Iceland – Reykjavik and Golden Circle

Our extended family loves to travel. We sought an interesting destination to celebrate a graduation and two birthdays, and settled on Iceland. So eleven of us met up in Reykjavik for a busy week of touring this beautiful country. Iceland’s northernmost point just grazes the Arctic Circle, but even at Reykjavik (on the southwest coast) and on our dates (three weeks after solstics) the days were still very long: sunrise at 0342 and sunset at 2325; it was never dark! Although Iceland is a small island, a one-week visit is really only enough to scratch the surface – we focused on the area around the capital of Reykjavik (and the crowded “Golden Circle” of nearby sights) and the remote Westfjords peninsula. This post focuses on the Reykjavik area; see the combined gallery or the location-specific galleries below. Read on!

Reykjavik

We rented a Vrbo house in downtown Reykjavik, a block from the main tourist street and two blocks from the massive church that serves as the central landmark. On our first day we joined a tour by Lalli (whom I heartily recommend; co-founder of Funky Iceland Tours). Although it was billed as a Reykjavik walking tour, it was in many ways a historical tour of Iceland – the island and the country – which has a fascinating history and geography.

Although the city has many interesting characteristics, most of our trip was focused on sights further afield. That said, the city has several outstanding restaurants and we had the opportunity to sample two of the best – Brut and Monkey’s – for some fabulous meals. Highly recommended!

For more photos, see the gallery.

Þingvellir

Þingvellir (pronounced Thing-velleer) is a national park sitting right on the mid-Atlantic rift, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are emerging and slowly separating. (Iceland exists because lava flows up through this rift, slowly building the island and still spreading the island by several centimeters a year. This is why the country is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions!) We walked down along the cliff marking the edge of the North American plate, and marveled at the Öxarárfoss waterfall spilling off the cliffs into the valley. In addition to its natural beauty, this location is critically important to Icelandic cultural heritage: it was on this site, in AD 930, that the scattered early Viking settlements met to form the Althing, one of the world’s oldest surviving parliaments. Given its symbolic importance, this site was chosen to host the 1944 signing ceremony marking Iceland’s independence from Denmark. For more photos, see the gallery.

Snorkeling at Silfra

At the bottom of the Þingvellir valley, the stream flows through the chasm of the mid-Atlantic rift itself. The water is cold and clear, having been filtered for decades as it flows slowly through porous volcanic terrain further uphill. We arrived at 9am for a pre-arranged snorkeling trip, where our guide @dorisviking helped us dress in dry suits, masks, snorkels, and flippers. We were soon snorkeling through the frigid (3ºC) water, quite comfortably. There was little or no animal life, but the algae was prolific and beautiful in its own way. The clear water allowed crisp views deep into the chasm below. Fun! For more photos, see the gallery.

Geysir and Strokkur

Further down the road we stopped at a busy site where there are several geysers. (Indeed, the massive Geysir is the origin of the word ‘geyser’; it erupts irregularly, every few years). The neighboring geyser known as Strokkur delights visitors with a massive eruption every three to five minutes. “…it is one of a very few natural geysers to erupt frequently and reliably. … Its usual height is 15–20 metres (49–66 ft), although it can sometimes erupt up to 40 metres (130 ft) high.” [Wikipedia] For more photos, see the gallery (and video!).

Gullfoss falls

It’s hard to imagine driving around the Golden Circle without a stop at the massive Gullfoss waterfall. Gullfoss (literally, ‘gold waterfall’) is an incredible sight, 32m tall and 175m wide, with two major falls intersecting as they fall into a deep ravine. I was glad to have packed rainpants and raincoat, which allowed me to spend time near the thundering waterfall, covered in spray, photographing the falls and surrounding wildflowers! For more photos, see the gallery.

Reykjadalur hot springs

While looping back from the above sites we had time for another stop… and decided to find some wilderness hot springs. Little did we know it would be a 4km hike up a steep slope and into a remote valley! It was a beautiful day, however, so we wound our way through open terrain with ever-expanding views, passing small hot-pots of bubbling mud and following a beautiful stream through meadows and scree fields. Eventually we arrived at a place where a hot stream met a cold stream, with boardwalks on either side. A hundred people were congregated there, laying in the shallow stream, enjoying the bathtub-like warm water, sunshine, and blue skies. This turned out to be our only significant hike of the trip, and was worth it. For more photos, see the gallery.

Blue Lagoon

Early on our last morning in Reykjavik, under gray skies threatening drizzle, we drove an hour over to the Blue Lagoon, a now-famous spa in which hot mineral water is pumped up from far underground and into a broad pool set among an ancient lava landscape. We enjoyed a couple hours of warm bathing, juice drinks, and skin-cleansing facial ‘masks’. For me, one of the most interesting aspects was the approach – at one point, the road ended in a massive lava flow, less than two months old, and was diverted onto a recent, temporary gravel path that wound around the flow to the site of the Blue Lagoon. The spa had been spared, most likely because the authorities had earlier built massive dikes (from old lava rocks) that help steer new flows around this and other critical infrastructures. [CNN news covered the eruption in late May 2024] For more photos, see the gallery.

One more photo below, from a forest near a tomato farm outside Reykjavik. For all the photos from this blog post, see the combined gallery.

Next: on to the Westfjords!