Iceland: Day 2 - Golden Circle
The Golden Circle is the #1 thing to do if you have only one or two days to spend in Iceland. The Golden Circle usually comprises of the following attractions:- Thingvellir (Þingvellir) - Site of the continental divide and world's first parliament
- Geysir/Strokkur - First geyser known to Europeans, hence the namesake.
- Gullfoss - Huge waterfall
- Hveragerdi (Hveragerð) - Geothermal park
- Kerid (Kerið) crater - Easily accessible volcanic crater
Hveragerdi
Hveragerdi is known for its hot springs and steam vents. We initially wanted to check out the heated river there. The thought of taking a dip in flowing, heated pristine river in the cool climate was very tempting. Unfortunately, getting there involves quite a bit of trekking uphill. So due to lack of time and fear of fatigue, we decided to skip that. It would have been uber cool though. Here's a blog that covers the geothermal river pretty well:https://alavigne.net/Outdoors/TripReports/2012/Iceland/?p=day_2&n=2
We checked out the many steam vents there instead. Hveragerdi has couple of trails that bring you up close to the steam vents. You can easily get a detailed map of the area from their visitor center, or download it to your tablet.
Official website: http://www.hveragerdi.is/English/
PDF Map of the area: http://www.hveragerdi.is/files/c07bbcbe64b493ba8b035b18672d112d.pdf
 |
| View of the steaming hills from the well marked trails at Hveragerdi |
 |
| A river runs through the park. The walking trails go over the river via foot bridges, making the stroll in the park very pleasant and therapeutic. |
 |
| Just reminding people that it's hot. |
Near to the entrance of the park, there is a supermarket called Bonus. You can find Bonus pretty much in most of the major towns in Iceland. It's kinda like Safeway in California. The logo of Bonus is a huge pink pig that looks stoned. You can't miss it. There, we stocked up on drinks and snacks. I bought myself some local candy, including some liquorice candy. That's when I found out I'm not a fan of liquorice.
 |
| At the Bonus supermarket store. The logo is very amusing. |
Kerid Crater
Honestly, I didn't find the crater all that interesting. But since it's located right along the Golden Circle route, it's definitely worth a stop. There is no visitor center for this site, but it has signboards containing lots of detailed information about the history and geology behind the formation of the crater. I guess folks that are into geology or volcanology would find it more interesting. The crater lake can be accessed by walking down a trail. We didn't spend much time on this stop. |
| This is a pretty perfect crater lake. The singer Bjork (known for wearing a swan to the Oscars) once held a concert here. |
Gullfoss
Our next stop was Gullfos. We had lunch at a cafe there, called Gullfoss Cafe:http://www.gullfoss.is/cafe/
The cafe is known for their lamb soup and was highly recommended by the Lonely Planet Iceland guide book. And oh boy it did not disappoint. The meat was soft and full of flavor. It even came with free refills! So yes folks, try it! My friend who is a vegetarian opted for the non-meat soup. What a shame. The same building also has a visitor center and a souvenir shop. Overall, it's a very well developed tourist spot.
 |
| Free refills! |
The trail to the waterfall is straight forward. Just follow the crowd! It leads to a lookout point where you can get reaaalllly up close and personal with the falls. Gullfoss is unique in that the upper and lower tiers of the falls are almost perpendicular to each other. You can clearly see the formation as you walk down the trail. Gullfoss is one huge, powerful waterfall. The sheer power of the falls definitely reminded me of Niagara Falls. Gullfoss thunders down into a crevice that is about a 100 foot deep. So you can't really see the base of the waterfall from afar.
