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April 11, 2016

Golden Circle Day Tour Iceland

March 2016, I used Grayline Iceland for Golden Circle Classic Tour, it was around $85 USD, I booked the tour in Iceland, one can book tours online also. The tour company Van picked from my hotel at 8:30 AM, we went to the Bus depot and boarded a regular bus. Drop off was at 6:30 PM

Þingvellir National Park, Iceland

This was our first stop, about 40 minutes outside Reykjavik, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, its by Lake Thingvallavatn, largest lake in Iceland. Info on the National Park can be found on UNESCO webpage at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1152

The lake with the hills in the background is beautiful, there is a viewing area one can walk to. To get up close to the Church and buildings, on a tour you'll not be able to do that, not enough time, you'll need to be driving for that.

They have a small Cafe and restrooms there, I had a hot soup there, much needed as I didn't have enough time for breakfast that morning.

 Þingvellir National Park


Gullfoss Waterfall

Next stop Gullfoss Waterfall and the best part of the tour. Walked the trail and got as close the waterfall as allowed, I had a weatherproof Jacket and did get wet from the mist, incredible views made up for the cold and wet.

Popular tourist destination, they have a restaurant and clothing/souvenir shop there. The tour bus will stop there for 45 minutes, enough time to see the falls and get a bite to eat.


Gullfoss Waterfall


The water flows down a Canyon, its pretty amazing, I couldn't pronounce the name of the Canyon, Icelandic is not an easy language.


Strokkur Geyser

Next Stop was to see Geysir. Strokkur Geyser is active and shoots hot water up a good 20 feet in the air every 10 minutes, the water is hot and will burn you if you come in contact. As much as I was tempted to touch the flowing water, I resisted.

I didn't want my camera getting wet, I keep a 2nd point and shoot camera handy, shot a clip




Skalholt Church

This is an old Church, its been restored, there is a Viking log Cabin next to the Church, for history of the Church check their wiki page . The highlight was an Icelandic Song our guide sang in the Church.




Icelandic Horse Park

This was the last stop before returning back to Reykjavik, they had a cafe, got a much needed hot coffee. The horses are friendly, there is an outside fenced area where people were taking pictures with the horses to post on Social Media, or atleast the ones on the bus next to me. Some tour buses will have WiFi

Horse Show -  there is an entrance ticket to see the horse show, I did see the show, its done very well and later you can see the horses and talk to the riders. Some people in our tour didn't see the Show, I guess they didn't want to have to pay for the ticket, these are once in lifetime things to do and see, so my advise is see the show.

Remember not to call Icelandic Horses a Pony. They are beautiful.


Icelandic Horse

One can do the Golden Circle and Northern Light tours on the same day, it will be a long day though as Northern Lights end at 2 AM.

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1 comment :

  1. This tour sounds really great! Given the beautiful landscape of Iceland though, I wouldn't expect any less. The waterfall looks spectacular, that's certainly a must-see for me. The horse show sounds quite unique though, as well as your own tour guide serenading you at the church, lovely! Thanks for sharing.

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