We'll be in Iceland from 8/26 - 9/13 and will be driving the Ring Road for most of that time, clockwise, spending 4 days on the Snaefellsness Peninsula, 3 days in Akureyri, and 2 days each in 3 different places in between. I haven't built in any time for the Golden Circle, thinking we'll see plenty of great scenery everywhere else and wanting to avoid crowds.
However, we could conceivably do it on one of our days in Reykjavik. Any opinions?
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
2035 posts
It is really hard to say without knowing your full itinerary. The Golden Circle has some wonderful spots, and can easily be done in a day. Doing the ring road, it is veery easy to incorporate that. We just returned a couple weeks ago from our 5th trip, we did not do the golden circle since we have on previous trips, but we did go to Thingevillar for a bit one day and I could not believe how crowded it was. That said, you are going to have crowds most everywhere in Iceland this summer. It is just what it is, a record number of visitors.
Posted by
Connecticut
612 posts
See Rick Steve’s blog (dated 2018) on driving Iceland’s ring road which includes parts of the golden circle. It may give you some ideas. We drove both the ring road and the golden circle last August. But for the occasional torrential rain during the last four days of our three week trip it was outstanding.
https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2018/04/iceland-ring-road/
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7319 posts
I would say that Thingvellir National Park (UNESCO WHS) is unmissable. Geysir is a little over-rated, especially if you've seen geysers elsewhere.
I agree that Snaefellsness can't be done in one day, but it is wrong to say that it is worth 4 days there to miss Thingvellir.
Posted by
OP
17 posts
mikliz97, I think we may just drive to Thingvellir and back on one of the days we're in Reykjavik. I've heard about the crowds - originally we hoped that going a little later in the summer would help but it doesn't look like that's going to be the case. We'll try our best to get out early that day. The full itinerary is simply to drive the Ring Road, staying in various places along the way (all reserved months ago) and stopping and walking/hiking at a variety of places. We'll choose those from guidebooks, the advice of locals, and what looks interesting. We like to explore on our own and we're not "bucket list" types. Thanks for your help!
raymonelee, We've watched a few of Rick Steve's videos and have the book. We'll take a look at the blog, too, thanks.
Tim, that's what I was thinking, that the one unmissable site along the Golden Circle is Thingvellir. We'll probably try to get there one morning when we're staying in Reykjavik and we'll skip the rest, especially if it's as crowded as everyone says it is. Our reservations were set months ago and 4 days may seem a lot for the Snaefulsness Peninsula but I'm sure we'll enjoy it. Staying there won't prevent us from seeing Thingvellir. Thanks very much!