Iceland 6-Day, 5-Night Travel Diary: A Guide to the Classic Sights and Ways to Explore the Golden Circle Day Tour

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

Today's (3/21) itinerary is the must-do Golden Circle day tour in Iceland, usually visiting Þingvellir National Park, Strokkur geyser, and Gullfoss (Golden Falls) in either forward or reverse order. It's called the "Golden Circle" because of 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), while 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 of the Icelandic parliament, making it one of the oldest parliaments in the world. Second, it lies at the boundary between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, where you can actually stand across both continental plates. After the guide explained the meeting point, we began our free time. We started by admiring the national park from the observation deck next to the visitor center.

Then continue along the road to the council venue - the law 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 stands is exactly where the assembly was held at that time.

From this platform where the assembly is held, you can see Þingvallakirkja church, and there's also a hiking trail leading down, but we didn't have time to go down and take a look around.

後來我看自由行的遊記，其實這國家公園還有很多景點例如:Langistigur峽谷，由兩大板塊向外拉扯產生的斷崖；Oxarar瀑布；Silfra裂縫，能見度一百公尺的潛水天堂。 以跟團的角度看辛格韋德利國家公園會覺得比較無聊，如果之後我拿到潛水證照會想來這邊體驗在兩大板塊中間潛水的感覺! 在到第二站前，有處觀景台Hrafnagjá Observation Deck，這邊可以看到冰島最大的湖pingvallavatn，另外一側高聳的山則是權力遊戲那座北牆，望眼過去是一排排長滿青苔的岩層。

The second stop, Strokkur Geyser, was breathtaking even before we reached the fountain—wisps of white steam rising everywhere, hot spring water flowing into little streams, paired with the white-capped peaks in the distance. So beautiful!

Walking further inside, a crowd had already gathered around the fountain, with a sign on the ground marked STROKKUR. While waiting, I looked it up and found 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 bursts of white steam blocked the view.

There's a viewing spot at the 9 o'clock direction of the fountain that's closest to it, letting you observe it up close — the pale blue water gives off wisps of white mist, and every now and then it ripples as if it's about to erupt. Suddenly, a huge bubble rises up, poised and ready, and then it erupts amid gasps of amazement from the crowd, before the mist scatters and vanishes, leaving you marveling at the wonders of nature. My travel companion said they wanted to watch it once more — of course, why not. The second eruption came about 8 minutes later, and this time it had built up so much energy that it erupted twice in a row. Fully satisfied, we continued on our way. Ahead of us is the Geysir hot spring, the first geyser discovered in Europe, with a maximum eruption height of 70 meters, making it the world's second-ranked geyser. However, it hasn't erupted since 2003, so nowadays visitors can only enjoy Strokkur (the world's fourth-ranked geyser).

Walking to the end of the trail, looking back at the entire fountain area

The third stop is Gufosi Waterfall (Golden Waterfall), which has two drops — the first is 11 meters, the second is 21 meters — with a canyon of over 70 meters running along both sides.

Additionally, you can also climb a short stretch up to the upper observation deck, where you can admire this magnificent waterfall even better from a higher vantage point

After dropping 21 meters in its second stage, it flows into the Gullfossgljúfur canyon. Gullfoss Waterfall was once eyed by investors who wanted to build a new hydroelectric power station 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 honored 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 ended, old bear took us to see Icelandic horses. We had originally thought we could decide on the spot to pay extra for a ride, but later found out that it all had to be arranged in advance, so we could only pat these short-legged cuties.

I thought the trip was already over, but old Bear said he wanted to give us a bonus outing — he took us to see a volcanic lake (normally this itinerary is only arranged for the Golden Circle after April, and our Hong Kong companions were instead taken to a ranch for ice cream), so we were really lucky! The entire volcanic lake looked like a vividly colored palette — the lake water in the middle was layered due to the moss, while the red volcanic rocks around it were dotted with green and yellow, leaving me speechless with admiration.

Walk down the trail into the crater, and there's a chair by the lake, so you can sit and enjoy this beautiful view.

So beautiful, so beautiful, I just can't bear to leave.

