A highlight of Our winter visit to Iceland was travelling around the Golden Circle. This is an all-day 200 kilometer loop starting in Reykjavic that takes in several famous landmarks. Our tour was with Viator, our guide was excellent, and the driver very experienced in navigating the snow covered roads.
Gulfoss
Gulfoss is a beautiful double water falls fed by glaciers. It is a short hike however many stairs to get to the lower viewpoint. Well worth the effort.
Stokkur Geysir
The Strokkur Geysir puts on a show every 7 minutes. Geysir means ‘gusher’ and is the origin for naming geysers world-wide. This is a good lunch stop. The adjacent restaurant serves excellent all-you-can eat seafood soup.
Pingvellir
Pingvellir National Park offers an opportunity to hike through the rift created by the collision of the Atlantic and European tectonic plates. This famous site is where the Viking clans gathered for regular meetings to establish rules and settle conflicts – an original parliament.
Fridhiemar
In addition we started our day at the Fridhiemar greenhouse complex. This facility grows only tomatos at the rate of several tons a day. All are consumed in Iceland. Fridhiemar is entirely geo-thermal and uses energy equivalent to a town of 5000. This green energy approach appealed to the engineer in me. On a more practical level, our cab driver in Reykjavic told us to try their famous tomato soup and tomato beer. The soup was excellent. The beer, well…..
Thanks Joe and Cathy for sharing your adventure with us! Have a wonderful 2022.