“All straight things lie. All truth is curved, time itself is a circle.” – F. Nietzsche
Table of Contents
Introduction
Of the countries I have been lucky enough to visit, Iceland is among those that have impressed me most with the variety of landscapes in relation to the area over which they are spread. Indeed, driving along one of the most scenic roads in the world, one quickly moves from Geysers to waterfalls, from hot springs to volcanoes, and from small quaint towns to vast glaciers. In the wake of what has just been reported, several examples of “miniature Iceland” can be found within the national territory, characterized by a nature that can change within a few kilometers even radically.
One of the examples of these perfectly representative samples of the country as a whole is surely the Golden Circle, a region so defined because of the preciousness and spatial arrangement of its points of interest. It is here, for example, that one finds the Geysers of Haukadalur, the imposing Gullfoss waterfalls (literally “golden falls”) and Thingvellir National Park, a pearl included among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
In addition to the Golden Circle, a self-respecting Iceland itinerary cannot fail to include a visit to the main attractions encountered on the stretch of the Ring Road from Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss waterfalls, among the country’s most famous, to Vik, a small town often used as a foothold for on-the-road travelers, via the Black Beach of Reynisfjara, often mentioned among the world’s most picturesque beaches.
There are, of course, several options for visiting the attractions mentioned so far, which naturally depend on various factors. For example, due to its proximity to Reykjavik, a visit to the Golden Circle can be arranged on a day round trip starting from the capital, or one can decide to include its points of interest in a touring trip that runs along the Ring Road.
Since our itinerary was to tour the entire Icelandic Ring Road in a limited number of days, our choice fell on the second option. Specifically, we decided to do the tour counterclockwise, thus traveling the southern part of the island first, starting from Reykjavik.
Since this is a long list of different places, in most of the itineraries I have sourced from the competitors (by now I am an established travel blogger 😊), the Golden Circle and the stretch of Ring Road to Vik are visited in two consecutive days. Since we love challenges, however, we tried to concentrate the major highlights in one day, knowing that it would be an intense tour de force in any case, meticulously planning our travels. On the web (especially on social media), many people wonder about the feasibility of this solution, so in this article I will try to solve this Hamletic doubt based on our experience, lived in August 2024.
Itinerary in summary
Before showing the itinerary of the day, it is important to make a small digression regarding the Golden Circle. As mentioned earlier, its main points of interest are diverse in nature, but they can be grouped according to their family of membership. In particular:
- Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the place where the country’s independence was proclaimed
- Waterfalls: Gullfoss, Bruarfoss and Faxifoss
- Geyser: among them Geysir, the oldest in the world, and Strokkur, the only active geyser in Europe
- Thermal lakes: Apavatn, Laugarvatn and Secret Lagoon
- Kerid crater
Doing a bit of math with the valuable help of Google Maps, visiting all the attractions in the above list takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes just by road, starting from Thingvellir National Park and ending in Kerid (I’ll link you to the map that minimizes travel time), to which one must then add the time needed to visit each stop in a sufficiently dignified way. Now, Iceland is one of those territories that would especially require long meditative pauses at every wonder one encounters, yet it is well known that time, besides being the best of authors (it always manages to find the most suitable ending to every story, as Charlie Chaplin claimed), is at the same time also the worst of tyrants, and consequently forces us to make choices. Therefore, having decided to go all the way to Vik at the end of the day, and having no choice but to try to get there possibly alive, we limited ourselves to one attraction per family, selecting those that seemed most essential to us, and furthermore leaving the Secret Lagoon for the end of the trip, having decided to return there to visit Landmannalaugar (which I will discuss in other articles).
Below is the itinerary for the day, defined on the assumption of making the most of the many hours of daylight available in August, dividing the stages equally between morning and afternoon in terms of traveled kilometers.
| Day time | Attractions | Visited spots | km | travel time | map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| morning | Golden Circle | Gullfoss, Geyser of Haukadalur, Laugarvatn lake, Thingvellir National Park, (Oxarafoss waterfall and Almannagja gorges), Kerid | 175 | 2h30m | Golden Circle |
| afternoon | From Kerid to Vik | Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrabui, Skogafoss, Reynisfjara black beach, Dyrhólaey, Vik | 170 | 2h30m | From Kerid to Vik |
For our on-the-road trip we rented a 4×4 car with full insurance, which accompanied us for the entire trip and which we chose in order to be able to travel the so-called F-roads, which are not suitable for lighter cars. The route I will discuss in this article, however, can also be traveled with a simple hatchback, like the rest of the Ring Road, since no deviations on F-roads are planned in this section.
Golden Circle
We thus begin our on-the-road journey by getting up very early, of course, in view of the approximately 350 km of total roadwork planned for the day. Leaving Reykjavik, our first stop is Thingvellir National Park, which hosts within itself several notable spots. Our main targets are the Oxarafoss waterfall and the Almannagja Gorges, to reach which we pass by all the other attractions located along the trail, with unpronounceable names, which you see listed in the image below with their relative distances to travel.
