Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Travel Diary: Golden Circle One-Day Tour Classic Attractions and How-To Guide

Six Days Five Nights in Iceland - Guide to Iceland Local Group Tour

Today, on 3/21, we're doing the classic Golden Circle day tour that's a must in Iceland. Depending on the direction, you'll visit Þingvellir National Park, the Strokkur geyser, and Gullfoss (the Golden Waterfall) — either clockwise or counterclockwise. The name "Golden Circle" actually comes from the magnificent scenery at Gullfoss. Yesterday's tour guide was a burly bear in his 30s-40s (he said his Icelandic name translates to "bear" in English), and today's guide is an older bear. Our first stop was Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with two important features. First, from 930 to 1798 it was the site where Iceland's parliament convened, making it one of the earliest parliaments in the world. Second, it sits at the boundary between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, so here you can actually straddle both continental plates. After the guide explained the meeting point, we began our free time, starting with enjoying the view of the national park from the observation deck beside the visitor center.

Then, along the road toward the venue of the council meeting - the Legislative Stone, according to the map, we're only walking the short stretch from P1 Visitor Center to P2 Parking Lot

The place where this flag is located was where the council meeting was held at that time

From the platform at the parliament venue, you can see Pingvallakirkja Church, and there's also a hiking trail down to it, but due to time constraints we weren't able to go down and explore it.

Later, when I read travelogues from independent travelers, I found that this national park actually has many more attractions, such as: Langistigur Canyon, a rift formed by two tectonic plates pulling apart; Öxarárfoss Waterfall; and Silfra Fissure, a diving paradise with visibility of up to 100 meters. Seeing Þingvellir National Park as part of a group tour feels a bit boring. If I get my diving certification later, I'd love to come back here to experience diving between the two tectonic plates! Before reaching the second stop, there's a viewing platform called the Hrafnagjá Observation Deck, where you can see Iceland's largest lake, Þingvallavatn. On the other side, the towering mountain is the one used as the Wall from Game of Thrones, and as far as the eye can see, there are rows of rock formations covered in moss.

The second stop was Strokkur Geyser, and even before reaching the fountain, the sight was already breathtaking — wisps of white steam rising here and there, hot spring water forming a flowing little stream, paired with the snow-capped peaks in the distance. So beautiful!

Walking further inside, a crowd had already gathered around the fountain, with a sign on the ground marking it as STROKKUR. While waiting, I checked some information and learned that the fountain erupts on average every 5-8 minutes. Suddenly, the fountain in front of me erupted, but this time the viewing spot wasn't great, as it was blocked by billowing white steam.

There's a viewing spot at the 9 o'clock direction of the fountain that's closest to it, so you can observe it up close. The pale blue water gave off wisps of white mist, and every now and then there was a ripple that made you feel it was about to erupt. Suddenly a huge bubble rose up, poised and ready, and then it erupted amid everyone's gasps of amazement, before dissipating into thin air, leaving us marveling at the wonders of nature. Ahead of us is the Geysir, the first geyser discovered in Europe. Its maximum eruption height reaches 70 meters, making it the second highest-ranking geyser in the world. However, it hasn't erupted since 2003, so nowadays visitors can only enjoy the Strokkur geyser (ranked fourth in the world).

Walking to the end of the boardwalk, I looked back at the entire fountain area.

The third stop is Gullfoss (Golden Waterfall). This waterfall has two drops — the first is 11 meters and the second is 21 meters — with a canyon over 70 meters deep running along both sides. The view from the parking area at the start is fairly parallel to the waterfall.

Also, you can climb a short trail up to the upper viewing platform, where you can enjoy an even better view of this magnificent waterfall from above.

After the second drop of 21 meters, it flows into the Gullfossgljúfur canyon. Gullfoss Waterfall was once eyed by investors who wanted to build a new hydroelectric power plant there. Thanks to the persistent resistance of Tómas and his daughter Sigríður, the investors eventually gave up on the project, allowing this beautiful waterfall to be preserved. Sigríður is hailed as Iceland's first environmentalist, and the lawyer who helped her at the time, Sveinn Björnsson, went on to become Iceland's first president after it gained independence. After this stop, old bear took us to see the Icelandic horses. We had originally thought we could decide on the spot to pay extra for a ride, but it turned out that had to be arranged in advance, so all we could do was pet these adorable short-legged cuties.

I thought the itinerary was over, but Old Bear said he wanted to add a bonus stop for us — he took us to see a volcanic lake (this trip is normally only arranged for the Golden Circle route after April; our Hong Kong companions were instead taken to a ranch to eat ice cream). We were so lucky! The whole volcanic lake looked like a vividly colored palette — the lake water in the middle was layered with different shades because of the moss, while the red volcanic rocks around the crater were dotted with touches of green and yellow. All I could do was keep marveling in my heart.

Walk down the trail into the crater, and there's even a chair placed by the lake, letting you sit and enjoy this beautiful scenery.

