Day 1 started at 4:30am when we arrived at the Reykjavik airport. On the plane, I sat next a lovely Icelandic-Canadian gentleman and we chatted about Iceland and some of the places he would recommend. About halfway through the flight, we spotted the Northern Lights from the air—a pretty great start to our trip!
Once we landed we and got settled into our rental car — a tiny little Hyundai that was the cheapest thing we could find — we were on our way. Before even making it to the city of Reykjavik or the official Golden Circle, we got our first taste of Iceland by exploring some sights on the Reykjavik Peninsula.
Then we started the Golden Circle, which I won’t go into too much because there are so many wonderful guides to the Golden Circle online. Here are the highlights that we visited though:
Thingvellir National Park
We probably could have dedicated a lot of time to Thingvellir National Park. It is a beautiful area, containing the Almannagjá Gorge and the edge of the North American and European Tectonic Plates. There are amazing opportunities to scuba dive or snorkel between the tectonic plates, which Lauren and I opted not to do, due to the cost. Though the Golden Circle was our most crowded tourist day of the trip, it was still easy to capture photos with no one in them at all! One of the joys of travelling in the shoulder season!
Strokkur’s Geyser
Strokkur’s Geyser is one of two Geysers in the Haukadalur geothermal area. It is the only one that regularly erupts and when it does, it can shoot 40 meters into the air! This is a very touristy area as it is so near Reykjavik– which means more people, but also more amenities. Lauren and I took advantage of the indoor dining area and gift shop to take a little break, go to the bathroom and snack on some of the food we had brought with us from Canada.
Gullfoss
Gullfoss, meaning ‘Golden Falls’, was the first of many incredible waterfalls that we saw in Iceland. It’s pretty easy to spot them on a map. Here’s a hint: anything ending in ‘foss’ is a waterfall. Gullfoss has a wonderfully interesting history, filled with villans, heroines and environmental activism. As the story goes, the gentleman who owned Gullfoss was renting it to foreigners who hoped to turn it into a hydroelectric plant. Sigríður Tómasdóttir, who was the daughter of the owner of Gullfoss and had often lead tours of the falls as a child, set out to save the falls. Though never formally educated, she took legal action to protect Gullfoss and would apparently hike the 120km to Reykjavik on foot to defend Gullfoss in court and to lead protests. Eventually the plan for a hydroelectric plant failed, and the falls have since been sold to the Icelandic government. Sigríður Tómasdóttir is memorialized for her activism at the falls.
Friðheimar Tomato and Horse Farm
Before going to Iceland, I read a lot about the places I should try and visit while there, and one that kept coming up was the Friðheimar Tomato and Horse Farm. It was on all the lists! I didn’t really understand why this was such a ‘must-visit’ place, until I visited.
Lauren and I were exhausted and starving. Due to our red-eye flight, we had been awake for essentially two whole days and all we had eaten since our 4:30 arrival was bagels with peanut butter. And then we arrived at a nondescript green house and sat down for a feast of a lifetime. UNLIMITED tomato soup (made on site, from tomatoes grown on site) and fresh homemade bread. It was delicious, glorious, and the cheapest meal we saw during our entire time in Iceland. Stop there and try it for yourself! Let me know what you think of the tomato ice cream that is available for dessert!
Kerið Crater
Our last stop of the day was the Kerið crater, which is a crater that was formed when a underground reserve of magma erupted, and the remaining cavern collapsed to form the crater. It takes about 20 minutes to walk around and allows for some beautiful sights of the surrounding area.
Our original plan was to camp near the Reykjadalur Hot Springs in a nature conservation area nearby, however the area was closed to tourists as the local flora can be damaged by landslides and footprints, particularly in the spring. Instead we went to geothermal swimming pool in the town of Selfoss and then easily fell asleep in our tent at the Sellfoss Campground.
