Golden Circle Road Trip
After arrival at Reykjavík airport, we were eager to get out of the city and start exploring Iceland’s natural beauty. We planned to return here for New Year’s Eve, but Christmas week we’d be on the road, touring the remote and rugged landscape of the southwest.
Our basic plan was to focus on the three main attractions of the Golden Circle, a well-known tourist circuit that encompasses Thingvellir National Park, the Geysir area, and the Gullfoss waterfall. This is apparently an easy day-trip in the summer, but being winter, we assumed it would take longer, as we’d have to do a little more planning around the weather. So instead of just following the circuit, we would be renting a cabin in Thingvellir (Þingvellir) and using it as a base for heading out to different sites on various days.
Before hitting the road, we decided to treat ourselves to a meal in Reykjavik at the Fish Company, a cozy local seafood restaurant. Knowing we’d soon be cooking most of our meals at the cabin, or munching on snacks, we splurged on the Fish Festival three-course lunch prix fixe for 4900 ISK. The meal came with fish soup, salted cod, and raspberry cake. All three dishes were beautifully crafted, but my personal favorite was the soup. The Fish Company takes this common Icelandic dish to the next level by adding langoustines, scallops, coconut jelly, and roasted coconut. The flavors were amazing!
After stocking up on groceries, including a few festive items for a Christmas meal, we headed eastward from Reykjavík toward our Airbnb home base. We quickly encountered snow and hail. The slick roads and low visibility made it a tough drive of nearly 2 hours, twice as long as what Google maps had stated. It made us realize we’d need to add even more cushion time for anywhere we wanted to go.
When we finally did arrive, the sky had cleared, and we were thrilled to find our cabin was situated in a picturesque valley next to Iceland’s largest lake, Thingvallavatn, inside the Thingvellir National Park. We’d found it on Airbnb, and our host, Ingimar, was charming and tremendously helpful. He provided us with everything we would need for our winter cabin vacation, including rubber boots to keep our feet dry in the snow. He was also eager to chat, curious about us, about where we came from, what we did for a living, etc., though perhaps most curious about our decision to come to Iceland in the middle of winter. We also realized why he had insisted on us arriving before 4:30 pm. In the countryside, you’re even more aware of how early it gets dark at this time of year. But though it was dark, cold and snowy outside, inside Ingimar’s wooden cabin it was warm and cozy, a fire blazing in the fireplace. We said goodnight to our host and settled in for the night.
Geysir: Ice & Fire
The first day we woke up around 9 am, before the sun was up, and set out to visit the Geysir area, which has the oldest spouting hot springs on record. While the “Great Geysir,” the main feature of this sandy, geothermal plain, is less active than it once was, numerous other active hot springs dot the area. The most reliable is Strokkur, which erupts every 5 to 10 minutes, shooting water up to 20 meters into the air. The sensation was an odd one, experiencing the contrast between the frigid cold air surrounding us and this scalding arc of water emerging from the fiery rock bed deep below. (Be careful not to go near; it is indeed frighteningly hot water.)
A more soothing experience is offered by the hot-springs bread that’s baked underground by geothermal heat. Well, to be honest, we were too cold to hang around the Geysir for the bread, but we did purchase some later at a local supermarket. The texture is moist and spongy, and you can taste the sweetness of the rye, which pairs perfectly with a big slab of butter. Next time, I hope I can enjoy it straight from the “oven.”
After piling back into the car, we decided it was time for some more approachable hot springs—meaning the kind you can soak in. We headed to the Secret Lagoon (Gamla Laugin) in Flúðir, which is fed by its own active Geysir. The Secret Lagoon certainly can’t be compared to the Blue Lagoon; there’s no luxurious mud mask, no fancy amenities, but it offers a cheaper and more down-to-earth alternative. Personally, I quite enjoyed the ruggedness, and I imagine it’s the more common kind of spa experience for locals, making this one of my favorite hot springs in Iceland.
Secret Lagoon
Website: http://secretlagoon.is/
Price: Adults/2800 ISK, seniors / 1400, children under 14 / free
Opening Hours: Winter/ 11:00-20:00, Summer/ 10:00-22:00
Towels available for rent
Christmas in Thingvellir & The Gift of the Northern Lights
Having a group of four people for a winter cabin vacation turned out to be perfect. Not only were there extra sets of hands to help shovel snow, but it also made staying in a lot of fun. Huddling around the fire place to talk and play games became our nightly activity. On Christmas day, we decided to stay in all day and celebrate by cooking up some Icelandic lamb, salmon, and veggies. For a moment, we felt discouraged when the dining room lights went out, but it turned out for the best. We light up a dozen candles and set them around the table. It made our Christmas meal feel even more festive.
