How to Do the Golden Circle Direct Tour with Reykjavik Excursions (Iceland)

The nature in Iceland is spectacular in the extreme, and the best option for you, if you don’t have your own vehicle, is to book a tour with Reykjavik Excursions.

I booked the Golden Circle Direct Tour, which satisfied my needs.

The most popular tour to do when visiting Iceland is the “Golden Circle Direct”. It is the shortest, at just six hours and the cheapest of the many tours they offer.

The Golden Circle Direct itinerary:

The three sites that you’ll visit as part of the Golden Circle Direct Tour are:

1. Þingvellir (or Thingvellir)
2. Geysir
3. Gullfoss

I’m not a big one for going on tours. It’s not really in the Spirit of Nomadic Backpacker.

For unprecedented freedom, renting a car for your stay in Iceland would be the perfect thing to do, but it’s a very expensive option (and I am still travelling on my own dime).

You can even drive around the island. But if you don’t want to be driving all day and every day, you’ll need about 4 weeks at your disposal.
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The staff at Kex Hostel suggested I book my Golden Circle tour directly with Reykjavik Excursions.

Blogging at the Kex Hostel in Reykjavik:

How to get a discount with Reykjavik Excursions

The online price was discounted by 10%. Simple!

And as a budget traveller, in a country where a beer costs almost 10 quid, this was music to my ears.

And according to my roomies, the tour was “well good”.

It’s late April. Winter ain’t over yet. The weather can make or break your trip.

The Golden Circle Direct Tour is less affected by adverse weather conditions than many other tours. Tours do get cancelled.

The Famous Blue Lagoon Thermal Baths are exactly next to the Sundhnúkagígar Crater Row, which has been erupting as of late, and some days they are simply closed because of the danger from the poisonous gases.

So your adventures in Iceland can be affected dramatically. We are so intent on destroying the planet, yet nature undoubtedly has the upper hand here.

Thursday was going to be the best of the days for my stay, though, of course, that can change at the drop of a hat.

In winter, storms roll in and last for weeks. Flights are sometimes cancelled. So far in the first few days of my 8-night stay, it’s been down to -6 degrees C with a -10 degrees wind chill, a bracing wind from the west and east, rain, snow flurries, but also some much-needed sunlight, to provide you with your daily dose of Vitamin D.

By Wednesday, Thursday was still looking good. I made my booking online for the Reykjavik Excursions Golden Circle Tour.
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They do pick up at a few selected points around the city, but of course, there is a surcharge. I just walked to the BSI bus terminal in Reykjavík:

Taking the Golden Circle Direct at 10 am:

The weather wasn’t as they had predicted but hey, at least it wasn’t raining and there was almost no wind. Just a bit grey.

The Golden Circle Tour:

Þingvellir (or Thingvellir)

There are two reasons as to why Þingvellir (or Thingvellir) is such an important place in Iceland

The first reason is that the Supreme National Parliament of Iceland, known as Alþingi was founded at Þingvellir, way back in 930 and is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world.

And secondly, Þingvellir, which has been a national park since 1930, is where the North American and Eurasian Tectonic Plates meet and are separating by more than 1 cm per year, causing a massive Rift Valley – a region that forms when the Earth’s tectonic plates move apart – and Þingvellir is one of only two such geological formations above ground in the world. The other is the Rift Valley in Kenya.

There is a viewing platform from where you have the best view of Þingvallavatn, which is the largest natural lake in Iceland with its greatest depth measuring at 114 metres (374 feet).

With the Þingvallavatn lake behind me:

Þingvallavatn Lake in Iceland, about 84 sq. km:

On the edge of the North American ​plate overlooking the 20-50 km wide rift:

Walking down the Almannagjá fault from the North American Plate into the rift valley:

Geysir

Geysir is a famous geothermal area in the Haukadalur Valley about 120 kilometres (75 miles) from Reykjavik. The highlight of Geysir on the Golden Circle Tour is the Strokkur Geyser, also known as The Churn. It erupts with water and steam up to about 20-30 metres every 5 or 10 minutes. You just have to be patient.

Strokkur Geyser:

Geysir Geothermal Area, one of the stops on the Golden Circle Tour:

Waiting for the geyser to erupt:

Iceland through the bus window:

Gullfoss

Gullfoss or ‘Golden Falls’ is one of Iceland’s most iconic waterfalls. It is located in the Hvítá River Canyon in Southwest Iceland.

The water in the Hvítá river travels from the Langjökull glacier before cascading 32 metres (105 feet) down Gullfoss, in two stages, in a superb display of the power of nature.

We were dropped off at the visitors’ centre, from where it’s a short walk to the upper viewing platform. It is fantastic. It is nowhere near the biggest waterfall in Iceland, but Gullfoss is the most popular one because of its accessibility.

I was momentarily transported back to last September in Zambia as I viewed the great Victoria Falls.

You can descend the 100 steps to the lower viewing platform. Equally as impressive!

The canyon walls on both sides of the waterfall reach heights of up to 70 meters (230 feet) before descending into the great Gullfossgjúfur canyon.

The Golden Circle Direct tour was simply amazing. The weather held. It was a fantastic day.

We arrived back in Reykjavik just after 4 pm.