Golden Circle, Bruarfoss & Kerid Crater from Reykjavik

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/9

Duration8h

GroupUp to 19

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Two tectonic plates, three waterfalls, one crater: the Golden Circle in a single day

You get picked up from a designated Reykjavik bus stop and spend the day in a small minibus with an English-speaking guide visiting four major Golden Circle sites plus two waterfalls most tours skip. The route includes entry to Þingvellir National Park, stops at Gullfoss and Bruarfoss waterfalls, the geothermal area around Geysir, and Kerid volcanic crater. Wi-Fi and Icelandic music are on the bus; you return to downtown by early evening.

Step-by-step itinerary

Golden Circle and volcanic crater tour

Pick up from Reykjavik by minibus
Visit Thingvellir National Park
See Bruarfoss waterfall
Explore Gullfoss waterfall
Walk around Kerid volcanic crater
Return to Reykjavik downtown

The Experience

The minibus pulls away from downtown Reykjavik in the early morning, and within an hour you're standing at the edge of Þingvellir National Park, looking down into the rift where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are visibly pulling apart. Your guide walks you through what you're seeing — the fractured rock, the lake below, the history of Iceland's first parliament meeting here in 930 AD — and it stops being a geography lesson and becomes something you can actually touch. The park is vast enough that you feel alone even in a small group, and the light at this latitude does something to the landscape that photographs never quite capture.

After Þingvellir, the route takes you to Bruarfoss, a waterfall most visitors miss because it's not on the main road. The water is so blue it looks unreal — sapphire against dark lava rock and bright green moss — and the walk down is short enough that you're not exhausted when you arrive. Then comes Gullfoss, the Golden Waterfall itself, where meltwater from Langjökull glacier drops into a canyon in two stages and the mist rises up so thick you can't see the bottom. On clear days the glacier is visible in the distance, and if the light is right, there's a rainbow in the spray. Your guide will tell you the best angle for photos, but honestly you'll take fifty anyway.

The final stop is Kerid, a volcanic crater that's 6,500 years old and still intact enough that you can walk the rim. The crater is ringed with red volcanic rock and filled with a shallow lake so blue it looks dyed, surrounded by moss so green it almost glows. It's smaller than Gullfoss or Þingvellir, but it's the one that stays with you — something about standing above a crater and seeing the whole thing at once. The minibus heads back to Reykjavik around 5 p.m., though the exact return time shifts with the weather and road conditions, which is just how things work in Iceland.

What’s included

Your day includes minibus pickup from a designated Reykjavik bus stop (check busstop.is for your location), professional English-speaking guide, entry to Þingvellir National Park, stops at Gullfoss and Bruarfoss waterfalls, time in the Geysir geothermal area, and a full walk around Kerid volcanic crater. Wi-Fi and Icelandic music play on the bus throughout the day, and you're dropped off back in downtown Reykjavik around 5 p.m.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Troll Expeditions

Is this one for you?Book this if you want the main Golden Circle sights plus two waterfalls most tours skip, without arranging your own transport or timing the stops yourself — the small minibus and fixed schedule handle all of that, and the guide knows where the light hits best.