Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Golden Circle
he name
Golden Circle
might be a tourist-industry tag, but it's also apt, as this broad
circuit east from Reykjavík covers many of Iceland's best-known features and touches
on the root of much of its history. The key area is
Þingvellir
, whose dramatic and
geologically unstable rift valley marks where the Icelandic state sprang into being in
Viking times. South from here
is the religious centre of
Skálholt
, where Iceland's last
Catholic bishop was assassinated in 1550; while travelling northeast takes you past the
spa town of
Laugarvatn
to
Geysir
, the original hot blowhole that has lent its name to
similar vents worldwide, before sealed roads end on the edge of Iceland's barren interior
at
Gullfoss
' thundering twin cataracts.
The tangle of routes connecting all this together runs through beautiful countryside:
fertile, flat, framed by distant hills and - if you've spent any time in Iceland's rougher
areas - startling green in summer, thanks to one of Iceland's longest rivers, the
Hvítá
.
This originates around 140km northeast at Hvítarvatn, an isolated lake below
Langjökull on the Kjölur route, and flows swiftly to Gullfoss, where it drops into the
plains above Skálholt before running south to the sea.
2
Þingvellir
The region northeast of Reykjavík is scarred by one of the world's great geological
boundaries, a
rift valley
marking where the North American and Eurasian continental
plates are physically tearing apart. It was in this monumental landmark that Iceland's clan
chieftains, or
goðar
, first gathered in the tenth century to formalize their laws and forge a
national identity for themselves (see box, p.101). Although this rift stretches right across
Iceland, nowhere else is it so expansively evident - a 4km-wide, 40m-deep slash in the
landscape, sided in basalt columns and extending for 16km from Iceland's largest lake,
Þingvallavatn
, to the low, rounded cone of the
Skjaldbreiður
volcano in the northeast.
Þingvellir
itself - the “assembly plains” where the chieftains met at the southwestern
end of the rift - has been protected since 1930 as a national park. It's flanked to the
west by
Ármannsfell
- said to be the abode of the region's mythical guardian, Ármann
Dalmannsson - and to the east by the solitary massif of
Hrafnabjörg
. The main focus
is a surprisingly small area at the southwestern corner of the park where the narrow
Öxará
- the Axe River - flows down to the lake shore past a church and other historic
monuments, all hemmed in on the west by the 2km-long
Almannagjá
, the valley's most
impressive rift wall. While it's hard to overstate Þingvellir's historical importance, there
TOURING THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
For more than one person, the cheapest way to cover the Golden Circle is to
rent a car
for the
day. From Reykjavík, take Route 36 northeast to Þingvellir (watch out for ice in winter), then
continue east along the 365 to Laugarvatn, from where routes 37 & 35 run up to Geysir and
Gullfoss. On the way back, follow Route 35 southwest to Selfoss, detouring briefly along the
way to visit Skálholt and Kerið crater (see p.110). Selfoss itself is on the Ringroad 30km east of
Reykjavík - see p.109).
Without your own vehicle, you can pack all this into a nine-hour
Golden Circle tour
offered
by Reykjavík Excursions (
W
re.is; 10,300kr), Iceland Excursions/Grayline (
W
grayline.is; 9500kr)
and Sterna (
W
sterna.is; 9500kr). All can collect from Reykjavík accommodation and a guide
provides commentary in English en route.
Slightly cheaper (8300kr return) are the daily Þingvellir-Laugarvatn-Geysir-Gullfoss
scheduled buses
from BSÍ, which stop long enough at all the sights for you to get a good
look; you can, of course, arrange with BSÍ to spread this trip over several days and stay
overnight along the way. Be aware too that summer buses heading to Akureyri via Kjölur
(see
p.310) travel the same route (though most skip Þingvellir), so you might not need to make a
separate trip to see the Golden Circle.
