Iceland: The Golden Circle (Pt 1)

I arrived in Iceland at 4:45 a .m. this morning, local time. After picking up our SIM card at the Duty Free shop (approx. $24 Canadian dollars gets you 3 GB of data), picking up the car rental, we headed straight for the capital to … take a quick nap in the grocery store parking lot.

But by 10 a.m, we were on the road to the Golden Circle, about 40 minutes southeast of Reykjavik. We began at a pull-off to shoot some quick photos, and check out the lava rock. It was so barren in this particular area, it felt like we had stepped foot on Mars.

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We then continued on our way to the Geysir geothermal area, where the Strokkur geyser sprays up to 30 metres of water every 4-8 minutes.

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After spending the early afternoon hiking to the peak of the area, we drove over the Gullfoss Waterfall. According to Reykjavik Excursions, the waterfall was created by the river Hvítá, which tumbles and plunges into a crevice some 32 m deep.

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We didn’t stay out late. Bought a few groceries and tonight we stay at Hellisholar Cottages – where we hope to be viewing the northern lights after midnight.

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UPDATE 11:29 p.m. local time: The northern lights came out in grand fashion, dancing in the night sky over our cabin. What a way to end day one.

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16 thoughts on “Iceland: The Golden Circle (Pt 1)

  1. What great photos, such a beautiful place! You both must be enjoying the adventure. The cottage is very sweet too. I will be following your adventure. 🙂

  2. Iceland is beautiful.There is a lot of great scenery The water fall is amazing. Hope you both get to see the northern lights and I wonder how they will compare to the Yukon. Looking forward to part two of your adventure.

    1. I would say the Yukon northern lights had more purple in them, and these ones were moving much quicker. Both great experiences!

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