Review: Reykjavik 3 Day South Coast & Golden Circle Experience
Dreaming of visiting Iceland? I did, too, and it was definitely everything I’d hoped. This Reykjavik 3 Day South Coast and Golden Circle tour I chose gave me a taste of Iceland’s most popular sights, and I want to share every bit, and crumb, and drop of the adventure I tasted with you. My goal here is honestly to give you the real picture, maybe with helpful hints, personal experiences, and, also too, just about what to watch out for. Are you excited to find out if this adventure, quite honestly, is your sort of adventure?
First Day: Kicking off with the Golden Circle Wonders
My adventure kicked off super early! Like, properly dark-thirty, and just like a scene from a movie, we piled onto a surprisingly cozy bus right in Reykjavik, too it’s almost showtime! Now, our initial destination, Þingvellir National Park, is apparently significant not only as a pretty important place to be from a geographic viewpoint, but because of its amazing backstory! This, actually, is where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates decide to properly get together – crazy, huh?
Walking around, just on the path, you can seriously see, apparently with your own eyes, the huge cracks and ridges marking the divide. And, this isn’t only that – Þingvellir is, in a way, historically significant. This, basically, is where the Icelandic parliament met for centuries. Standing there, well I did, imagining Viking leaders discussing serious stuff in the wide open air was truly so powerful that it touched my soul, to be fair. I made some incredible photos to send home that were just about the most powerful photos I’ve ever shared.
Next thing we did was drive over to Geysir Hot Spring area. If Þingvellir touched my soul, this pretty much was the kick up the bum I required. As soon as you get close, that very distinct smell of sulfur kinda fills the air. The star over here, of course, has to be Strokkur, a hot spring that really blows every so often. Trust me, it feels exciting waiting to see when Strokkur is just about to shoot this big jet of bubbling water right into the air, then so it is, that your camera, and its battery life is about to have its biggest test! So too it’s almost an adrenaline thing to watch this insane earth’s fireworks display again, and again, and again.
Our last spot that day was Gullfoss waterfall, and, honestly, it’s massive. Water thunders down into a canyon that’s very ancient, the mist does float up, and there too, it’s almost possible, you see how powerful and majestic nature truly is. Pro tip though, too it’s almost essential: grab a raincoat. Trust me, really trust me, that mist will creep on your gear faster than you might like, but it is almost just what you hoped and dreamed about!
Day 2: Chasing Waterfalls and Black Sands down the South Coast
Day two was focused on the South Coast, very well know to Iceland fans, yet very unknown too. First stop was Seljalandsfoss waterfall. What is almost unique, even in a land filled with insane waterfalls, is that you have permission to walk right just right behind it. How cool is that! The path behind the falling water can very much be slippery, though. If you do go behind, and, honestly, you ought to go, I’d suggest some proper shoes, just to get grip. You, just you, you have the opportunity to capture amazing photos looking out, straight from the waterfall. It seems I could sense I am getting wet in all that mist and spray! This, very much is just about an awesome memory to keep!
Up next, the journey led us, obviously in a tour bus, and the destination was Skógafoss waterfall. This is also pretty impressive because you have the option to climb some steps alongside it, I mean right the way up, just to gain very different views from the top. Believe you me when I do tell you the wind just there was crazy strong but worth going through! Standing above seeing the water plunging just down, and all the landscapes going around, and just on, I honestly understood a proper great view. If you have more energy available than I had, there, basically, are walking trails that lead on from the waterfall.
Later, this journey brought the team all the way over to Reynisfjara black sand beach, with its insane basalt columns and sea stacks. The waves here are a bit rough so, too it’s almost quite important that you really take any posted warning to your consideration seriously and keep at a proper distance from the water! Watching the ocean’s waves just as they crash on the black sands and looking, you know, those big basalt columns gives a properly unique sense of being small just within a very large earth. A black sands beach might just be just what your needed!
