Our first full day in Iceland, we did the Golden Circle. If you come to Iceland, this is 100% required as it's a tour of many of Iceland's "highlights". It's basically a circular route where you can see waterfalls, geysers, volcanoes - it's sweeping and enchanting. Although you can hit the highlights in half a day, we actually felt lucky to have a whole day exploring with a guide - as we saw a lot of extras that weren't in our original road trip plans and were perfect for kids!
As you already know, we decided to stay in Reykjavik and take a different tour each day. Again, since the Golden Circle is an absolute must, we scheduled the tour for our first full day in country. There are so many options for tours, but we decided to splurge for a day and do a private tour with Puffin Travel. It was very much the right choice, as we were able to work with him over email ahead of time to get together an extended itinerary that included all the famous highlights (plus a few 'extras - like horseback riding and ice cream!). Oh - and of course he had car seats too!
Our tour guide is the co-owner of Puffin Travel - highly recommend! His name is Villi (pronounced Willy), and he has been in Iceland for decades and knows basically everything. Fun fact - his wife Gulla is a PK/K teacher, and she usually does the tours with kids but had parent-teacher conferences she couldn't miss. Villi says she's even better with kids, and if that is true, then she must be exceptional because he was wonderful! ALSO - we were there in October... so we missed Puffin season. But that is actually their specialty. He is a retired fisherman and knows all the best secret spots to see puffins - and how to do it responsibly. So call him regardless of the season for a comfortable tour that is perfect - especially if you're with kids!
And now, the details!
Stop 1: Horseback Riding at Laxnes
Before we got to Iceland, I was messaging with Villi about the itinerary, and told him that I wanted to make sure Molly saw an Icelandic horse. Molly loves horses, and so does my mom, and this breed is only in Iceland so it seemed like something we should try to see. So I said, "...like I know we only have a day and we want to see 100 things, but it would be extra great if we saw one and maybe could even pet it...."
And wow did Villi deliver. We pulled up to Laxnes, and it's a beautiful property with dozens of horses nestled in the mountains. It was a cold October morning, and the owner Póri (an older guy who has pictures of himself with celebrities on his horses and trophies all over the barn) got straight to dressing us in warmer clothes. I was a little confused (not realizing how long he planned for us to be outside), but we put on all the gear he suggested - including helmets. Then someone from his team came in to grab us and wasted no time in getting each of us up on our own horse.... I'm still thinking that OK, maybe he'll walk us around the property - this is cool.
But within a couple minutes, our horses are all in a line and doing a slow gallop toward the stream cutting between the mountains. This isn't like your typical USA horse ride where the horses are slowly nose to tail walking along a trail. So admittedly I was initially terrified. I know an Icelandic horse is "small"... but it doesn't feel small when it's carrying you and your kids at a pretty fast clip across the fields and through little rivers. But there were two guides with us (one in the front and one in the back), and they were paying attention to literally every move to keep everyone safe (and in a group!).
Molly and Andrew were in heaven. They actually did SO well (not squealing in excitement was the hardest rule for Andrew to follow), and it still ranks as their favorite part of the trip. See Molly below middle - last to cross the river with the guide. Again, heaven for her.
It ended up being about 90 minutes, and the ride was pretty varied - all different speeds on all kinds of surfaces including grass, roads, trails, and streams. We started the ride by heading up the mountain. Then we stopped for a break to feed the horses (getting off and on your horse without a stool may rank as the most comical part). And then headed back down the mountain to the farm. Needless to say - the views were breathtaking (and we survived). It was even hard to say goodbye to our horses! So here I am now... highly recommending it!
Stop 2:Walk the Continental Divide at Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park
This is a UNESCO world heritage site and is probably the most famous of the national parks. There is a lot bundled into one location, and it has activities for all levels of fitness. It's free to enter, and you only have to pay for parking.
We parked at the visitors center, and stopped inside to see an interactive map of the park and use the bathroom. Right across the parking lot is a lookout where you can to see the continental rift. In case you don't know (I didn't), Iceland sits on the middle of two continental plates (Eurasian and North American), and the two plates are slowly drifting apart from each other - with Thingvellir in the rift valley of the two plates. The lookout has a sweeping view of the rift (and all the people scuba diving in the fissures - crazy because it's freezing!).
From the lookout, we walked down the big gravel trail with really cool rock structures on one side. Since we were still new to Iceland (and the kids grew up in California and Arizona), they were most interested in all the snow and ice... until we got to a "small" waterfall (small compared to one of our next stops). Villa actually had us to do this part on our own, and he met us at the end of the trail with his car (so we didn't to walk back up the same trail).
Then Villa drove us (a short drive) to a different spot in the park that almost looked like a swamp-type area - with an elevated wooden trail. From that trail, you could see the area where the first parliament was located (in 900 AD!). By this point kids were hungry, so we headed to our next stop.
Stop 3: Eat Fresh Ice Cream + Meet the Cows at Efstidalur II Creamery
This was the kids' second favorite stop of the day (behind the horse ride)... a real creamery! There is a lot here (a little restaurant, a hotel), but we were there mostly to see the cows and eat the ice cream. In fact, you can watch the cows through huge windows while you eat your ice cream - the same cows the cream came from... it's pretty cool. There are other animals on the property (including two baby calves while we were there), but our favorite was actually the dog and cat. We played fetch for a good 10 minutes with this friendly pup!
Stop 4: Visit Giagantic Gullfoss Waterfall
And now, the most famous stop on the famous Golden Circle - Gullfoss. It's a massive waterfall with two drops. Villa dropped us at the top, and you walk through the gift shop (yup) to get to the stairs going down. Our pictures here are from the view at the top, but we also walked down and for some reason took no pictures of that view... it was a SUPER windy day, and the water was seriously blowing a mist all the way to the parking lot (and it was also cold), so we kind of high tailed it back to the car!
Stop 5: Wait for an Eruption at Strokkur Geyser
Our last stop on our Golden Circle tour - geysers! We stopped at the famous Haukadalur valley to see all geysers (and boiling mud pits and such). Strokkur (pictured above) isn't the biggest geyser, but it still erupts up to 100 feet high and the most active right now. It erupts about every 8 minutes, so we saw one eruption while walking toward it, stayed for a second, and then decided to film a third (above) - the kids loved it every time! On the walk around, you can also see the 'Little Geyser', which was less exciting because it didn't erupt but was still cute to see a mini version of the larger one!
And then we headed back to a warm dinner and sleep! So that's a wrap on our Golden Circle tour! Book your tour with Villi today if you want to see all the stuff - especially the most kid-friendly sights!
Don't forget to check out our other Iceland with Kids posts: