Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
dangerously concealed if there has been any snow. To venture further, or climb any of
the mountains, you'll need at least basic orienteering skills and Landmælingar Islands'
Þingvellir
1:25,000
map
.
Þingvallavatn
Immediately south of Þingvellir,
Þingvallavatn
was formed nine thousand years ago
when fresh lava blocked of the outflow of springs rising in a basin, backfilling it
with water to form a 14km-long lake, Iceland's largest. Þingvallavatn and its sole
outflow, the
Sog
river, are surrounded by alternately rugged hills and undulating
moorland, good for both hiking and birdwatching, while the lake itself is dotted
with three tiny volcanic islands and, on rare windless days, forms a perfect blue
mirror to the sky. Three surprisingly unobtrusive
hydroelectric stations
at the head
of the Sog provide power for the region, while healthy stocks of char and a
dwindling brown trout population keep the fly population down and anglers happy
- winter fishing is especially popular, when holes have to be cut through the ice,
though the main season is May-Sept 15; permits are available from the Þingvellir's
visitors centre.
You can circuit Þingvallavatn in your own transport along a gravel road which runs
around the south side of the lake before meeting up with Route 36 about 25km north
of Selfoss.
2
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
ÞINGVELLIR
By bus
The bus stop is at the National Park Information
Centre, just where Route 36 descends into the western side
of the rift.
Destinations
Akureyri via Kjölur (2 daily; 13hr); Geysir
(2 daily; 1hr); Gullfoss (2 daily; 2hr 30min); Hveravellir (1 daily;
10hr); Laugarvatn (1 daily; 40min); Reykjavík (2 daily; 1hr).
By car
The
main
road is Route 36, which runs northeast
from Reykjavík to Þingvellir, crosses the rift valley, and
then follows Þingvallavatn and the Sog river south to
Selfoss and the Ringroad. Þingvellir also marks the
southern terminus of the Kaldidalur route through from
Reykholt (see p.157).
INFORMATION
Tourist information
The National Park Information
Centre (June-Aug daily 9am-8pm;
T
482 2660,
W
thingvellir.is), on Route 36 where the road descends into
the western side of the rift, has a phone, free hot showers,
a basic café, maps and regular weather reports.
TOURS AND ACTIVITIES
Tours
The Park Information Centre offers free
hour-long
tours of the locality that leave from the church at 10am and
3pm daily throughout summer.
Scuba diving
The incredibly clear waters of Silfra, a
flooded chasm between the lake and Þingvellir, make it
one of the world's top freshwater scuba diving
sites,
ÞINGVELLIR TRAILS
You can make an easy, satisfying 10km circuit of Þingvellir and the rift valley along marked trails
in under three hours, more if you like to linger and explore along the way. Starting at the National
Park Information Centre, walk a short way east along the road past the campground until you see
a marker for the 2km footpath through a landscape of mossy rocks, lava pavements and dwarf
birch scrub to
Hrauntún
. This is the site of an abandoned farm, still ringed by a lava-block wall.
There isn't a single tree on the site - clearing them all must have taken some effort.
Turn south and follow a well-used 3km track to
Skógarkot
, a sheep farm abandoned in the
1930s, whose ruined but strongly constructed
stone buildings
occupy a grassy hillock
roughly halfway across the valley. It's not a high position, but still elevated enough for you to
take in a panorama of distant peaks and rift walls, and feel dwarfed by the scale of the
Þingvallahraun flow which stretches all the way from the lake to Skalbreiður. From here you
bear west towards the church at Þingvellir itself - a further 2km along a decent trail - and then
follow Almannagjá for a final 3km back to your starting point.
