abound through this area.

Including this trio. Supposedly to trick potential settlers, Vikings named the very-green Iceland for ice while the very icy Greenland was named for green. The opposites of course were true.

The Golden Circle does not actually go into any snow at this time of the year. With sunset around midnight and sunrise around 3AM, it does not get very dark in Iceland in mid-summer.

At the eastern extreme end of the Golden Circle, a geysir field.

Along with bubbling mudpots. If you've ever been to Yellowstone, this is similar.

The geysir named Geysir, from which the word comes, no longer erupts with any consistency following some earthquakes. The nearby Strokkur geysir erupts every 5-10 minutes.

It's cool to watch but not as impressive as Old Faithful.

Also nearby is the Gullfoss waterfall where the Hvítá River brings water from a glacial lake in the Icelandic highlands and plunges into this deep gorge in the rift valley.

The roar is impressive and it's possible to follow the stairs and pathway even closer.

It was cold, rainy and windy during my visit so I passed on that!

Continuing the circular route back towards Reykjavik, the Kerið Crater is believed to be the magma chamber of a former volcano that collapsed into itself once it became depleted. Unlike the previous volcanic features seen so far which had black and grey volcanic rock, this area has red volcanic rock.

Stairs and a pathway led to the base here too.

Finally, the Reykjadular Thermal River cut through this range of hills.

Never could find the actual river which flows with hot water in it but did see these numerous hot spots leaking sulfur dioxide out of pores in the mountain. Iceland is so impressive!