A Guide to Golden Circle Tour in Iceland Iceland is not just a sprawling vista of untouched majesty. It’s a battlefield hosting a centuries-long scrimmage between fire and ice, where the unpredictable weather makes it seem like three seasons have passed in the course of four minutes, and where elves exist. No place on Earth seems so alien, but perhaps no place is as pure a showcase for our planet’s most raw and active geological features. It’s indescribably beautiful. Towering mountains are surrounded by rolling valleys and black sand beaches. The sky, sometimes alight with the aurora borealis, is often mirrored in glacial lakes. It’s little wonder, then, that so many people flock to this North Atlantic country.
The Golden Circle (Icelandic: Gullnihringurinn) is a popular tourist route in southern Iceland, covering about 300 kilometers looping from Reykjavík into the southern uplands of Iceland and back. It is the area that contains most tours and travel-related activities in Iceland. The name Golden Circle is a marketing term that has no roots in Icelandic history. The three primary stops on the route are the Thingvellir National Park, the Gullfoss waterfall, and the geothermal area in Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur. Though Geysir has been mostly dormant for many years, Strokkur continues to erupt every 5–10 minutes. To enable you to witness Iceland’s most famous sights The Golden Circle tour allows you to visit some of Iceland’s most stunning sights; Geysir geothermal area, the waterfall Gullfoss, and the UNESCO site of Thingvellir National Park.
Thingvellir National Park is one of UNESCO’S world heritage site both for its geological uniqueness and its historic significance. At Thingvellir the Eurasian and
North American tectonic plates meet and you can clearly see the rift valley that is caused by the drift of the plates. Icelanders regard Thingvellir almost as a holy place. It was here that Althingi, parliament was founded in the year 930 AD, making it one of the oldest in the world. Geysir hot spring area takes its name after the Great Geysir that found there. Although the Great Geysir has been dormant for some time now, the area is highly active. Fumaroles, bubbling hot springs and Geysir’s successor, Strokkur erupts every 5-10 minutes, sending boiling water up to 20 meters up to the air.
Iceland’s most famous waterfall, Gullfoss is a spectacular double cascade dropping a dramatic 32m. As it descends, it kicks up magnificent walls of spray before thundering down a rocky ravine. On sunny days the mist creates shimmering
rainbows, while in winter the falls glitter with ice. Although it’s a popular sight, the remote location still makes you feel the ineffable forces of nature that have worked this landscape for millennia. Resource:
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golden-circle-tour-in-iceland/
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