 |
| Rainbow forms at Gullfoss. The trail leads to a lookout point. It can get crowded on a beautiful day like this. |
 |
| The lookout point brings you very close to the intermediate step of this 3-step waterfall. |
 |
| The crevice where Gullfoss thunders down into. |
 |
| The vehicle was excited about Gullfoss as well. |
Geysir/Strokkur
Fun fact: The word "Geyser" is derived from this natural wonder in Iceland. Geysir, according to Wikipedia, was the first geyser known to modern Europeans. Geysir and Strokkur are geysers located just 15 minutes west from Gullfoss. The geysers are situated very near to each other. When we were there, the area was crowded with tourists and tour buses. We only stopped by Strokkur, since Strokkur erupts more frequently than Geysir. We waited around 10 minutes for the eruption to occur. |
| Strokkur geyser |
 |
| It's hot |
I have never seen a geyser up close before, so this was an eye opening experience. It was fun joining in with the collective oohs and aahs. I hung around to see 2 full eruptions and a dud. The full eruption shot up to about 2 stories high.
 |
| Strokkur eruption. |
If you have time to spend at Strokkur, I would recommend allocating at least 30-45 minutes there. Sometimes, the eruption can turn out to be a dud, making just a minor splash instead of a jet shooting up to the sky. So hang around until you see a big one.
Geysir: http://www.geysircenter.com/
Thingvellir
Our last stop of the day before heading back to Reykjavik was Thingvellir. Thingvellir is national park that is steeped in both historical and geological significance. Historically, it was the site of the world's first parliament, in AD874. Let that sink in for a moment. AD874. That's almost a full millennium before the US was founded! Yeap, this place is oollllddddddd. In terms of geology, this is the spot where continents collide. This is the continental rift, where the European plate meets with the North American plate. The ridge cuts through the entire length of Iceland.Thingvellir: http://www.thingvellir.is/english.aspx
We walked along a trail that bring us to a visitor center located at the top of a rock outcrop.
 |
| The trail goes past crevices that are filled with water. There was hardly any wind at that time, which unfortunately is a rarity in Iceland. The area resembled a zen garden. The calm, still water was like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the rocks and the clear skies. |
 |
| You can also do scuba diving in certain sections of this crevice. |
 |
| I like how they included multiple currencies here. Unfortunately I still saw some coins in the river. |
After crossing the bridge, there is a small stream located next to a rift wall. The rift wall is the easternmost portion of the North American plate. The trail will eventually go uphill to a visitor center. Unfortunately when we arrived there, it was already late in the evening and the visitor center was already closed.
 |
| The river flows into Thingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland. |
 |
| Moss filled rocks, very common in Iceland. |
 |
| View of the continental rift from the visitor center. |
 |
| The visitor center. I like the minimalist design. So Scandinavian. Too bad it was closed. |
 |
| Looking towards Thingvallavatn from the visitor center. The area was bathed in gold from the setting sun. |
I regretted not allocating more time to explore Thingvellir. It would have been better if we had time to go on one of their guided walks or checking out the visitor center to learn more about the history and geology of the area. I could even imagine myself just taking a nice slow walk along the lake and soaking in the fall color scenery. The beauty of Thingvellir was beyond my expectations.
We headed back to Reykjavik after that and stopped by Le Bistro for dinner:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189970-d4783556-Reviews-Le_Bistro-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html
It's located along Laugavegur, a street that has lots of good restaurants, cafes, bakeries, souvenir shops and clothing boutiques. It's the place to be for shopping and dining. Although it is a French restaurant, they do serve Icelandic delicacies, and that was what we ordered.
 |
| Icelandic specialties sampler plate. |
Ordering food here is not a problem since Icelanders speak fluent English. The waitress was nice enough to go through and explain the items in the sampler plate.
 |
| The specialties came in small portions, but enough to bring out the flavor of each item. I enjoyed the smoked and cured items. Smoked meat in Iceland is very smokey, a whole new experience for me. |
 |
| Washing it down with Icelandic beer. Perfect way to end the night. I brought the beer bottle back with me as souvenir. |
It's easy to understand why the Golden Circle is top on the list of most Iceland tour itineraries. The three most popular attractions: Thingvellir, Gullfoss and Geysir/Strokkur are truly unique, amazing and should not be skipped.
0 comments