Day 2: Golden Circle and more

Iceland’s so-called “Golden Circle” is a series of roads that cover some of the most popular destinations on the island, including Thingvellir National Park (which we are saving for Thursday), Gullfoss waterfall, and the Haukadalur geothermal area.

Our first stop was the 45-minute hike to Bruarfoss waterfall. The hike went along the Bruara river and passed by a series of “appetizer” waterfalls on the way to the final destination.

Hiked back to the car…next stop was the Haukadalur geothermal area, where Geysir (a geyser which used to erupt but has grown “temperamental” in recent years), Strokkur (which erupts all the time) and other smaller geysers are located.

Only 10 minutes away from Strokkur is the mighty Gullfoss waterfall, one of our most anticipated destinations on the trip

Onwards to Skalholtskirja, a site which was a center of religious and cultural influence in Iceland for hundreds of years. The current location has a church, mossy side-building, and underground museum/tunnel system.

Our next stop, the secluded Haifoss waterfall, was nearly an hour and a half away, and not really part of the “Golden Circle.” The only way to get to Haifoss is over 8 kilometers of F Road, which is an unpaved, rocky road leading up in the highlands of Iceland. Once we were up in the highlands, it was below freezing and rainy, but we soldiered on towards the short hike to Haifoss.

Last stop of the night was Kerid Crater, a large crater where brightly-colored aquamarine water has collected. You can hike down to the water level.

We saw Kerid just before the sunset, around 10 pm, then took a long detour around some construction to finally get back to Reykjavik around 11 pm. We hadn’t had a full dinner yet, and most of the restaurants that were supposedly open until 1 am were only serving drinks, so we got food from Hlollabatar, a food-truck fixture in Ingolfur square that served sandwiches, burgers, salads, piri piri chicken and more. 2 days in the books!