The Golden Circle. One of the top tourist routes in Southern Iceland. My recommendation? Don’t go during the winter time and don’t join a tour. I went during the winter and it was just very snowy, and everything had a blanket of snow over it. It was difficult to see what the landscape actually looked like. And if you join a tour, you only get a limited amount of time at each location. The tour we joined was fine. They gave us plenty of time at each location, but I have a feeling they might have skipped a few stops due to the weather. The main stops along the Golden Circle are:

1. Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park – apparently, there’s a valley here that marks the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. This is what I saw:

   

   

2. Gullfoss Waterfall – this was a cool sight to see because who doesn’t love waterfalls? But I’d imagine it would look a lot nicer in the summertime

   

3. Haukafalur – home to the Strokkur and Geysir geysers, it erupts every 6-10 minutes, and you’ll be sure to get a huge whiff of sulfur as you would through the park.

   

   

While I didn’t have an amazing experience because of the snow, I’m sure the Golden Circle is a lot more beautiful once all the snow has melted.