The Golden Circle is a 100km tourist loop to the east of Reykjavik. The many advertisements for tours to visit the route are a little concerning – we don’t usually like to travel to the places where parking lots are going to be filled with buses, but we have our own car, and can drive off the route if it becomes cumbersome. We’re not planning to drive the entire Golden Circle route – we’ll meet up with Route 1 and continue on the Ring Road rather than driving back to Reykjavik.
Happily, Iceland is relatively small, but there is a vast amount of space here. Though we see many tour buses and tour groups, it never feels like a burden; it never feels crowded and rarely feels touristy.
The geothermal landscape around the geysir is awesome, and it is free to enter the boardwalk and get close to the geysirs. One of the geysirs erupts every 5-10 min; the eruption is impressive. If it’s a windy day, and you’re standing down wind next to the roped off area around the geysir, you’ll be graced with a free thermal bath. The kids who find this out quickly line the path of the wind to be the next ones to be soaked.
Next on the route is the impressive waterfall, Gullfoss, one of many we are to encounter and be sprayed with during our trip. The trail takes us very close to the thundering waters of the fall, and the spray gets us fairly wet. The steps are slippery, so it is an adventure climbing up and down to the falls. In Iceland, proper hiking wear is really useful to have. In fact, in all of Iceland, people are dressed not so much for fashion, but for warmth and comfort, which helps when the weather drastically changes, it rains or drizzles or you happen to be standing next to a waterfall – all these things happen frequently.
From there we leave the Golden Circle route and head south towards Route 1, the Ring Road. The land here is streamed with rivers flowing towards the Atlantic Ocean. It’s easy to play the ‘how many waterfalls can you spot?’ game as we drive. It doesn’t take long to reach double digits. Soon we’re driving by another waterfall, and we have to make a pit stop. We soon realize this is going to be the rhythm of our trip – I have a plan of where we need to be each night in order to drive around Iceland and return the car rental on-time, but I have no idea, really, of what I’m going to see and where we’re going to stop. Iceland’s Ring Road is full of wonder and beauty and it’s common to make stops on the side of the road, or pull into car parks that are dotted along the route. Usually, there is a short a trail that leads to some magical wonder. This one happens to be Seljalandsfoss.
Suddenly, the sun comes out and the green moss, grass and yellow flowers sparkle. The waterfall flows lightly, and rainbows pop into full view. There is a path that leads behind the waterfall. It’s wet, loud, and amazing. There are no signs, no barriers to keep you from getting too close to the edge, just a wet, slippery path. Everyone is smiling silly, impish grins as they attempt to get closer to the edge, posing for a photo, getting soaked.
Skokar is the next waterfall.
Are you sensing a theme to the trip here?
Vik, on the southern coast, is where we’re spending our first night.
Though it is chilly at night, we’re camping using Iceland’s Campingcard, a pre-paid camping card that allows a maximum of 2 adults and 2 children to stay at some 40 campgrounds around Iceland. We often arrive late, yet each campground always has lots of space for our tent; most also have wi-fi and some kind of a shelter where you can sit and be warm; some have cooking facilities, with a hob or two and a kettle.
Camping fires aren’t allowed here, so to keep warm with hot meals and steaming beverages, I’ve brought my trangia. Sadly, I didn’t do the proper research before coming and I can not find the necessary fuel to burn. We are stuck eating cold dinners or going out to find fish soup and other warm, yet affordable, meals. Note: my trangia burns alcohol. I couldn’t find the alcohol I needed to burn in the gas stations, which is where I find it in North America. If you have a gas burning stove, no problem – butane is sold everywhere.