Once we pay for parking, for which we spend ISK 1,000 (equivalent to about €6.50), the visit lasts a couple of hours in total, the distances are not excessive and we walk essentially on level ground. The gorges are indeed very impressive, the waterfall is rather low but quite beautiful.
Leaving the park, we continue to the Haukadalur Geyser area, which we reach in a half-hour drive. Parking is immediately in front of the geysers, which can already be glimpsed from the car. The main attractions are Geysir, the oldest in Iceland (dating back about 8,000 years) now inactive, and especially Strokkur, which on the other hand is very active (unique in Europe apparently) and gives a beautiful show every 7-10 minutes, with jets that can reach up to twenty meters in height. There are also other inactive geysers that can be visited with a short walk. Within an hour or so you can see everything abundantly.
After visiting the geysers, we head to Gullfoss, one of Iceland’s most majestic waterfalls, which of all is the one I enjoyed the most. The waterfall has two drops, the highest of which is about 20 meters. We reach the parking lot in a few minutes by car, and from there the waterfall with a short walk, allowing us to admire all its nuances from different vantage points. For the visit, you can consider about an hour or so.
Next, we make our way to Kerid, a crater within which there is a small green lake that is very impressive, which we reach in about 45 minutes by car, arriving around lunchtime. There is no charge for parking, but a visitor’s fee of 600 ISK (about 4€) is required. There is a path on the rim of the crater that can be walked in a few minutes and allows you to appreciate it from different angles. It is also possible to descend inside it to the pond, located at a depth of more than 50 meters from the highest point. Again, this is all done in a good hour or so.
From Kerid to Vik
After the tour of the crater, we reach Seljalandsfoss, one of Iceland’s best-known and most photographed waterfalls, in about an hour and a quarter. Indeed, there are many people when we arrive. The main peculiarity of the waterfall lies in the possibility of seeing it from behind, circumnavigating its ring, otherwise it did not seem to me more fascinating than many others visited during the trip, although it is still very nice. The waterfall is easily accessible from the parking lot, for which you pay the usual ISK 1,000 (about €6.50).
Continuing on foot along the short path adjacent to the waterfall, you reach Gljufrabui, a hidden waterfall, to see which you have to stand in line, which can be quite long. Visiting both waterfalls is doable in an hour or so.
We next head to Skogafoss, another famous impressive waterfall with a rather significant drop, a half-hour drive from Seljalandsfoss. This waterfall is also easily accessible from the free parking lot, plus there is a short but steep trail that allows you to see it from above. However, I don’t recommend doing the trail too much because the view of the waterfall is not very wide and is less appreciated than from the foot.
After visiting Skogafoss, again in a comfortable hour, we reach first Dyrhólaey and then the Black Beach of Reynisfjara in half an hour. In Dyrhólaey there are some beautiful views, including a very impressive one of the black beach. We also find a colony of Paffins, cute birds typical of Iceland. The visit takes the usual hour or so, again everything is easily accessible from the parking lot. In addition, this is a very windy area, so staying long is not too advisable.
Next, we drive a few minutes to Reynisfjara Black Beach, the most famous and photographed beach in Iceland because of the basalt columns carved out of the beach rocks, as well as the color of the sand. The beach that can be reached directly from the parking lot, for which we pay the usual ISK 1,000 (about €6.50). The part of the beach that can be visited is not very long, but between the wind and the stones it requires a minimum of physical exertion.
After visiting the black beach, usually lasting a good hour or so, our autonomy begins to fail, so we end the day by heading to Vik, where we will spend the night in a small but beautiful chalet. We arrive at our lodging around 9 p.m., with daylight running out.
Conclusions
If we wanted to summarize with a single word the answer to the question which gives the title of this article, I can find only one suitable for the purpose: it depends. Or rather, I would say more precisely that there are essentially 3 possibilities:
- If you have many hours of daylight available (i.e., you are in Iceland in the summer months) and give up some targeted attractions, the answer is yes, provided, of course, that you get up early, avoid wasted time and have good physical resistance.
- If you don’t want to give up some of the Golden Circle’s attractions, the answer is no, even assuming you have daylight hours on your side.
- If you have few hours of daylight available (i.e. you are in Iceland in the winter months), the answer is definitely no, even if you cut over the Golden Circle.
I now come to the ranking of attractions that deserve the podium among those that impressed me the most:
- Panoramica view of Reynisfjara Black beach from Dyrhólaey
- Gullfoss
- Thingvellir National Park
That said, given the gorgeous scenery that continually shows along the way, in this circumstance more than in others it is worth remembering that, as someone would say, the important thing is not so much what we find at the end of the race, but what we feel as we run.
Related articles:
