Winter is the most beautiful time to visit the Golden Circle. It’s like a scene from a Christmas card, whether the whole landscape is blanketed in snow, or you get a little dusting, it’s simply spectacular. The dark volcanic rock of Thingvellir National Park is especially stunning when contrasted with the white snow, and the whole scene is simply magical.
Planning a trip here independently is easy and it’s a great introduction to winter driving in Iceland if it’s your first time. However, even if you have no intention of driving and would rather take a tour, this guide will take you through what to expect from each of the stops.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Iceland’s Golden Circle in winter.
The Golden Circle in winter
Which places make up the Golden Circle?
Before we get started, the Golden Circle is a 240km scenic drive which loops around three major tourist sites that are relatively close to Reykjavík. The stops are Thingvellir National Park, Gullfoss Waterfall and Geysir.
There are a number of sites located just off the route, but many are not accessible or harder to get to in winter. You also have less daylight hours, so it’s hard to fit in much beyond the traditional stops if you’re trying to cover the Golden Circle in just one day.
We added in one stop which we’ll mention below, but otherwise we’re just covering the popular spots until we return to Iceland later in the year : )
Is it safe to drive the Golden Circle in winter?
The entire route around the Golden Circle is paved and well maintained. If you have a few days in Reykjavík you can easily pick a good weather window for exploring the Golden Circle, and the route will be no harder to drive than in summer.
You don’t need a 4WD, especially if you have time to pick a weather window. However, you may want one just to be on the safe side incase you do hit storms.
We had perfect conditions predicted for our Golden Circle trip, but in reality about halfway round, we were hit by a snow storm. It never felt unsafe and it certainly wasn’t as bad as what we encountered on the south coast, but we were happy to have a 4WD, which buffeted less in the wind and felt safe and sturdy.
The most important thing is to have studded tyres incase things get icy. I won’t go into too much detail on winter driving because we have a whole guide dedicated to it, which you can read here.
Which way should you drive the circuit?
You can drive the circuit in either direction. We saw that most tour companies tended to finish at Thingvellir National Park. For this reason we chose to start there instead, but it was still packed, so honestly I am not sure it makes a difference crowds-wise which direction you go.
You will encounter people at each of the stops no matter which way you drive the loop - you might get a very short amount of time to yourself if you arrive at Thingvellir National Park just before sunrise, but honestly it’s better to just accept you can’t get spots along the Golden Circle to yourself unless you are incredibly lucky.
Due to the lack of daylight hours, I’d recommend driving to the first stop in the dark, so you’re ready to go at sunrise, otherwise you might run short on time or feel rushed.
The sky tends to be light for at least 30 minutes, if not significantly more before sunrise, so your whole journey wouldn’t be in the dark anyway.
How crowded is the Golden Circle in winter?
Contrary to popular believe, or perhaps contrary to what I read online before our trip, the secret is well and truly out about visiting Iceland in winter.
The significantly lower prices and beautiful snowy landscapes make a winter trip highly desirable, particularly for people who want to use Reykjavík as a base and take day trips to the Golden Circle and along the coast to Vik.
Of course far fewer people are visiting Iceland in winter than other times of year, but the bit that makes it tricky re crowds, is the lack of daylight hours.
When sunrise is at 10am or even later it’s no hassle to be out of bed and ready to go at that time, so you can’t beat the crowds by going early. Ditto with sunset.
This means to a certain extent you have to roll with the fact it’s hard to get places to yourself, which after an initial shock at how packed Thingvellir National Park was, we did manage to do.
Although we are looking forward to doing some exploring without the crowds under the midnight sun later this year.
Stops along the Golden Circle
1. Thingvellir National Park (aka Þingvellir National Park)
Distance from Reykjavík: 48km, 45 minute drive
Distance from Geysir: 60km, 50 minute drive
Entry fee: Free
Thingvellir National Park was probably my favourite stop along the Golden Circle, but unfortunately we arrived just after sunrise, at the same time as several big tour buses.
Still, even the huge crowds couldn’t diminish the beauty of the area (it’s worth noting the crowds thinned out considerably after an hour, so if you have time to wait you can have a more peaceful experience). The main lookout, which has views over the tectonic plates to the mountains, is just a couple of minutes walk from the car park.
However, it’s well worth doing a slightly longer walk here. Although if you do venture further than the first lookout, we’d recommend having traction devices with you because it gets very icy, we use Yaktrax . We recommend buying the heavy duty ones as the regular ones tend to break more quickly.
We’ll go into more detail on a few bits to bring with you to make a winter trip here more enjoyable at the end of the post.
Although there are a few different walks you can do in the park, we opted to head to Öxarárfoss waterfall. This is a distance of 1.7km each way (or you can make a circuit).
There are plenty of little offshoots with great views along the way. There are signs up saying they are not maintained for winter - this basically means they will be icy and have a high slip risk if you don’t have the right gear.
The walk itself is pretty easy, there are a few little uphill sections, but nothing that will get you out of breath. The tricky bit is the ice, particularly on the last few stairs as you turn off the main trail towards the waterfall.
It’s worth it though because after the first 500m you leave all the crowds behind. Incidentally those first few hundred metres are a must though - even if you’re not planning to visit the waterfall.
You’ll head through the towering volcanic cliffs and it’s incredibly picturesque.
The waterfall itself may or may not be frozen when you arrive. For us it was partially frozen.
I think it’s pretty special either way, but if you don’t want to walk out to find it frozen, then you can ask at the visitor centre at the car park before you make the trip out.
If you want to see the waterfall, but would prefer a shorter walk, you can get closer by driving to the Öxarárfoss car park - you can find it on Google Maps by clicking here.
From here it’s just 400m each way, but it’s the iciest bit, so don’t attempt without traction devices - we saw way too many people slip!
2. Geysir
Distance from Reykjavík: 106km, 1 hour 30 minute drive
Distance from Gullfoss Waterfall: 10km, 10 minute drive
Entry fee: Free
Geysir is a geothermal area after which all other geysirs are named - I had no idea that was the case before visiting! From the main parking area, beside the cafe and restaurant, you head over the road and follow the footpath.
The walk takes you around a series of steaming pools, and the famous Strokkur geysir (the original geysir here, for which the area is named, is now dormant). The 1.4km return walkway is flat and easy.
You can actually walk a little further at other times of year, but in winter some of the areas were closed off - although not the famous sites, so you didn’t feel like you were missing out.
If you only want to walk as far as Strokkur geysir, it’s just 280m each way (from the main car park, not the smaller secondary one).
You can get surprisingly close to the all the steaming areas and the main geysir - close enough to have the full stream engulf you, which I hadn’t been expecting!
Strokkur erupts approximately every five minutes, so you can watch it a few times - it’s hard to photograph unless you are lighting fast though, as each eruption lasts just a few seconds and you can’t really tell when they’re coming!
This area can get busy. but as it’s quite open it doesn’t detract from the experience as much as places such as Thingvellir.
3. Gullfoss Waterfall
Distance from Reykjavík: 116km, 1 hour 45 minute drive
Distance from Geysir: 10km, 10 minute drive
Entry fee: Free
Gullfoss waterfall is incredible. It probably one of the most powerful I’ve ever seen, and in winter it looks truly wild.
It takes just a minute to walk to the main viewing area from the car park and you can also walk up a couple of metal staircases to get to a lookout offering a more elevated view - which is well worth doing.
You can continue further along the track too, but on our visit some sections were flooded after heavy rain and snowmelt.
There is also a lower viewpoint, but it was closed due to winter conditions. I’ve heard it’s sometimes open in winter, so you may get lucky.
When we first drove up to the car park it was to a total whiteout. You literally couldn’t see the gigantic falls ahead of you. Luckily the cloud cleared around 10 minutes later and we braved the snow to take a look.
I actually think all the snow made it extra special and it felt exciting to be out viewing such a spectacular waterfall in such crazy conditions.
Another 10 minutes later and the sky changed again and we got a small amount of sunshine! This only lasted five minutes, but it was amazing to see.
It’s also a good reminder to hang on in there if you do arrive anywhere in Iceland to a whiteout. You might be just a few minutes away from blue skies!
If you have time: Kerid Crater
Distance from Reykjavík: 69km, 1 hour drive
Distance from Gulfoss: 56km, 45 minute drive
Entry fee: 450 ISK (USD $3.15)
Whether or not stopping at Kerid Crater is worth it will pretty much depend on the conditions on the day. The crater lake will likely be frozen, which does look beautiful in some conditions, but for us on a dull grey day, was not a must see.
I have seen wonderful winter pictures here at sunrise, which is when we visited, but alas the cloud was too thick to see the sun.
If you do visit, the first lookout is just a minute’s walk from the car park. You can then descend to two lower lookouts.
The first set of stairs was pretty easy in winter, but the second set had become so icy that they were basically slanted ice slabs and we didn’t dare attempt it, as we only had our standard Yaktrax. For that I would have wanted the heavier duty version.
The top and second lookouts are good though, so you don’t need to descend if the conditions are also gnarly when you visit.
If you do want to see the crater, it’s best visited as your last stop, as it’s the least exciting. This means if you have time at the end of the day, that’s great, but if not you haven’t taken away from any of the other stops.
Places to eat along the Golden Circle
If you’re on a budget, I’d recommend bringing your own food, because prices along the Golden Circle are predictably high. There are cafes at both Geysir and Gulfoss Waterfall (at the top car park, not the bottom one by the main lookout).
We tried the cafe at Geysir and I wouldn’t really recommend. We only had coffee and cake when sheltering from the storm, but it was pretty dry and possibly stale!
We decided to splurge a bit and have lunch at the highly rated Friðheimar. It’s basically a tomato cafe on a tomato plantation - you eat beside tomato plants in what feels like a greenhouse! You can get unlimited tomato soup with unlimited bread, as well as a few other tomato based dishes.
The bread was fantastic and the soup was decent, but to be honest, for the price, it wasn’t outstanding.
I liked the concept though and each table had a basil plant you could pick the leaves from to add to your dish, and you’re also given sour cream and pickled cucumbers. The service is really friendly and overall it was nice, just a bit pricy for what you get. You can see the menu here.
It’s located a 15 minute drive from Geysir. It says online you have to book, but I am guessing that’s for peak season, in winter we just walked in and there were heaps of tables available.
Other than that there may be other eateries around, but we didn’t really notice any.
Things to pack to make your Golden Circle trip more enjoyable
There are a few things that really made a difference to us both at the Golden Circle and in Iceland in general. The first I already mentioned which are the heavy duty Yaktrax, or any traction device to help you safely navigate the ice.
We always wax lyrical about them, but honestly they’re a game changer. They also helped us get pictures with no one in them at Skogafoss! You can absolutely get by with the cheapest version of Yaktrax and that’s what we did, but we both broke them towards the end of the trip, so next time we’re investing in the sturdier version.
The second would be hand and foot warmers. We were visiting Iceland during a very cold spell, but even if the temperatures look good online for your visit, the wind can make it feel much chillier.
We were visiting Geysir when it was -2C, but with wind chill the app said it felt like -12C, and I can attest to the fact it was very cold! I tend to suffer from cold hands in particular and using hand warmers meant that even with basic glove liners my hands were toasty.
I debated buying big thick gloves before our trip, but all the ones that were meant for the temperatures we’d be in looked like huge marshmallow man gloves, and I wouldn’t have been able to take pictures and videos either, so I was pretty thrilled with the hand warmers.
The other thing, and possibly the most important if you don’t have a huge warm winter coat, would be thermals.
I wore a thermal top and trousers every day in Iceland and my core body was always warm, even when we were walking in -17C. Unless you are 100% confident in your winter coat, I would definitely invest in a set of thermals.
I’ve used many brands, but none have compared to Icebreaker. I always wince at the cost of Icebreaker products, but they have been worth it and I purchased a new top and glove liners from them before we left for this trip and both were worth the money.
Weather and road safety
Although you can never be fully confident in any weather forecast in Iceland, Yr.no is still our go to. It might have got it wildly wrong for our Golden Circle visit, but it was generally pretty good on our trip after that.
You can view the weather for each stop along the way, and remember to check the wind speed and the “feels like” temperature as well. It will help you know what you’re up against in reality, as the wind can be bone chilling in Iceland.
When it comes to road safety, Iceland has a fantastic website that shows all the roads and the condition they’re in, so that you can view your whole route.
The roads are plowed regularly, but if it’s really snowy, the snow can build back up before they’re plowed again.
Having said that, even in the snow that unexpectedly hit us on our Golden Circle trip, the roads were still pretty good.
There was reduced visibility, but if you drove slowly it wasn’t too bad - maybe that’s when compared to the south coast though, because that was gnarly at times!
Golden Circle winter tours
It’s very popular to visit the Golden Circle on a tour from Reykjavik. If you don’t like the idea of driving, then it’s a good option. There’s quite a few different tour companies, with many adding on unique stops to the standard itinerary.
This tour covers the main stops and is the highest rated on GetYourGuide. It does the Golden Circle in an anti-clockwise direction, starting at Kerid Crater and finishing at Thingvellir.
For something more unique, this tour starts with a dip at Secret Lagoon, iceland’s oldest geothermal swimming pool! The tour then heads onto Geysir, Gulfoss, Thingvellir and Kerid Crater, the must-do stops on the Golden Circle.
There are plenty more variations of Golden Circle tours you can check out by clicking the button below.
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