{"id":419,"date":"2026-03-30T05:53:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T05:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/?p=419"},"modified":"2026-03-30T05:53:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T05:53:18","slug":"a-much-nicer-day-in-the-golden-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/?p=419","title":{"rendered":"A much nicer day in the Golden Circle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thankfully the next day though cloudy was much nicer than the relentless rain the previous day. We quickly had a early breakfast and drove to the most famous tourist loop in Iceland also known as the Golden Circle

The Golden Circle<\/strong> is a 300-kilometer loop from Reykjav\u00edk that distills the country\u2019s dramatic tectonic and geothermal activity into three primary stops.

First stop for us was \u00deingvellir National Park<\/strong>, a UNESCO World Heritage site where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates visibly drift apart and where the world\u2019s oldest surviving parliament was founded in 930 AD.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our next stop was the Almannagj\u00e1 Rift<\/strong> within \u00deingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park<\/strong> which is actually the edge of the North American tectonic plate<\/strong>. The valley floor below is part of a rift valley that forms the boundary where the North American and Eurasian plates are slowly pulling apart at a rate of about 2cm per year and one of the one of the few places on Earth where you can literally walk between two continental plates on dry land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Next stop for us was the Keri\u00f0 (Kerid) Volcanic Crater<\/strong>. Formed approximately 3,000 to 6,500 years ago<\/strong>, Keri\u00f0<\/strong> is a volcanic caldera located in the Gr\u00edmsnes area of South Iceland, frequently visited as a scenic addition to the Golden Circle route. Unlike many of Iceland\u2019s black volcanic landscapes, Keri\u00f0 is famous for its steep, rust-red slopes<\/strong>\u2014a result of relatively young iron-rich lava that has not yet fully oxidized. The crater, which measures 55 meters deep and 270 meters across, houses a vivid teal lake that is uniquely fed by the groundwater table<\/strong> rather than rainfall, meaning the water level rises and falls in sync with the surrounding earth. Historically, the caldera was not formed by an explosion but by a cone volcano that emptied its magma chamber and collapsed inward, creating a natural amphitheater so acoustically perfect that musicians have occasionally used floating platforms on the lake for concerts

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next stop for us was the Geysir Geothermal Area<\/strong>, home to the reliable Strokkur geyser which erupts every few minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last stop for the day was the awe inspiring thunderous Gullfoss<\/strong>, a massive “Golden Falls” thundering two-tiered waterfall that plunges a total of 32 meters into a deep, narrow canyon of the Hv\u00edt\u00e1 River. Fed by the Langj\u00f6kull glacier, the falls are famous for the golden-brown hue the water takes on as it carries glacial sediment, often producing vivid rainbows in the heavy mist on sunny days. Beyond its geological grandeur, Gullfoss holds a significant place in Icelandic history as the site of the country\u2019s first major environmental battle in the early 20th century; Sigr\u00ed\u00f0ur T\u00f3masd\u00f3ttir<\/strong>, the daughter of the local landowner, famously fought a decades-long legal battle\u2014even threatening to throw herself into the falls\u2014to prevent foreign investors from damming the river for a hydroelectric plant. Her successful protest preserved the site for future generations, and today a memorial stands near the falls to honor her as Iceland\u2019s first environmentalist.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Tired after a very fun but long day, we returned to the hotel to rest and prepare for our next day to leave for Hela<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thankfully the next day though cloudy was much nicer than the relentless rain the previous day. We quickly had a early breakfast and drove to the most famous tourist loop in Iceland also known as the Golden Circle The Golden Circle is a 300-kilometer loop from Reykjav\u00edk that distills the country\u2019s dramatic tectonic and geothermal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iceland","tag-iceland"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n.jpg","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n.jpg",2048,1536,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n-768x576.jpg",640,480,true],"large":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n-1024x768.jpg",640,480,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n-1536x1152.jpg",1536,1152,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n.jpg",2048,1536,false],"blogarise-slider-full":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n-1280x720.jpg",1280,720,true],"blogarise-featured":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n-1024x768.jpg",1024,768,true],"blogarise-medium":["https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/514696426_10160920272796603_2783302561696782747_n-720x380.jpg",720,380,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Mervin","author_link":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/?author=1"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Thankfully the next day though cloudy was much nicer than the relentless rain the previous day. We quickly had a early breakfast and drove to the most famous tourist loop in Iceland also known as the Golden Circle The Golden Circle is a 300-kilometer loop from Reykjav\u00edk that distills the country\u2019s dramatic tectonic and geothermal…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wander-with-me.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}