golden circle
iceland
the golden circle-not as golden as its name
1:08 PM
the golden circle was like a must-must for every visitor in iceland. even people who only stay for couples of nights tend to include it as a part of their plans.
what are so special about this route? we had to go and see it with our own eyes.
we headed out of reykjavik early in the morning, after a visit to reykjavik roaster, a cafe which was quite famous for its coffee located not so far away from our guesthouse. and even as early as quarter past eight, a few tables were already taken. the cafe was very casual, cosy and simply lovely. they also had a few selections of yummy bakery. we tried scones and it was pretty good.
then off we went on the golden circle.
we were still new in iceland, and the sight of snow on both sides of the road still excited us. we pulled our car over to the side of the road occasionally until we arrived at gullfoss.
the walkway from the shop/restaurant was very nicely made, however, the walk from the other car park (which you have to turn right a while before you will get to the main shop/restaurant) will give better views of the waterfall. however, i didn't think this waterfall was that spectacular. yes, it was huge and all, but compare to other falls we visited, this was just average. maybe it was also because visitors couldn't really get a clear view of the fall, it was kinda hiding between the rift. because gullfoss was quite powerful, the water sprayed very crazily around the area. and it was also raining slightly when we were there.
wet, wet, wet.
it was one of the rare moment i didn't regret buying (and bringing) a pretty raincoat with me on a trip.
the next stop was the geysir. (geyser is an icelandic word for geyser which means hot spring)
until we got there, we didn't know before that there was a 600 isk ticket required to enter the geysir area. i thought it was too much. there was the only geyser named strokkur that was active all year round and erupted every 5-10 minutes. it went up pretty high. but other than strokkur, nothing there seemed to be that amazing. in my opinion, the attraction was quite overrated.
but that was just my personal opinion though.
actually, we wanted to go to bruarfoss but we weren't equipped with rubber boots and the trail was very muddy. (we were there at the wrong season, i supposed) and it was raining cats and dogs.
the walkway from the shop/restaurant was very nicely made, however, the walk from the other car park (which you have to turn right a while before you will get to the main shop/restaurant) will give better views of the waterfall. however, i didn't think this waterfall was that spectacular. yes, it was huge and all, but compare to other falls we visited, this was just average. maybe it was also because visitors couldn't really get a clear view of the fall, it was kinda hiding between the rift. because gullfoss was quite powerful, the water sprayed very crazily around the area. and it was also raining slightly when we were there.
look at this curtain of vapour!
it was one of the rare moment i didn't regret buying (and bringing) a pretty raincoat with me on a trip.
the next stop was the geysir. (geyser is an icelandic word for geyser which means hot spring)
no photo from the strokkur while i was taking videos of it instead
until we got there, we didn't know before that there was a 600 isk ticket required to enter the geysir area. i thought it was too much. there was the only geyser named strokkur that was active all year round and erupted every 5-10 minutes. it went up pretty high. but other than strokkur, nothing there seemed to be that amazing. in my opinion, the attraction was quite overrated.
blesi was said to be the most beautiful pool in geyser area
but that was just my personal opinion though.
actually, we wanted to go to bruarfoss but we weren't equipped with rubber boots and the trail was very muddy. (we were there at the wrong season, i supposed) and it was raining cats and dogs.
at least we were lucky we decided to walk back before it started to rain.
we stayed overnight at efstidalur II farm hotel. (yeah, we even stayed overnight in the golden circle route. my dad's a photographer and it would be convenient for him to be able to go back to places when during sunrise and sunset and retake the photos) the place was pretty cute with the the nice family-run kinda service. they have homemade ice cream which wasn't really extraordinary. their dinner was alright, but a bit expensive. though you could see that they certainly use great beef from their own farm. and their breakfast was really nice with some yummy, crispy homemade bread!
our room was okay, bathroom wasn't that nice but the water didn't have such a strong smell of rotten egg like guesthouse sunna in reykjavik.
i kinda regret it as i felt like i haven't done enough research about the route and we missed out so many places, like the rift between two continents and thingvellir national park. or maybe the f-roads were still closed and it was raining so we didn't get to see a lot of places?
i don't know. maybe i have to go back and figure it out.
beef steak at efstidalur was kinda burnt...
we stayed overnight at efstidalur II farm hotel. (yeah, we even stayed overnight in the golden circle route. my dad's a photographer and it would be convenient for him to be able to go back to places when during sunrise and sunset and retake the photos) the place was pretty cute with the the nice family-run kinda service. they have homemade ice cream which wasn't really extraordinary. their dinner was alright, but a bit expensive. though you could see that they certainly use great beef from their own farm. and their breakfast was really nice with some yummy, crispy homemade bread!
our room was okay, bathroom wasn't that nice but the water didn't have such a strong smell of rotten egg like guesthouse sunna in reykjavik.
i kinda regret it as i felt like i haven't done enough research about the route and we missed out so many places, like the rift between two continents and thingvellir national park. or maybe the f-roads were still closed and it was raining so we didn't get to see a lot of places?
i don't know. maybe i have to go back and figure it out.
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