Rift valleys, geysers and a thundering waterfall
The Golden Circle packs three of Iceland's great sights into a day's drive from Reykjavík. At Þingvellir National Park you walk through a rift between the North American and Eurasian plates, on the site where Iceland's parliament first met in 930. At Geysir, the Strokkur geyser erupts every few minutes, and at Gullfoss the Hvítá river drops in two stages into a deep canyon. Add the Kerið crater lake or a soak in a geothermal lagoon along the way.