Woke up early this morning our campsite to get an early start on the famed Golden Circle route. This is one of the, if not the most popular route for tourists in Iceland (due to its proximity to Reykjavík), so we wanted to beat the rush. It seemed that tour busses started to flood in just before noon, so it was perfect timing! We had a 12pm lunch reservation and a 3pm guided snorkel tour, so we wanted to see everything in the Golden Circle before noon anyway. Our first stop on the Golden Circle was Gullfoss. The weather was overcast, so we didn’t get to see the beautiful rainbow meeting the foss, but it didn’t take away from the power and beauty of the natural structure.
Next stop was Geysir, which seemed to be like the Yellowstone of Iceland. There were sulfur pools galore, which smelled lovely… Some of these pool were stagnant and steaming due to the difference in temperature and some of which were like Old Faithful in Yellowstone! We waited to see the main attraction, Stokkur, which erupts every 6-10 minutes. This was very much like Old Faithful, but the proximity was very different. It seemed as if we were right next to it when it erupted!
The next stop on the Golden Circle was Bruarfoss, which was pretty difficult to find. We ended up pulling off onto a side road, which led us to a cute little homemade ice cream shop that happened to be on our list as well, Efstidalur II. We planned to just stop to ask how to get to Bruarfoss, but once we saw the ice cream and the view of the cows, we couldn’t resist!
We ultimately decided not to see Bruarfoss after we heard that it would be about a 45-minute hike each way. We opted to continue on the Golden Circle to see Kerið Crater. This ancient volcanic crater was a sight to behold as it is now filled with a lake estimated to be over 3,000 years old! This was one of the few sites in Iceland that charged an entrance fee (400 ISK or about $4 USD per person), but a nice path around the crater and a path down to the lake’s edge created views that made the small cost worth it.
After seeing the main sights of the Golden Circle, Joey and I really wanted to stop at a local brewery, so we made our way to Ölvisholt Brewery for some samplers. We saw that they weren’t open yet, but Joey peaked around the corner where they were bottling their infamous Lava imperial stout and asked the brewers if they were open. The guy looked at his phone to check the time and said “nah, but it’s never too early to have a beer…come on in!” We met them around the front where they unlocked the door and we immediately knew we were at the right place. We sampled 3 of their beers, a California common, a hefeweizen, and their new pink lemonade IPA with grapefruit-noted hops and loads of raspberries! We loved them all, but the IPA was so tasty!
We made an instant connection with the brewtender after he told us that he lived in Brooklyn for a few years and knew all the places we love back home…what a small world! We started talking about exporting from Iceland and their infamous Lava imperial stout (which they were bottling at the time). Joey was about to order a sample of it when he told us that anyone that comes in while they’re bottling beers always gets a free bottle, and out came another brewer with a fresh bottle in hand, right on cue! We had an overall great experience at this brewery and would recommend it to any other beer lovers traveling Iceland…it’s a must!
Fridheimer Restaurant in Reykholt wasn’t initially on our itinerary, but our campsite administrator recommended it to us last night. We spend a ton of time researching, talking, and planning before our trips, but some of the best experiences we have are just spur of the moment reccomendations from the locals. The restaurant is inside a network of greenhouse that grows a variety of tomato species year-round in Iceland (let that sink in for a moment). Their entire menu is tomato-centered, from the food to the drinks. The soup and bread combo is what most opt for, and it’s so delicious that we didn’t have room to try anything else! The entire dining experience is something we will never forget.
After lunch we headed towards Þingvellir National Park, more specifically the Silfra fissure where our guided snorkel tour took place. This site is incredibly special, both historically/culturally and geologically, and thus was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Let’s start with the historical/cultural piece. This site (Þingvellir) translates to parliament and is where the original Icelandic leaders met on an annual basis to discuss and determine implementation of law. The history, both positive and negative (drowning pools, etc.), provides a historical context that we strive to find when visiting other countries.
This national park is also special because of its geological significance. Þingvellir sits in the rift zone between two diverging tectonic plates. For those of you that don’t remember middle school science (remember I’m dating a science teacher), this means that two large pieces of the Earth’s crust are moving away from each other. This is constantly happening at a rate of about 2cm per year, which may not sound like much, but the movement of these two massive pieces of Earth causes thousands of earthquakes per year…some stronger that others. The movement, over millions of years, has caused a rift zone to form and continually sink as the plates continue to diverge. Within this large rift zone (approximately 5-6km wide), there are smaller cracks, or fissure, in the Earth.
So, here we are. In the middle of said rift zone and ready to snorkel one of the biggest fissures on planet Earth, Silfra. What’s even more special about Silfra is that the water that fills in the fissure is pure glacial water from the Langjökull glacier. As the glacial water melts, it runs though ancient lava tunnels. By the time it sees daylight again it has been nearly 40 years and travels tens of kilometers underground to where we enter the water. The water is about 2C or 37F, which yes was very cold, but we were provided dry suits and gear to help. The pictures do not do justice to the hundreds of feet of visibility once you enter some of the cleanest and clearest water on the planet.
After snorkeling and walking around in between two continents, we decided to head south to have a well-deserved fancy langoustine dinner at Fjöruborðið. This place was phenomenal! It wasn’t cheap, but we always budget our trips to make sure we can enjoy a meal or two that is unforgettable and this was one of them. We had an order of the “magical langoustine soup” and 300g of langoustines with the “trimmings” which included a cucumber salad, tomatoes with basil and black pepper, couscous with curry and leeks, fresh salad, and baby potatoes. Needless to say we didn’t have room for dessert…
After dinner we headed towards our next campsite near the capital city of Reykjavík. We heard and read terrible things about the campsite in the city of Reykjavík, so we decided to stay about 10-15 minutes outside of Reykjavík in Hafnarfjörður. Tomorrow we plan to spend the entire day in Reykjavík, so make sure to stay posted!