Iceland's Golden Circle tour

Site of the parliament in front of the lake Þingvellir

As I mentioned before, there is no public transport, so if you want to go to any place, you need to rent a car or take one of the many tours offered all over the place.

Renting a car is expensive, as it is the gasoline and parking, besides, I don’t like to drive for an extended period of times and not being able to see anything besides tundra. So, we took the tours.

The first one we did was Golden Circle Classic with Reykjavík Sightseeing at 13500 ISK for both of us = US$ 125.66.

The first stop was to see Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of the oldest existing parliament in the world. The general public could observe the proceedings of the law council; however, only the chieftains were allowed to vote on the new rules and regulations enacted.

This is also the place where criminals were hung, beheaded, or drowned. It also is they burned at the staked the women believed to be witches, during the witch hunts of the late XVII century.
Besides, vengeance was a tradition, so this was the place were many bloody encounters happened.
It is a beautiful site and being able to walk where the oldest parliament convened was wonderful.

Tectonic plates wall

Here is also where the gigantic tectonic plates wall that separates America and Eurasia. (I don’t want to make a political joke, but it is hard not doing it when you see this gigantic natural wall separating North America from the rest of the northern hemisphere). This wall has pulled apart, and the resulting rift valley is right there before your eyes on the shores of Iceland’s biggest lake.

Geyser

The second stop was to see the Geysir Hot Springs, the home of the one-and-only original geyser and Iceland’s most iconic natural attraction.  The Geyser spouts every few minutes, however, if you are standing close to it, as we were, you don’t actually see it, as it is swift and all you see is the steam. I would recommend to stay farther away and then you would be able to see it in its full force. 

From there we went to see Gullfoss Waterfall, which is a glacial river that cascades down 32 meters = 105 ft. Beautiful waterfalls and great views of the park surrounding them. 

It was a great day, with magnificent sites, especially the Tectonic plates, I always wanted to see them, and now I had.

My beautiful granddaughter