We had an early start on our third day in Iceland, so my partner grabbed us breakfast from the cafe downstairs, which we ate in our room.
Bellies full, we headed outside and waited for the coach to pick us up and take us on the popular Golden Circle tour.
As it was a rainy morning, it was still dark when we went out and didn’t get light until after 11am.
Once on the coach we started our tour. The first stop which isn’t part of the Golden Circle but is included, was a visit to Fridheimar Greenhouse.
Fridheimar grows 20% of Iceland’s tomatoes and has a restaurant serving tomato based food. Me and my partner shared a bowl of tomato soup and homemade bread.
Despite not usually being a fan of tomato soup, the one at Fridheimar was fresh, flavoursome and completely different in taste. My partner really loved it!
One of the unique foods on the menu at Fridheimar, tomato ice cream.
As it was getting light, it was time to head off and see the first attraction on the Golden Circle tour, the Geysir Hot Spring Area.
We arrived to a beautiful mountain backdrop.
Before walking towards the bubbling Geysers.
As Iceland’s a volcanic island, there are geysers which erupt shooting boiling hot water high into the air.
Geysir is the most famous geyser as it used to frequently erupt, sending water over 200ft in the air. As it doesn’t erupt frequently now, the main sight to see is the Strokkur geyser.
Strokkur erupts every 3-10 minutes and shoots water up to 100ft into the air.
I’ve included a link to my video of Strokkur erupting below, as it’s pretty special to see.
After seeing the geysers, it was time to move on to the second stop of our tour.
We drove on to see the magical Gullfoss waterfall.
Gullfoss means Golden Waterfall and it was my favourite stop of the day, due to the sheer power and beauty of the waterfall. I could have happily spent all day watching this natural beauty.
Link below to my video of Gullfoss.
And then it was time for the final stop, which was at Thingvellir National Park.
Thingvellir is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as the world’s oldest existing parliament first assembled there in 930 AD. It’s also famous for it’s continental drift and striking landscape.
A link to my video of the stunning scenery at Thingvellir.
Part of the old parliament.
And finally, the part that fascinated me the most, the continental drift.
The Eurasian and North-American tectonic plates both run through Iceland and due to earthquakes, they’ve drifted further apart.
On the left side is the Eurasian plate and to the right is the North-American plate, which you can walk through the middle of.
Once you cross the bridge and turn right, you’re on the American tectonic plate and technically in a whole different continent. So within minutes you cross from Europe to America.
Us on the North American side.
As Thingvellir was the final stop on the Golden Circle tour, we headed back to Reykjavik.
We popped to the shops, relaxed in our hotel and then headed out for food.
We went to Grillhusid American Diner, which had a relaxed, retro feel.
After snacking all day we didn’t fancy a dinner, so we both had a bowl of ice cream with toppings. I didn’t get any photos as we scoffed it too quickly.
After a busy day we headed back to the hotel, ready for our last full day in Iceland.
Great post! The photos are lovely!! x
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Aaw thank you😊 xx
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Love your photos Dannii! Brings me right back on the Golden Circle tour!
We stayed so long at the geyser to watch it erupt… so fascinating! The waterfall was only mildy interesting to us because we have Niagara Falls so we’re snobs! LMAO! 😆
Thingvellir is so neat too – the fissure where east meets west was cool.
Did your tour stop off at the lake that was volcano that had sunken in? Where the salmons swim upstream? We also did another unplanned stop to see and pet Icelandic horses! 😀
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Aaw thank you. I stayed watching and trying to film the geyser too😊😂 Haha I’d love to see Niagra Falls. We have nothing like that here.
I really liked Thingvellir, pretty cool to cross continents☺ Aaw no we didn’t. That sounds great. I want to go back and see the Icelandic horses😊 xx
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Ewwwwww tomato ice cream? No thanks haha. This place looks incredible – I’d never heard of the Golden Circle tour until now but it’s definitely on my Bucket list now for sure. It looks amazing, the continental drift thing is so cool, how amazing that within a second you were technically in a different continent! Sounds like you had the best experiences in Iceland xx
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Haha I know, sounded so unappealing😂 It’s amazing, such a great tour to see so many natural wonders in one go. I loved the continental drift. So strange and cool to change continents like that😊 I did. I’d love to go back, there’s so many great places to see in Iceland xxx
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Did you guys try the tomato ice cream or tomato cheesecake? I’m not a huge fan of tomatoes, but I’d be curious!
Oooh, I remember learning about the Eurasian and North-American tectonic plates in geography class. That’s really neat that they built a bridge so you can walk between them!
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We didn’t but I was tempted to try the ice cream! I thought it’d be gross but I was still curious haha. It is pretty cool that you can walk through the plates and cross between two continents☺ xx
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stunning view and so incredible to be able to see it live! Is it quiet out there when the geysers aren’t erupting? Looks very serene
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Each site was so stunning and amazing to see☺ You can just hear bubbling from the hot springs, but other than that it was peaceful😊 xx
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it looks like that, peaceful and you get a feeling of wonder how beautiful our earth is by being there
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It’s such a unique landscape at the locations, but especially at the hot springs. You have snowy mountains and then below bubbling springs and geyers☺ x
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very contradicting scenes but enhances the feeling I am imagining.
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It does. What I liked about Iceland was that it felt other worldly. The landscape was so magical x
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you captured it really well in your photos and writing
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Thank you. Xx
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What an amazing adventure! That walkway through the tectonic plates was so cool, but sort of freaky too!
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It was such a fun day to see so many beautiful natural sights☺ It’s crazy isn’t it! It’s a crack in the earth and you cross between two plates. Each year they move further apart x
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What a fab post and amazing photos it looks beautiful! Xxx
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Aaw thanks lovely. It was so beautiful😊💕 x
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Hi! 🙂
I want to say that you have made me want to go to Iceland, especially with all these recent amazing posts 😛
I also have nominated you for the blogger recognition award 🙂
https://lifeofanangela.wordpress.com/2017/04/02/the-blogger-recognition-award/
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Aaw thank you😊 Also I’m so glad you’re enjoying my Iceland series. It’s such a beautiful country😊 xx
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Oh My gosh this sounds amazing! I love your picture! And that waterfall is amazing! Definitely putting it on my bucket list! ❤
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That’s another place added to my long list of ‘To be traveled’ ,haha. I’m so glad that you had a good time and I love all of your photos! ❤
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Haha😊 Thank you, I had a really great time and I’m glad you enjoyed the photos x
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Was three days enough here, or would/could you have stayed longer? The continental drift looks so fascinating!
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I was in Iceland four nights, I’ve got to post the final blog today or tomorrow☺ No definitely not enough. I feel like I needed an extra day or two in Reykjavik to do the museums and explore more. Plus there’s so much more of the country I’d like to see, so we’d like to go back for longer☺ xx
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Your photo diary is wonderful! Looks like you guys had a great time. Loved all of this 🙂 Hope to go to Iceland one day, myself.
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Aaw thank you. We had an amazing time☺ I hoped to get the final part of my Iceland trip up today but WordPress wont let me add photos. Hopefully it’ll be up soon. I hope you get to go. It’s such a beautiful place xx
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That’s your YouTube channel?
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I upload short videos I’ve taken and usually just link them into my blogs. So not a proper YouTube channel☺ x
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Subscribed anyway!! Hahaha!
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😂😙 xx
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