But an even more festive surprise was awaiting us after dinner. As s we were sipping some on wine by the fireplace and talking about the day, glancing up at the window we suddenly caught sight of a faint strip of the Northern Lights! We immediately jumped up, blew out all the candles, and rushed outside to watch the drama unfold. It gradually became more visible, as the faint strip we had spotted started to become layers of light across the sky. The subtle movement of the layer made it look like calm green waves descending from outer space. What a sight! We tried to take photos of the lights, but without a tripod, the long exposure necessary just left us with a blurry image. While I’ am still kicking myself for not getting a good photo of one of the most incredible views I’ve ever seen, I have to say I still feel so blessed to have been able to see this wonder of nature purely by accident. It might not have been the most magnificent Northern Lights display, but the fact that we were I was able to see it from the comfort of our cabin as we stuffed ourselves with amazing food made it priceless. Best Christmas gift ever! And you see what I mean? Iceland in winter is amazing.
Riding Icelandic Horses in the Snow
The next day, we gave ourselves another Christmas present by taking a ride on Iceland’s famous horses. The Icelandic horses are shorter and hairier than the horses we normally see, but do not call them ponies! Apparently, the owners get quite offended if you refer to these hardy creatures as such. Icelandic horses are famous for their sure-footedness and ability to cross rough terrains, and their bone structure and weight-bearing ability are what classify them as horses. It took us some effort to find a place that offers rides in the winter (on the day after Christmas, no less); we ended up going to a place called Fakasel Horse Park.
Other than being put on a horse (pony!) for a photo-op as a child, I had never ridden before. I was a little nervous at first, but ride turned out to be really quaint and also therapeutic; I began to feel so calm as the horses slowly took us up and down a small snowy hill nearby, and I’m happy they were very well- behaved horses. It was a perfect way to experience the winter landscape.
The Great Gullfoss
We woke up the next morning to a foot of snow outside our cabin. As you’d expect, it took us longer than usual to leave the house, as we had to dig our car out of the snow and then stop to shovel all along the road until we reached the highway. Finally we made it to our day’s destination, Gullfoss, a spectacular 105-foot double cascade waterfall. However, there were still more weather surprises in store for us. The winds were really strong that day, and there was no barrier around the waterfall; at moments I felt like I might get swept off my feet! I clinched onto a thin rope just a few feet away from the edge of the canyon as I slowly walked uphill alongside the waterfall. It was also unbearably cold, so cold my iPhone kept shutting down every time I tried taking a photo. But when we got to the top, it was worth it! There was the waterfall glistering against the ice and hurtling dramatically down the canyon. Maybe the harsh Iceland winter made the experience just that much more exciting and challenging. We warmed up at the shop and café above Gullfoss, and enjoyed some hearty lamb soup for lunch.
After shoveling snow and fighting winds all morning, we were yearning for some more relaxing fun, so we headed to Fontana in the early evening for another soak in the hot springs. Fontana is a modernized hot- spring bath situated by a lake; the baths were covered in ceramic tiles, so it felt more like a typical swimming pool, which is nice if you like to be in a more clean and modern space. Personally, I like a little mud and grit, so it doesn’t make MY top hot-springs list, but it was still enjoyable and very reasonably priced. There are 3 different pools, as well as a kid’s pool, and a cedar-lined steam room. After our hot-spring bath, we had a lovely dinner at Lindin, which seems to be the only restaurant in the area that resembles a fine dining experience. It was slightly pricey, but we had been cooking every night at the cabin, so we felt that we very much deserved a little pampering. Like many restaurants in Iceland, the menu serves local fish and game. Between the 4 of us, we had a taste of arctic char, goose, lamb, and reindeer.
Fontana
Website: https://www.fontana.is/
Price: Adults/3800 ISK, Youth 13-16 /2000 ISK, children under 12 / free
Opening Hours: Winter/ 11:00-22:00, Summer/ 10:00-23:00
Towels available for rent
Thingvellir National Park
Since our cabin was already located in Thingvellir, most days we were eager to get out and explore other areas further away. We ended up waiting until we were on our way back to Reykjavik to see more of Thingvellir National Park. Thingvellir is an important historical and geological site. This is where the Vikings had established the world’s first democratic parliament; in the park you can see ruins and historical buildings left by these early settlers. It’s also the location where the North American plate and the European plate are moving away from each other; you can see the dramatic line of breakage in the landscape that indicates the boundaries of the two plates. There are many hiking trails that lead to ponds and waterfalls that were created by the fissures in the land. I have to say, I felt it was difficult to enjoy the park in the winter climate; with all the hiking and lake activities Thingvellir has to offer (like snorkeling, scuba diving) this is definitely a place I would visit again during the warmer months. You can see all the sites in Thingvellir if you follow route 361 from the Park Service Center (use the map below as a general guide). for you.
Though is wasn’t as spectacular as some of the other sites we’d explored, Thingvellir was a perfect ending to our southwest Iceland road trip. On our way back to Reykjavík, the landscape slowly wound down to flatter plains as we geared up for our New Year’s celebration in the quirky city.