黃金圈一日遊是這幾天行程最早結束的，還不到5點我們就回到市區，本來這天也是當時我們討論如果極光巴士有延期最佳安排的時間，但…因為天候因素，今天仍收到通知極光巴士需要延期，我們只能延到周六晚上南部兩日遊之後，也是最後的機會… 這是我們在雷克雅維克市區有空閒最早的一天，趁許多店面還沒關來走走逛逛。 超市Bonus，招牌很顯眼一隻粉色的小豬，這是公認冰島最便宜的超市。在這我買了明後天的早午餐，而旅伴則是買些要帶回國的伴手禮餅乾。

Then I suggested going to Íslenski barinn near the supermarket, which is a shop for traditional Icelandic ice cream — basically you choose a base ice cream and then can sprinkle on all kinds of toppings. My choice was milk ice cream paired with toffee chocolate and LAKKRIS chocolate.

LAKKRIS is actually licorice. In many places in Europe, there are foods made with licorice, but Icelanders especially love it, so it often shows up in Icelandic desserts. Thoughts: worth trying once, but don't buy too much as a gift — usually after eating one piece, there's no wanting a second... Outside it's snowing heavily, so eating ice cream in this setting has its own special charm~

After eating the ice we went back to the hotel to drop off the supermarket things we'd just bought, then went out again, and it was only when we passed by the church that we remembered! We forgot to go up the church tower first to get a bird's-eye view of the city (going up the church tower must be done before 5pm) The church and the rainbow avenue in front of the church (daytime version)

Walking around and strolling, we passed by the hot dog burger my travel companion had been wanting to try for a while, so let's give it a try!

The store clerk's hands were so quick — she had one hot dog ready in under a minute. It was nice and crispy, and while it wasn't anything super special, it was really tasty! Tonight was 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 real quick — the Kp index is a number used to measure global geomagnetic activity. First there's a "potential Kp index," which represents how active the aurora is expected to be. We were actually really lucky, since it stayed above 2 almost the entire week we were there. Next, we'll take into account the actual Kp index, which factors in cloud cover — Iceland is actually not an easy place to see the aurora, because the weather is so unstable. The Kp index wasn't low the past couple of days, but the clouds were too thick, so we couldn't see it. Since that night's potential Kp index was 3, I checked some information online and decided to head to the Lighthouse area — the best spot in downtown Reykjavik for viewing the aurora. We took the bus to the lighthouse area, and when we got off, we saw two Asian-looking girls also get off at the same stop. After chatting a bit, it turned out they were Chinese students studying in the UK. Their goal was the same as ours — hoping to see the aurora! They told us their friend waited at the pier until midnight on Tuesday and did get to see it~ Hearing that gave us a lot more confidence, but we couldn't help sighing that on our own day, the clouds were so thick that we just went back to our room and missed it~ The low temperature after nightfall, combined with the strong sea wind, made every step forward a struggle. When we finally reached the area near the lighthouse, we found that many cars had already parked there waiting, but since we had come on foot, we could only pitifully find a spot to shelter from the wind.

At 10 pm, the aurora never showed up—instead, the wind and snow picked up sharply. Not only did we give up on the aurora, but due to the terrible weather, we also abandoned the original plan of taking the bus back and gave up walking to the bus stop, taking a taxi directly instead. Get the full itinerary and start planning your dream trip to Iceland! 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: The Journey Begins and a Bumpy First Day Arriving in Iceland, strolling around Reykjavik 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: Snæfellsnes Peninsula Day Trip Guide and Hidden Gems Explore Iceland's enchanting peninsula and capture breathtaking natural scenery. 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: Golden Circle Day Trip Classic Spots and Travel Tips Feel the stunning charm of Iceland's classic attractions and gain memories that will last a lifetime. 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Journey: Exploring VIK's Magnificent Black Sand Beach and Waterfalls in the South (Part 1) Step into the mysterious world of VIK and experience the natural beauty of the south. 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Journey: Blue Ice Cave Wonders and a Night of Northern Lights in the South (Part 2) Experience the Blue Ice Cave adventure firsthand and capture the dazzling spectacle of the Northern Lights. 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Journey: Helicopter Volcano Sightseeing Experience, Overlooking the Magnificent Lava Land Fly over Iceland's volcanic landscape and enjoy a truly one-of-a-kind adventure.