Iceland · Golden Circle and Thingvellir
A 209 km loop from Þingvellir
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Why this ride
Volcanic scale, weather discipline and big horizons. The stops in between: Geysir area, Gullfoss and Laugarvatn. It keeps to quiet secondary roads.
Roadbook
- Þingvellir
sight
In the year 930, Icelandic chieftains gathered on a grassy plain beside a rift valley and founded a parliament, the Althing, and they kept meeting here for nearly nine hundred years. Þingvellir, the Parliament Plains, is the place where a nation made its own laws in the open air, standing beside a rock called the Law Rock, and the site is now a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site. The words of the law speaker, reciting the code from memory, carried across the plain.
The setting is as extraordinary as the history. Þingvellir lies in a rift valley where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are slowly pulling apart, about two centimeters a year, and you can walk down a long gorge, Almannagjá, between the cliffs of the western plate and the floor of the valley. Beyond lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland, clear and cold, and Silfra, a fissure of astonishingly clear water that divers swim through. Birch scrub and moss-covered lava fields fill the valley, with a small white church and farmhouse beside the river.
Þingvellir is also the first stop on the Golden Circle, the standard tourist loop that runs to Geysir and Gullfoss waterfall. The road from Reykjavik, about forty-five minutes away, crosses a heath of lava and moss, with gently rolling curves, and it can be busy with tour buses and rental cars in summer. The surface is good, but the weather is the issue: wind can be fierce, and rain, fog and sudden gusts can make riding unpleasant. Gravel on road edges and sheep on the road are other hazards.
Summers are cool and bright, with nearly endless daylight in June, and the best months are June to August. In winter, ice and snow close the road at times, and the auroras may show. Dress warmly in layers whatever the season, because the wind off the lake can cut through even a summer day.
- Geysir area
photo
The word geyser comes from this place. The Great Geysir, in the Haukadalur valley in southwest Iceland, gave its name to every spouting hot spring in the world, though it has become mostly dormant, erupting only rarely after earthquakes. Its neighbour, Strokkur, does the work instead, throwing a column of boiling water fifteen to twenty metres into the air every five to ten minutes, preceded by a swelling blue dome of water that bursts without ceremony. The crowd gasps each time, and the smell of sulphur drifts across the field.
The whole area is a geothermal playground. The ground is stained yellow, orange and white by minerals, steam rises from vents, and pools of turquoise water bubble gently within circles of rock. The earth here is hot and thin, and paths with ropes keep visitors from wandering into scalding water, which is a rule worth taking seriously. Behind the field, a slope covered in grass and low shrubs rises to a ridge with a view down across the valley and the plains beyond. In the distance, the glacier Langjökull shows as a white line on clear days.
The road to the geyser follows Route 35 from the south, passing farms, greenhouses heated by geothermal water, and wide green valleys with Icelandic horses grazing. The surface is generally paved and in good condition, with long straight stretches and open views. Weather is the main variable. Wind can be strong, rain comes and goes in minutes, and temperatures can drop even in summer, so a waterproof and warm layers are essential. Speed limits are strictly enforced, with cameras and police, so keep to them.
Across the road from the geothermal field is a large complex with a restaurant, a shop and a gift area, which makes it an easy place for a coffee or a bowl of soup, though prices are Icelandic. Fuel is not available at the site itself, and the nearest town of any size is Selfoss, a good thirty kilometres or more away, so fill up on the way. The nearby waterfall of Gullfoss is only a short ride along the same road, and the two make a natural pair.
Stand upwind of Strokkur, because the spray and sulphur smell can drift over you. Watch the blue bulge swell before the eruption, and you will have time to raise your camera before it blows.
- Gullfoss
sight
Gullfoss, the golden falls, is the great set piece of the Golden Circle, the tourist route that links Þingvellir, Geysir and the waterfall in a long day out of Reykjavík. The river Hvítá, fed by the glacier Langjökull, comes sliding down a gentle slope and then drops in two stages, first a broad step of about eleven metres and then, at right angles, a plunge of twenty-one metres into a narrow, twisting canyon. The spray rises in a cloud, and in sunshine there is almost always a rainbow over it.
There is a story attached to the falls that Icelanders tell with pride. In the early twentieth century, foreign investors wanted to use the river to make electricity, and the owner of the land, a farmer, leased it to them. His daughter, Sigríður Tómasdóttir, is remembered as the woman who campaigned against the scheme, walking to Reykjavík to find a lawyer, and the deal eventually collapsed. Today the falls are protected, and a small memorial stands near the path.
You can walk right to the edge of the upper fall, along a path that is slippery with spray, or look down from the platform above. The canyon below is cut into basalt, and the water inside it is a boiling, roaring grey, an impressive sight. In summer the car park is crowded with coaches, and in winter the path can be icy, with the falls draped in ice, so wear good boots. The best time to visit is early in the morning or late in the evening, when the crowds are fewer and the light is softer.
The riding on the Golden Circle is easy, on good tarmac, with long views across lava fields and pastures, but the wind can be fierce, especially on the open stretches, and rain can arrive in minutes. Pumps are mostly unmanned, and need a card with a PIN, so keep it handy.
- Laugarvatn food
food
Laugarvatn is a small settlement on the shore of a lake of the same name, and the name tells the story: laug means hot spring and vatn means water. The lake is fed partly by geothermal springs, so the shore is warm in places, and steam rises from the ground around the edge. The village itself is modest, a school, a few guesthouses, a café or two and a spa where visitors sit in steam rooms and warm pools beside the lake, but its position midway between the Geysir area and Þingvellir makes it one of the natural stopping points on the Golden Circle.
The local speciality is rye bread baked in the ground. Bakers bury pots of dough in the hot sand by the lake and leave them for a day, and the bread comes out dark, dense and slightly sweet. It is served with butter and sometimes with smoked trout, and you can taste it in the café and at demonstrations by the shore. It is a simple, odd and delicious example of how Icelanders use the heat under their feet, and it is a good reason to stop for food.
The riding to Laugarvatn is easy and scenic. Route 37 and the roads around it run through lava fields covered with moss, over low ridges and past farms, with the shape of the Hekla volcano visible to the south on clear days. The surface is paved and generally good, with gravel on side roads. The weather is changeable, and a sunny start can turn to rain by midday, so carry waterproof gear. Wind off the lake can be bracing, and in summer the evening light is long and golden, with a pale sky that never quite darkens.
To the west lies Þingvellir, where the Icelandic parliament, the Althing, first met in 930, making it one of the oldest parliamentary assemblies in the world. The site sits in a rift valley where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart, and you can walk through the gap between them. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the landscape is as dramatic as the history.
Fuel is available at Laugarvatn, but it is worth checking hours and keeping the tank topped up, because the nearest larger towns, Selfoss and Hveragerði, are over thirty kilometres away. Pumps often take cards only. Bring a swimsuit if you want the spa, and a dry layer for afterwards.
- Back to Þingvellir
finish
Back at Þingvellir. That is the ride.