A trip around Iceland on the ring road – Part 6
The last leg of our roundtrip of Iceland was the Golden Circle. This is an accumulation of popular sights nearby Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, consisting of Gulfoss waterfall, the Geysir geothermal area and the Þingvellir National Park. Lots of tour providers offer excursions to the Golden Circle; I actually did one myself a few years ago with my friend Dominika in winter. Together with the city of Reykjavik and the Blue Lagoon located close to the airport, the Golden Circle is the busiest when it comes to visitors in Iceland.
Gulfoss
Our drive to the our first destination, the waterfalls of Gullfoss, we were lucky to have an abundance of sunshine. This made the striking scenery of lush green mountains and meadows flocked with the purple nootka, or Alaskan lupine flowers, which are present seemingly everywhere in Iceland, even more beautiful. Gullfoss literally translated means “Golden Falls”. The water plummets down 32 meters in two stages into a rugged canyon with walls reaching up to 70 meters in height. On a sunny day, a shimmering rainbow can be seen over the falls. By the time we got to the falls, the weather had taken a turn again so there wasn’t a rainbow but it still is a beautiful sight.
Geysir geothermal area
The area is named after the great Geysir – the largest of the geysers in the region – which has actually been dormant for years. The oldest account of Geysir in Haukadalur Valley dates back to 1294 when earthquakes caused changes in the geothermal area and created several new hot springs. Researches in the 19th century showed that the geyser could reach the height of 170 meters. It was revived briefly after an earthquake in 2000 and erupted a couple of times a day, before returning to being mostly dormant again. Although the geyser is less active these days, it did lend its name to hot springs all over the world. It was the first geyser described in a printed source and the first known to modern Europeans.
The most active geyser in the area is Strokkur, which sprouts hot water as high as 30 metres into the air every few minutes. Around a dozen more hot water blow holes and mud baths bubble away on the stretch and can easily be reached by a walking path that connects all of them.
Þingvellir National Park
Þingvellir is located about 40 km northeast of Reykjavík. It is a site of historical and geological significance, the former because it’s associated with the Althing, the national parliament of Iceland, which was established at the site in 930 AD. Sessions were held at the location until 1798. It’s geological importance stems from the fact that the park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The continental drift between the two tectonic plates can be clearly seen, particularly in the cracks which traverse the region. The largest one, Almannagjá, forms a massive canyon.
The Golden Circle was definitely worth a visit, although we enjoyed less busy areas such Southern Iceland and the Snæfellsnes peninsula more. Just in time before we had to return the car to Procar in Reykjavik, we arrived in the capital of Iceland, happy and buzzing from our amazing trip.
Total driving distance and time from Borgarnes to Reykjavik via the Golden Circle approximately 400 km / 5.5 h