So beautiful, so beautiful, it makes you reluctant to leave

The Golden Circle day tour ended the earliest of all our trips these past few days — we were back in the city before 5pm. This day was actually also what we had discussed earlier as the best time to reschedule if the Northern Lights bus tour got postponed, but... due to weather conditions, we received notice again today that the Northern Lights bus needed to be postponed. We could only push it to after Saturday night's two-day southern trip, which would also be our last chance... This is the earliest free day we've had in downtown Reykjavik, so we took the chance to wander around while many shops were still open. The Bonus supermarket, with its eye-catching pink piglet logo, is widely known as the cheapest supermarket in Iceland. Here I bought breakfast and lunch for tomorrow and the day after, while my travel companion bought some cookies as souvenirs to bring back home.

Then I suggested going to Íslenski barinn near the supermarket — it's a traditional Icelandic ice cream shop, where basically you pick a base ice cream flavor and then top it with all sorts of toppings. My choice was milk ice cream topped with toffee chocolate and LAKKRIS chocolate.

LAKKRIS is actually licorice. In many places in Europe there are foods made with licorice, but Icelanders are especially fond of it, so you often come across it in Icelandic desserts. Thoughts: Worth trying once, but don't buy too many as a gift — usually after eating one, there's no wanting a second one… With heavy snow falling outside, eating ice cream in this kind of setting has its own special charm~

After finishing the shaved ice, I went back to the hotel to drop off the things I'd just bought at the supermarket, then headed out again — and it wasn't until I passed the church that I remembered! I'd forgotten to go up to the top of the church first to get a bird's-eye view of the city (you have to go up the church tower before 5pm) The church and the rainbow boulevard in front of it (daytime version)

While walking around and window-shopping, we passed by a hot dog stand my travel companion had really wanted to try, so let's give it a shot!

I watched the shop girl's nimble hands, and in less than a minute she had one ready. The hot dog was nice and crispy — not exactly a food with tons of character, but really tasty! Tonight was originally supposed to end just like that, but seeing how high the potential Kp index was on the aurora app, we made a bold decision! Let me explain the Kp index here first — the Kp index is a number used to measure geomagnetic activity worldwide. There's first a "potential Kp index," and this value represents how active the aurora is. We were actually really lucky — during the week we went, it was almost always above 2. Next comes the actual Kp index, which takes cloud cover into consideration. Iceland is actually not an easy place to see the northern lights because of unstable weather conditions. The aurora index over the past two days was not low, but we couldn't see the lights due to thick cloud cover. Since the potential Kp index that night was 3, after checking online information, I decided to head to the best spot in Reykjavik city to view the northern lights - the lighthouse area. We took the bus to the lighthouse area, and when we got off, we noticed two girls with Asian faces who got off at the same stop as us. After getting to know each other, it turned out they were Chinese students studying in the UK, and just like us, they were hoping to see the Northern Lights! The low temperature after nightfall, combined with the strong wind by the sea, made it very difficult for us to move forward. When we finally got near the lighthouse, we found that many cars were already parked there waiting, but since we had come on foot, we could only pathetically find a spot to shelter from the wind.

By 10 o'clock the northern lights still hadn't shown up, but the wind and snow suddenly picked up a lot. Besides giving up on the aurora, our original plan of taking the bus back also fell through because the weather was just too terrible — we gave up on walking back to the bus stop and took a taxi directly instead. Although we didn't get to see the northern lights, experiencing both Iceland's buses and taxis in a single day was actually a fun experience in its own way. We then pinned our hopes for the aurora on tomorrow's two-day trip to the south. Explore more of this magical six-day, five-night journey through Iceland! 👉 【Iceland 6-Day Highlights Self-Guided Travel Guide】Itinerary Planning × Local Group Tour Experience × Cost Estimates Get to know the whole itinerary and plan your dream trip to Iceland! 👉 Iceland Six Days Five Nights Travelogue: The Start of the Journey and a Bumpy First Day Arriving in Iceland, strolling through Reykjavik 👉 Iceland Six Days Five Nights Travelogue: A One-Day Guide to Snæfellsnes Peninsula and Hidden Gem Exploration Explore Iceland's captivating peninsula and capture its magnificent natural scenery. 👉 Iceland Six Days Five Nights Travelogue: A Classic One-Day Golden Circle Guide with Must-See Spots Feel the breathtaking charm of Iceland's classic sights and gain memories that will last a lifetime. 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: Exploring the Magnificent Black Sand Beach and Waterfalls of VIK in the South (Part 1) Step into the mysterious world of VIK and feel the natural beauty of the south. 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: The Blue Ice Cave Wonder and Southern Adventure Under the Northern Lights (Part 2) Experience the blue ice cave adventure firsthand and capture the dazzling spectacle of the northern lights. 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: Helicopter Volcano Sightseeing Experience, Overlooking the Magnificent Lava Land Fly over Iceland's volcanic landscape and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.