The Golden Circle Classic Tour takes you from Reykjavik city to Þingvellir National Park, arguably the most important site in Iceland in terms of history, culture, and geology.
A UNESCO world heritage site, Þingvellir National Park is home to Iceland‘s largest natural lake and the place where the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia split and drift apart. Þingvellir is also the birthplace of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth and the Alþingi assembly, where Iceland’s most powerful leaders met to decide on legislation and carry out brutal Viking-age justice.
From Þingvellir, the tour continues through an area of beautiful scenery towards two of Iceland's greatest natural attractions at the Gullfoss waterfall and Geysir hot spring area.
At Gullfoss waterfall, you can take a short walk down a pathway and get right up close to this powerful waterfall and feel the mist of glacial water on your face as it cascades down into the narrow Hvítárgljúfur Canyon.
Leaving Gullfoss, lunch break is usually taken ar Gullfoss Cafe or at the Information Centre at the Geysir area.
Home of "The Great Geysir" hot spring, which all geysers are named after, this area is an impressive collage of bubbling mud pools, hissing steam vents, and colorful algae deposits. It also features one of the world's most reliable fountain geyser, Strokkur hot spring, that every 4 to 8 minutes blasts out a column of superheated water up to 20 meters into the air.
From Geysir hot spring area, the return journey takes you past lakes Laugarvatn and Apavatn.
In the evening, the Northern lights tour takes you out of Reykjavik city to the best places to see Northern lights swirling across the night sky in their fantastic shapes and colors.
In reality viewing conditions for Northern lights depend on many factors including geography, weather, the time of day, and more. Crisp evenings with skies clear enough to see stars are a good indicator of auroral activity. The expert guides will take you where the best chances of seeing the lights and tell you about the history and nature of the lights.