Cost: $85
Time: 10 Hours
If you wish to experience the beauty of Iceland's natural wonders, make sure to visit the Golden Circle. My friend and I booked our tour on Viator, a trip advisor approved booking sight, and we choose to embark on the tour titled "Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon Day Trip from Reykjavik". We started off the day by visiting Thingvellir National Park, which is the spot of the first European parliament (header photo), and one of the only spots in the world where the tectonic plates are visible. We were able to walk through a split in the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates (first row, right photo), which was *fun fact* a filming spot in Game of Thrones in which the Hound and Arya Stark filmed a scene!
Next, we visited to the Gullfoss waterfall (first row, left photo) and because of the beautiful day I was able to capture a rainbow going across the gorgeous falls. Moving on, our last natural wonder spot was visiting the Stokkyr Geyser! The geyser (second row, right photo) erupts every five to ten minutes and can reach highest ranging from 20 to 40 ft and was a fascinating stop on our tour. After leaving the geyser our tour guide surprised us with stopping to visit some Icelandic horses (second row, left photo). The horses in Iceland are smaller than most horses, but don’t like to be called ponies, and are very fluffy in the wintertime to keep warm.
Lastly, for the final attraction of the day we visited the Secret Lagoon. While anyone planning a trip to Iceland immediately wishes to visit the Blue Lagoon, the Secret Lagoon is a less crowded and less expensive geothermal pool. It was such a refreshing treat to soak in the lagoon after a freezing, but wonderful day exploring the Golden Circle.
Check out this video of Strokkuyr Geryser!