Iceland’s Golden Circle: An Iconic Tour With A Not-So-Iconic Guide

The minute she stepped on our tour bus, I had a sinking feeling.

Here we were, ready to set out on Iceland’s iconic Golden Circle tour, the thing everyone will tell you to do if it’s your first time in Reykjavík. It’s an eight-hour affair that takes you about 300 kilometers (190 miles) round-trip to three of the country’s most popular attractions.

And we were being led by a depressive, angry, disheveled-looking woman who clearly had no interest in showing us her country. There was no welcome greeting, no introduction, no head count taken. It would be impossible to know who was on the tour, she told us, fumbling through some papers like a substitute teacher trying to figure out the lesson plan.

We began our journey with little information and even less hope. The guide would occasionally talk about something, but she was impossibly difficult to understand. When we came to our first destination, she didn’t get off the bus. Instead of acting like a tour guide, she told us what time to be back after each stop, a task that seemed to greatly confuse her. And when a friend in our group had to run back to the bus to pick up something, she found the guide with her shoes off and feet up on the seats across the aisle, blocking the way for anyone to pass!

Herb and I did our best not to let the negative energy that had infiltrated the tour ruin our day. This was our first and only day in Reykjavík, and I had done enough research to have at least a little understanding of what we’d be seeing. But I wouldn’t be honest if I said that having such a dark cloud of a personality hanging overhead didn’t impact our day.

The Golden Circle Tour

The Landscape

I spent most of the traveling time looking out my window, taking pictures and trying to get a feel for the land. As soon as we left the city, the landscape became a shade of greenish-gold, rocky and barren. We passed distant hills – mountains maybe – and bodies of water, but few trees. There were sheep and horses and an occasional house or two. It seemed vast and desolate, and I tried to imagine what is must be like in the winter.

Thingvellir National Park

Our first stop was Thingvellir National Park, the place where North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and separate, creating huge fissures. It is also known for the Althing, the site of Iceland’s first parliament from the 10th through 18th centuries. Thingvellir National Park was founded in 1930 as a “protected national shrine for all Icelanders.”

Herb and I stopped in the Visitor Centre before heading out on the main trail. There was surprisingly little signage along the way to know exactly what we were looking at. Stairways jutting off the path led to viewpoints and other trails, offering a feast of scenery and places to explore.

Gullfoss

Gullfoss was the clear favorite of our three stops along the Golden Circle. Made up of two dramatic drops totaling 32 meters, or about 105 feet, Gullfoss plunges into a majestic canyon of the Hvítá River that cuts through the landscape. Translated as “Golden Falls,” Gullfoss is said to have been named for the golden evening hue that colors its glacial water and the rainbow that appears in its spray when the sun is shining. Gullfoss was designated a nature reserve in 1979.

Unlike Thingvellir, there was abundant information about Gullfoss throughout the park, including preservation of the falls. I especially liked this quote from Geologist Sigurdur Thórarinsson:

“It is now widely proclaimed, and certainly on persuasive grounds, that the country’s waterfalls harbour a part of our nation’s future, a treasure which is measured in kilowatt-hours. But there is also a part of the nation’s future felicity found there – that we do not forget that the country’s waterfalls also harbour value that is not measured in money but in hours of pleasure.”

Several levels of viewing platforms offer different angles of Gullfoss. We began at the top and made our way to the bottom level…getting covered in mist but not terribly wet!

Geysir

Geysir is a geyser in Iceland’s Haukadalur Valley. Also known as The Great Geysir and once one of the most impressive geysers in the world, it now can go years without spouting steam and hot water into the air. A neighboring, smaller geyser called Strokkur has taken over tourist performance duties at the geothermal area, erupting with regularity every eight to ten minutes.

Iceland is rich in geothermal activity, and for that reason it’s worth stopping by Geysir. But I’m not sure I would include it on a “must see” list if it weren’t part of the Golden Circle tour. And although I try not to make comparisons when traveling, I couldn’t help think of Yellowstone’s Old Faithful and New Zealand’s Rotorua geothermal area, and how much more dramatic and what better visitor experiences they offered.

Two More for the Road

We made two more stops before the tour was over: A take-a-photo-and-get-back-on-the-bus moment at Kerid Crater, a colorful water-filled hole that was once a volcano, and a self-guided tour of a factory that produces geothermal energy. On the way back to the ship, we were supposed to drive through Reykjavík. I imagined we’d see the famous honeycomb-looking Harpa concert hall and the Hallgrímskirkja church that soars over the skyline. Our route, however, seemed to be taking us through a more suburban part of town and then an industrial-looking area closer to the port.

A woman in our group asked the guide why we weren’t seeing any of Reykjavik’s famous sites.

Her response: “It’s a big city.”

A Final Thought About Tour Guides

I’ve written here quite often about how a guide can “make or break” a tour. Herb and I have met so many wonderful guides who have not only enriched our experiences, but also our lives, in the brief time we were with them. I’ve featured favorite guides on this blog, offering heartfelt recommendations, and whenever I can, including their contact information on the Travel Resources page. We carry these lovely people with us when we travel, referring to lessons they’ve taught us and reflecting on our memories with great fondness.

I’ve mentioned the disappointing guides as well, sometimes with a little humor to help deal with the situation. Thankfully, they have been, as the saying goes, few and far between. But in all our years of travel, we’ve never encountered anyone like this woman. She was rude and sarcastic to anyone who asked her a question. I have no idea what was going on in her life, but whatever it was, she brought it with her and put it on display for all of us to see that day on our tour of the Golden Circle.