The Golden Circle

27.10.19

We were off to an early start to pick up our partners in crime, Katie and Chris, who had flown into Reykjavik late last night. We weren’t anticipating a -11° morning, and the ice on the windscreen was hard to shift. As soon as we poured water on it to clear the ice, it instantly froze again. It was like watching a Laurel and Hardy comic act! Pour the water on, take the water container back in the cabin. Come back out. Water had frozen. Go in the cabin to get more water……. It took us 20 minutes to actually clear the windscreen enough to be able to drive. But the morning light indicated it was probably going to be a sensational day!

The Golden Circle is the tourist trail for those doing the ‘Iceland in 3 days’ trip. It covers 3 major sites, and boy, was today busy! After seeing very few tourists for the past 5 days, it seemed they were all doing the Golden Circle today! The weather was magnificent!

Our first stop was Thingvellir National Park, Iceland’s most important historical site, where the Vikings established the world’s first democratic parliament in AD 930. The site has a superb natural setting, in an immense fissured rift valley, caused by the meeting of the North American and European tectonic plates. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.

For GOT fans, Thingvellir was the stomping ground of the White Walkers and also the trail of the Wildlings, north of the wall.

You can take an easy walk up one side of the river to the Oxararfoss waterfall.

Walking back down the other side of the rift brings you to Thingvallakirka, site of the original 11th century church, with the current church built in 1859. What a cutie!

It was time to move on to Geysir, the original hot water spout after which all other geysers are named. Geysir has been pretty quiet for the past 100 years, so luckily, right next door is Strokkur, who ‘goes off’ every 5 minutes or so.

I’m not sure which was more fun…waiting for Strokkur to blow or watching the people watching Strokkur, mobiles and cameras poised at the ready!

Our last stop for the day was Gullfoss, Iceland’s most famous waterfall. It is a spectacular double cascade, dropping 32m and thundering down a narrow ravine. It was partially frozen and truly magnificent.