Reykjavik City Sightseeing and Golden Circle Tour

Spend a morning in and around Reykjavik, where the history and culture of a nation will be revealed and in the afternoon set out across the starkly beautiful landscapes of the famous Golden Circle.

Some of the sites you will see on your Reykjavik City Sightseeing tour are the Presidential Palace, the old town and the famous Perlan – a glass dome which holds the city’s water.

After exploring the highlights of Reykjavik you can set out on Iceland’s best known tour – the Golden Circle. This tour shows you the very best of Iceland’s natural environment from the historical sites and one-of-a-kind waterfalls to geysers, and volcanic craters.

What's the plan:

You will be picked up by bus from your Reykjavik hotel for this City Sightseeing and Golden Circle Tour. You will be accompanied by an English-speaking guide that knows the area well.

Enjoy stunning views of the city from the Perlan museum, explore the oldest part of the city, and visit the Hallgrímskirkja church who's design was inspired by basalt lava columns and Icelandic nature. Discover the farm style of the Presidential Residence at Bessastaðir and the town Hafnarfjörður, where a mysterious race of “hidden people” lives in perfect harmony with the human population.

Leaving at 1pm for the Golden Circle as the second part of this combination tour, set off by bus for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Þingvellir National Park. It was here that the country’s first parliament was founded in 930 AD, making it the oldest known Parliament in the world. It is also a remarkable tectonic and volcanic environment where continental drift has engraved the landscape with cracks, faults, and fissures.

Drive to the world-renowned geothermal area around Geysir hot spring, where a column of water thrusts upward to a height of 180 feet. Only a few feet away is the Stokkur Geyser, which hurls boiling water toward the sky every 5-10 minutes.

Continue to Gullfoss waterfall, where the wide Hvita River plunges furiously over a natural staircase of stones. When one first approaches the falls, the crevice is obscured from view, giving the appearance of a raging river that simply vanishes into the earth.

On your way back to Reykjavik, make drive and pass by the village of Hveragerði, where geothermal energy has been harnessed to create unique greenhouse cultivation.

Travel back over a mountain heath to the Icelandic capital, where you will be returned to your hotel.