Glaciers and Lagoon Dreams on Day 3
The third day? That just had to be my best, you know. This morning was the team’s journey over to Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon and Diamond Beach, so they tell me. Jökulsárlón is almost really mind-blowing – imagine icebergs, really old icebergs just as they break away from a glacier and peacefully move towards ocean. The team actually took a boat trip right around the lagoon! It definitely was something that made this very cold location special indeed! We were, really quite lucky to catch up with the seals who also love that location and were just posing away for some picture moments, so too it’s almost important that you catch moments, and moments of seal joy!
Diamond Beach is just steps away from the lagoon, yet, as I soon learned, it is an absolute winner in its own right. What looks quite amazing there is that icebergs just wash up right upon the shore. What they do then, the ice sparkles so, because it does react very uniquely and powerfully with all that black sand. The ice formations do range, it goes without saying, straight from see-through glass through to pure intense blue. Wandering along just the black sand there seeing these diamonds right just shining at our feet felt ever so surreal.
This trip just back up to Reykjavik was basically quite long, with loads of driving. What does strike the observer and visitor here, and something to carefully see and measure just yourself, is how different, really quite dramatically different, Iceland looks and shows to you. Each twist along roads is an almost new opportunity. By far one of those scenic experiences, and memories from travels, that are genuinely quite memorable!
Practical things you’d love to consider, you know!
One thing that you really need to know from Day 1 and something you need to plan, you see, when taking any tour around Iceland involves what goes to weather! Weather might alter over there, you just should see it, almost superfast. Just make some extra space for several layers with clothes! Warmth? This, basically, is of a vital point over there as, just seriously. Grab yourself something very water resistant! If you don’t have something that will assist you keep all the stuff well protected, it’ll be almost useless in spray that comes up just all around each place over there and the showers that start with totally zero warning! I actually made a packing-checklist! Which I’m proud to announce I will provide to all my friends. Feel welcome! 🙂
The time of day matters! Any tour you may consider undertaking from over in Reykjavik might ask you make a decision based around something along “Pickup-Location-Options!” The great majority of smaller operators, but not really many of large brands, does provide a system where by their teams pick-up/drop-off direct with the different hotels dotted around. Now, from a purely timing point of view, the team can just arrange that that drop/pickup place just ends-up just on a key transit route! That really assists them and you to stay close just inside timing! If this does work from some pickup locale over there, take something very suitable! When a direct hotel door choice isn’t even a possibility, do take action!
When I took any break from eating just upon those three very great days just over in Iceland there I did feel I probably may consider trying more on snacks to take all that distance there when, maybe for instance I may eat more just regularly just upon any vacation-days over the course and especially after all these walking segments included along that kind adventure. One of those most brilliant tips I want share. If anybody wants one! When stopping right by any small community shop, there, probably just is only one place!
Is it worth the buck, I mean quid, euro, yen?
To tell you, this Reykjavik three-day circle, and the Iceland South Coast experience, does honestly serve awesome looks at why all that travel hype right by Iceland does remain very just deserved! While probably you may do anything that might well be affordable and cheaper should your team does take something more just on your own using some rental over on anything, that does serve quite a stress to organize that just on your own. Taking a full experience just off some guided approach honestly took so more off my shoulder! But that probably did let and does allow some real proper break from things going along day by day.
I saw everything and a very small portion on real awesome sites that would very much be hard packing through by on my self! All in, taking something off Iceland even in this brief format I totally feel I actually really earned and learned a good few travel tales through Iceland that did make for anything to have ever lasted!
My Honest Ratings for this Tour Experience:
- Overall experience: 4.5/5
- Guides’ Know-how: 5/5
- Organization / Timetables: 4/5
- Quality with Sites there with all Itinerary: 5/5
- Real Value with Investment / Spending: 4/5
My word on such is should some team require anything off little shorter format tours over in what probably is and honestly turns along almost very truly incredible state I may definitely and without hesitation very would have thought strongly through booking some identical adventure myself, so you are prepared should they have an equal inclination!
Ultimately? Take the trip. Get proper Iceland bug bite fever right at this minute!
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