Today we decided to venture out to the Golden Circle, which is a route between multiple stopping points - Þingvellir national park, Gullfoss falls and a geyser geothermal area. It was a little under 2 hours of a drive from our airbnb right outside of downtown Reykjavik and the scenery the whole time is ever-changing between mountains, little towns and rocky flatlands.
Initially, we were headed to Gullfoss first but we saw a sign directing us towards Þingvellir so we detoured and had a gorgeous view. There were a lot of hikers and tourists in the area and the weather was perfect.
Icelandic horses are beautiful and have thick manes, but they're also known for their gaits. We saw some near the side of the road as we were leaving the park so we stopped and said hello.
Then onto Gullfoss! Gullfoss is located off of the Hvítá river and is the largest volume falls in Europe. The water cascades into the canyon below in two stages and we were lucky enough to see not one, but two separate rainbows above the falls. You park in a parking lot, you'll see lots of buses carting in tours, and there's a gift shop, but then you head down a couple flights of stairs to a walk way that takes you to the top of the falls, giving you multiple different viewing points.
The geyser was amazing to watch erupt. We stopped in at the cafeteria and got some lunch and then headed across the street where we could see steam rising from the ground and a lot of people coming and going. We watched the geyser, Strokkur, erupt 5 or 6 times as it it goes every 5-7 minutes. If you watch the water in the hole, it is constantly moving and pulsing and you can tell when it is about to erupt. With the water comes a whole lot of steam and if you're close enough you can slightly feel the heat of it.
