Iceland Day 1 - Golden Circle

Day 1 - Golden Circle



Golden Circle

The Golden Circle is a popular tourist route in South Iceland, looping out of Reykjavík closer to central Iceland (where most of the sights are) and back to Reykjavík.

The three primary stops on the route are Þingvellir, Gullfoss, and the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur. Þingvellir is a national park containing both historical and natural beauties. Gullfoss, meaning golden falls, is a spectacular waterfall that is a must see. The two grand geysers, Strokkur and Geysir are both spectacles to watch.

Hotel in Capital

We stationed at this hotel, Reykjavik Centrum where we made reservation via HK agent. It was 162 EUR per doubleroom which was up to ~HK$ 1,800. It was expensive but we had been told it was already a nice price comparing with last year. It was a small and clean room situated at the heart of the capital city. We stayed one night at 21-June-2009. However, we would be back!

Set-Out

Ford Explorer was our loyal partner in this journey. The car rental company picked us up around 9:00am at our hotel lobby. It was a small company with just one small room and two desks. The company situated in a quite remote place. We spent 234,000 ISK for rental cost PLUS 2,200 ISK for extra driver PLUS some additional insurance costs. We get accustomed to the car (left-side driver) near the city first. Everything ready? Go! We started to head to our first visiting site in Iceland. It was Pingvellir National Park. It was around 1 hour driving time from Rejkjavik.

Pingvellir National Park (1 hr drive from Rey)

Geysir Hot Spring (2 hrs drive from Rey)

After countless trials, finally, I caught this "Dragon Ball". It was full of energy and be ready to burst into multi-storey high.

Multi-Shot: Geysir Hot Spring

The below is a multi-shots for this natural wonderful phenomenon. The cycle continues for every few minutes. They could rocket into 5-20 metres, depending on what...? i don't know...

Gullfoss Waterfall (2 hrs drive from Rey)

This was the first waterfall we visited in Iceland. I had 'smell' its existence when I found my way towards it. The shocking sound echoed outwards made me feel scared. Storm-like wind and water droplets pushed us along. On one hand, we made ourselves forward, on the other hand, I had to protect my new bought camera. Finally, we got all wet with our equipments. A little bit pity was that the BIG beautiful rainbow didn't meet us.

Optional Route: Seljalandsfoss & Skogafoss