Tag Archives: Iceland

Iceland’s Golden Circle – Pt 3 The End of the Tour and the Reykjanes Peninsula

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Iceland's Golden Circle - Pt 3 The End of the Tour and the Reykjanes Peninsula

The third and final part of our Golden Circle Tour takes us further downriver from Gulfoss and the Hot Springs of Haukadalur to Skaholt (F on map), an area not noted for its geothermal, seismic or volcanic activity, but for its connection to Iceland’s early days as a Christian country.

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Originally posted 2024-02-09 15:54:01.

Iceland’s Golden Circle – Pt 2 Gulfoss and Geysirs

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Iceland's Golden Circle - Pt 2 Gulfoss and Geysirs

If you followed Pt 1 of our Golden Circle tour, you may remember that we visited the Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station before driving on to Thingvellir National Park, where we could see how the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are gradually pulling Iceland apart.

This fault line is responsible for the large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that frequently occur in Iceland, but we’re now on our way to an area that will show us in graphic detail how these seismic events affect the landscape in other ways and why the power station is located where it is.

Part of the  journey from Thingvellir meant driving along a gravel road (which has since been tarmacked) to the Gulfoss Waterfall (D on map). There is no shortage of waterfalls in Iceland but this one is special. Apparently, the River Hvita (when it’s not iced up) plunges downhill at an average rate of 5,000 cubic feet per second. I forgot to bring my cubic measuring stick with me to see if it’s true or not, but let’s just say it’s one extraordinary spectacle, and it’s not hard to believe that during the 20th century there was talk of harnessing its power for hydroelectricity. Fortunately it didn’t materialize and is now one of Iceland’s main tourist attractions.

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Originally posted 2024-01-06 11:43:16.

Iceland’s Golden Circle – Pt 1

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Iceland's Golden Circle - Pt 1

Having spent our first day in Iceland exploring Reykjavik and trying to get my camera to tell the difference between a whale and a wave, it was time to start looking a bit further afield, and the obvious place to begin was the Golden Circle. Apparently, the name Golden Circle was conjured up by the marketing people to describe a circular tour from Reykjavik that encompasses some of the highlights of south-west Iceland. The three main sites are Thingvellir, Haukadalur and Gulfoss, which means Golden Waterfall, and from where this circular route gets its name.

If I was to do this trip today I think I would hire a car, but back in 2006 it made more sense to use an experienced tour company for this 150 mile round trip. The map below shows the officially recognised route of the Golden Circle, but our journey started with a slight variation. For some reason Google wouldn’t let me chart the exact route that we took out of Reykjavik from the Hotel Centrum (stop A and I on the map), and instead of taking the main 1 and 36 roads towards Thingvellir, we headed along the minor 435 road to Nesjavallavirkjun.

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Originally posted 2023-12-19 08:15:46.

First Impressions of Iceland

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First Impressions of Iceland

I’m afraid to say that my first impression of Iceland was not a good one. I booked our accommodation directly with the Hotel Centrum in Reykjavik making sure they were aware that the time of our flight would mean that we wouldn’t reach the hotel until around midnight. No problem – or at least that’s what they said – but when we duly turned up just before the clock struck twelve, there was no room for us at the inn, and what’s more we didn’t even register on their booking system. Welcome to Iceland.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say I had documentation to prove that I had booked the hotel, not just for one night, but for the best part of a week. Fortunately, there was somebody there who used his initiative and arranged for a taxi to take us to a sister hotel, and being June, it was still light by the time we clambered into bed.

The staff at our surrogate hotel were very helpful, but when I woke up I wanted to get back to the Hotel Centrum to find out why we weren’t allocated the room I had paid for. It was more expensive for a start, but it was quickly sorted out – almost too quickly if you get my drift. Last night, celebrations were taking place all over the city for Independence Day (17th June), and forgive me for being suspicious, but when we arrived back at the Centrum we were treated like royalty with profuse apologies, a better room than we had originally paid for and a free 3 course dinner thrown in, which in Iceland isn’t cheap. Whatever my thoughts were, it was more important to get on with our holiday as quickly as possible, and we were soon off out of the door exploring Iceland’s capital.

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Originally posted 2023-11-29 10:46:49.