Golden Circle stops: what to see and what to skip

Three stops define the loop: Þingvellir National Park, the Haukadalur geothermal area with Strokkur, and Gullfoss. Kerið crater is the usual fourth, and after that every tour makes a slightly different choice — a hot spring, a dairy farm, a lake photo stop, a greenhouse town. Nothing on the list below is more than a short walk from a car park.

Main stops3

Usual fourthKerið

Stops on a tour4–8

Þingvellir walkAlmannagjá boardwalk

StrokkurEvery 6–10 min

Kerið rim10–15 min

The three that every tour makes

Þingvellir National Park. The rift valley where the North American and Eurasian plates separate a few centimetres a year, and the site of the Alþingi from 930 to 1798. Walk Almannagjá on the boardwalk from the Hakið visitor centre; Lögberg, the Law Rock, was the focal point. Öxarárfoss, where the Öxará drops into the fissure, is a ten-minute walk from P2 and is the thing most short stops miss. Silfra, the snorkelling fissure, and Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland, are both here too. Park details are on thingvellir.is.

Haukadalur, which everyone calls Geysir. The Great Geysir gave the world the word and has been mostly dormant for decades. Strokkur, 50 metres south, erupts every 6 to 10 minutes, usually 15 to 20 metres and sometimes higher. It was first recorded in 1789 after an earthquake, blocked around 1900, and cleared by locals in 1963. The café, shop and toilets are across the road at the Geysir Centre.

Gullfoss. Two drops, 11 metres and 21, into a crevice 32 metres deep on the glacial Hvítá. The upper car park by the café is the flat approach; the lower path to the water is stairs and ices over in winter. Free, with free parking, and protected since 1979 after Sigríður Tómasdóttir fought a hydroelectric scheme.

Kerið, the fourth stop

A volcanic crater on Route 35 about 6,500 years old, roughly 55 metres deep and 170 by 270 metres across, with red scoria slopes and an opaque aquamarine lake. The rim walk is ten to fifteen minutes and a path drops to the water. It is private land: a small entry fee per adult at the kiosk, open in daylight hours. Every tour on this site that lists Kerið includes the fee, which is worth remembering when you compare the cheapest coach against a minibus. One line of small print matters: on the flagship coach, Kerið is dropped from any departure at 12:00 or later.

The stops only some tours make

Öxarárfoss — inside Þingvellir, but it needs a stop of 45 minutes or more. The tours that give Þingvellir 25 minutes will not reach it.
Secret Lagoon at Flúðir — Iceland’s oldest swimming pool, built 1891, water 38 to 40 °C, with an adult admission charged at the gate. Included on the Secret Lagoon tour.
Efstidalur II — a working dairy where the ice cream is made in the building next to the cows. A scheduled 25-minute stop on the German-language tour, and the surprise stop guides add when they have time; Judith wrote that hers “added an extra stop at the ice cream farm too”.
Laugarvatn — a lake between Þingvellir and Geysir, usually a ten-minute photo stop.
Hveragirði — the greenhouse town on the way out, 15 to 20 minutes, with an earthquake fissure you can look down into.
Brúarfoss — the blue one people find on Instagram. Parking is a small fee and it is a walk from the car park; no tour here stops there, so it is a self-drive detour only.
Faxi — a wide, low waterfall on the Route 35 side. A small parking fee, refunded against a purchase in the restaurant.

How many stops does a tour make?

Four is standard: the three plus Kerið. The full-day coach makes five by adding Hveragirði. The German-speaking shore excursion makes the longest list on this site — Hveragirði, Kerið, Gullfoss, Geysir, Efstidalur, Laugarvatn, a viewpoint and Þingvellir — but it leaves only from the cruise terminal. On the small-group minibus, extra stops are unscheduled and depend on the guide: Mercedes wrote that hers “even added extra stops for farm made ice cream and to pet an Icelandic horse”. Compare the itineraries on all tours.

Insider tip

If Öxarárfoss matters to you, check the published minutes for Þingvellir before you book. Forty-five minutes gets you the fissure and the waterfall. Twenty-five gets you the fissure.

Max 19 guestsHotel pickup included

Check dates on the small-group Golden Circle tour

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure on most tours — book now, decide later.

Frequently asked questions

What should you not miss on the Golden Circle?

Þingvellir, Strokkur at Haukadalur and Gullfoss, in that order of historical weight and the reverse order of noise. Add Kerið if your tour includes it, and Öxarárfoss if your Þingvellir stop is 45 minutes or longer.

Are there any hidden gems on the Golden Circle?

Not really hidden, but under-visited: Öxarárfoss inside Þingvellir, the Efstidalur II dairy for ice cream, Faxi waterfall where the parking fee is refunded against a meal, and Brúarfoss for anyone driving themselves. Which tours stop where is set out on all tours.

How many stops are on a Golden Circle tour?

Four on most: Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss and Kerið. Five on the full-day coach, which adds Hveragirði. Eight on the German-language cruise excursion. The timings are compared on how long the Golden Circle takes.

Is Kerið crater worth the entrance fee?

For a small fee and fifteen minutes, yes. It is 6,500 years old, about 55 metres deep, and the colour of the lake against the red scoria is unlike anything else on the loop. Every tour here that visits it includes the fee — see is the Golden Circle free.