January 28, 2025

Golden Circle Road Trip

Iceland Road trip, part 1 – The Golden Circle 

For those that have not had the opportunity to read our recent information regarding the collection of your car hire at Keflavik, check out our information on How to collect car rental at Keflavik Airport, for those that have, you are no doubt curled up on a sofa in your hotel reception, and we hope you enjoy reading on.

We are going to cover one of the most popular road trips which can easily be covered in a day, depending on the time of year, will be dependent on the hours of daylight you will get. You may be surprised at the sunrise and sunset times in the winter and summer months. Whether embarking on this trip in darkness or daylight you won’t find it of any great hardship.

The Golden Circle is probably the most popular tour in the whole of Iceland, taking in 3 of the most iconic sites. Thers is an abundance of information out there, giving as much detail as one would like. Therefore, we will stick to the practicalities as we move on. What we can say is that you will be equally awe struck by the natural beauty of the tectonic plates drift, the Haukadalur geothermal area and the mighty Gullfoss waterfall. Take note, these are in given in a clockwise order of arrival, it is your choice in which direction you choose to approach the 155-mile journey.

Thingvellir National Park

Our recent trip saw us take the clockwise route, as it was December this meant setting off at 8am in the house of darkness, which would remain the case for the next couple of hours. The drive into Thingvellir National Park is one of beauty and it is no wonder that it is included in on the UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is a certain otherworldly feel to the landscape. Notwithstanding this, the roads are very well maintained, and we are sure like us you will find the drive pleasant. All cars rented through Indigo Car Hire will come with studded winter tyres fitted as standard, which will provide an added sense of reassurance.

There are several rest areas on the way, where you can pull over and admire the views. As a little pointer to people, if you were to continue driving past the main car park for a couple of miles, you will come across a small gift shop cum cafe which is very reasonably priced (for Iceland anyway), the perfect spot for a hot chocolate and pastry. After you have been suitably ‘warmed up’, it is now time to head a couple of miles back to the main parking area.

When parking, be sure to pay heed to the conditions, as soon as you enter the car park your vehicle registration number is recorded via CCTV. Parking charges can be paid via a website and at the time of writing the daily charge stands at 1000 ISK, just over £5/5.5 EUR. We would strongly encourage you to ensure this charge is paid, if a penalty comes through it can be expensive, particularly if it is a hire car, as you will face an additional PCN admin fee. Once you have had time to experience the magic of crossing the tectonic plates, admiring the impressive Oxarafoss, walking over the river that is fed by the above through to the Thingvellir church, it is time to move on. There is no doubt you will always remember you have just witnessed something special.

Geothermal Pools Haukadalur Valley

You will now travel East heading towards the geothermal pools, the views on the route will continue to amaze. A mixture of rolling hills and sweeping vistas. Many of the fields are occupied by Icelandic horses, which one would assume are there mainly for the pleasure of visitors, certainly many of the farms along the way advertise trekking with horses. Soon enough you will come to the great Geysir and geothermal pools. You will find a large car park on your right hand side, unfortunately we are no longer in the Thingvellier park therefore your previous parking charge does not carry over, a 1000 SIK charge applies again, which to be fair in the scheme of things is insignificant, again there is an abundance of pay stations and QR codes markers, so you can easily pay the fee.

You will find a restaurant serving an array of food and drinks, based on the time of year for this visit ‘Turnip Soup’ was a ‘hot’ favourite. Across the road you will find the entrance to the field of pools, this been one of the very few places on the planet where you can get to see up close an active geyser, trust us this is not something you would want to miss. There is a much more we could about the field and surrounding area, like the hike up to the submit of the hill overlooking the steam and sulphur producing geothermal pools, you could argue the eruption looks even more impressive from this vantage point, but we will leave you to explore this yourself.

Gullfoss Falls

The final stop of our Golden Circle tour takes in the might Gullfoss falls (the Viking word ‘foss’ means force when translated) the falls are located just 6 miles from the Geyser, allowing little time for the anticipation to build. On the right-hand side of the road you will find a large car park, you may well breath a sigh of relief when hearing that this car park is currently free of charge. We figure this have something to do with the patron saint of the falls Sigridur, we think that this is the best words to describe her, and her motto of ‘no one should own this natural wonder’. More can be learnt about the figure that is Sigridur Tomasdottir through a plaque next to the waterfall, which provides a fitting tribute.

You descend a path with a fork in it once you have walked 200 metres, the right-hand side will take you down the steps where you can get up close and personal with this awesome force of nature. If you travel a little further down the path you can gain a glimpse of the bottom of the gorge with the fast-flowing water racing down, that which recently stood atop the falls. Awesome, spectacular, amazing, amongst others would all be fitting descriptions. By taking the left fork, you will be led down a path running to the top of the falls, from this vantage point the view is more of a panoramic one, and one would argue even more encompassing than the lower lying one. Be sure not to miss the might of Gullfoss from both angles.

It is now time to head back, if you are visiting in the winter months and you have given yourself ample time to explore the 3 icons, darkness is fast approaching. Fear not, the road back to Selfoss is well maintained and as darkness sets in the imposing shadows make for some spectacular encapsulating scenery. One may ask why Selfoss, we now turn to what we suggest is our little golden nugget to truly complete your Golden Circle adventure.

 

Selfoss

This is a town situated near to the south coast of Iceland just under an hour away from Reykjavik and is a stopping point on your return journey. The town is home to approx. 10,000 people, one would assume at any one given time this population swells to a far larger number based on the tourist population, the town is home to a couple of large hotels and multiple smaller guesthouses. We would encourage taking a brief pit stop here. The ‘New old town’ is part way through a major development, as of December 2024 60% or so of the works have been completed. The new old town is just that, buildings of new construction with the character of old, very charming indeed, you will find some fine eateries along with cosy bolt holes to enjoy a refreshment of your choice, the ambiance is off the scale. Depending on how long you lose yourself for we would recommend a brief walk along the riverbank looping around the impressive Selfoss church. Once back on the road and leaving Selfoss you will do so by crossing the river Olfusa on a pretty bridge, which is tastefully illuminated in the hours of darkness.

Soon enough you will have come full circle and again will be curled up somewhere warm and cost, remember we bring you this piece from a bitter Icelandic winters point of view. We are hopeful that this information whets your appetite of some of the awe-inspiring sites from the land of ice and fire. We are also hopefully you will consider using Indigo Car Hire for your Car Hire requirements in Iceland, we offer pickup from both international airports and most of the domestic ones. Below is a brief recap of just some of the niche car hire services we offer. As a brief introduction Indigo Car Hire is a well established and trusted Car Hire broker, having been at the forefront of bringing a stress-free car rental experience for the past 15 years, check out our car hire reviews.

 

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