One of the reasons why we rented a car in Iceland is because we knew we wanted to explore the Golden Circle at our own pace. Our trip itinerary only allowed us to have three and a half days in Iceland so we hit the ground running by driving to the Golden Circle as soon as we got our rental car at the Keflavik airport.

A few quick notes on car rental in Iceland: This is heavily dependent on what time of year you are renting. We drove in May and the forecast was clear of any bad weather. The biggest risk to our car was rocks from driving on gravel roads just off the main highways. We did not end up paying for extra insurance and it worked out fine. We used Firefly and obtaining the car was a smooth process, besides initially receiving a manual car instead of our reserved, but this was quickly remedied. The Firefly cars are also obtained by going to the Hertz desk at the airport FYI.

Driving in Iceland is not at all difficult. They drive on the right side of the road (an important distinction for us as we had just come from Ireland) and there are only a few main highways that you need to navigate so we successfully found our destinations with printed Google maps and a map of Reykjavik provided by our car rental company (although admittedly, we did got lost once in Reykjavik). All of the sightseeing we wanted to do was marked by signs so we knew when to turn off of the highway.

Some quirks of driving in Iceland include the fact that you have to always have your headlights on even during the summer when it is light out the entire day. The speed limits (in km) are comparatively low (90km/h max) when considering the 70mph speed limits on similar highways in the United States. But they do take their speed limits seriously, which is understandable given the severe weather conditions that can strike quickly in Iceland. Finally, and this is important to know in advance, if you want to get gas, you need a card with a PIN! Brad wanted to risk going without one, claiming that he was sure there would be attendants that could help us. We ran into multiple occasions at gas stations where we had to use Erin’s debit card and had no alternatives. The gas stations are less frequent than they are in the United States and we made sure to fill up whenever we went below half a tank in more rural areas, but the gas stations weren’t as scarce as we expected in southern Iceland.

Ok, back to driving the Golden Circle!

Our first stop was Thingvellir, a national park where two continental plates meet. There is a large fault that goes right through this park, where you can walk on a bridge that covers the gap and apparently go scuba diving in the water that filled the space below. We parked and walked towards the Oxararfoss waterfall, which was visible from the road. The park was free to walk through and has large trails, although we never strayed too far from Oxararfoss.

As we read the signs along the way, we learned that this is where Iceland’s ancient parliament used to be held and justice was served throughout the area in ways such as drowning. Despite the harsh past, the nature was beautiful and made for a really nice walk as we explored the area.

Thingvellir was also a Game of Thrones filming location (used for scenes that took place in the Eyrie), which gave us an extra reason to be excited about the park. Walking by ourselves through a rocky canyon near the waterfall definitely gave us the sense that we were exploring Westeros.

Eventually, we made our way to the visitor center and, since we hadn’t eaten since our earlier flight, we bought some sandwiches to heat up. Maybe it was because we were starving, but we thought these sandwiches were amazing (tikka masala and pepperoni taco). All in all, we probably spent at least two hours exploring Thingvellir.

Our next stop on the Golden Circle was the Geysir Hot Spring Area. This aptly named location is an area full of several geysers and hot springs. Although it is free to park and enjoy the sights here, it is mostly roped off, likely to protect people from stumbling into scalding hot water. After we somehow missed the entrance and walked around the roped off area, we back-tracked and figured out how to actually enter without trespassing.

Due to the abundance of hot water, blowing steam covers the majority of the surface. It reminded us of Yellowstone National Park, but while the sulfuric smell could be overwhelming at Yellowstone, there was only a hint of the smell here. The two main geysers that people come to see are the Strokkur geyser, which goes off frequently (we saw it erupt twice in 20 minutes) and Geysir, which rarely erupts. We did not get to experience the visitor center here, as we visited after 6pm and it was already closed. There is also a nice camping area here that we walked by while looking for bathrooms.

Next, we drove to Gullfoss to see one of Iceland’s most famous waterfalls. At this time, Erin really had to use the bathroom, having failed to find one at Geysir. Most unfortunately, at Gullfoss, you had to pay to use the restroom (but luckily you could just use a credit card to pay the 400 ISK). To see the waterfall, there is no cost at all. From the restroom and visitor center area, all we could see was the rising mist from the waterfall below. As we drew near, the sun broke through and we were able to see a rainbow in the mist! Unfortunately, as the actual waterfall came into view, the sun moved behind some clouds and the rainbow was no longer visible.

The waterfall itself was quite a stunning sight! It is much bigger than we expected, roaring down into a river below. After admiring it from above, we noticed a path where people got up close and personal to the waterfall. Although there were stairs we could have taken to get down there, we drove around to the lower entrance and then walked up to next to Gullfoss.

After enjoying the sights of Gullfoss, the cold of the mist urged us to head to our hostel, as it was already approaching 9pm and we still had a two hour drive before we reached our destination for the night, Vik.

When we arrived, we were surprised by how small Vik actually is. You can drive through the center of the town in less than five minutes and we easily found our hostel (the Puffin hostel) thanks to large signs leading the way. One of the staff members of the hostel met us in the parking lot and was very helpful in checking us in. Sadly, it was around 11:30pm by the time we were settled, and no kitchens were open. We dined on our supply of dried fruit and granola bars, showered in efficient yet warm communal showers, and fell asleep in our simple but clean bunk beds.