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Classic with KeriðGolden Circle & Secret LagoonGolden Circle & Blue LagoonLanguage
English The most-booked tour · from €83
The classic loop is about 230–250 km: Reykjavík → Þingvellir (≈50 km, 45–60 min) → Geysir → Gullfoss, 12 km further, and back — most tours add Kerið crater. Pick a tour below: the map draws its route and numbers the stops in its order.
Pick a tour, see its route ↓Sixteen tours share the loop but not the order. Eight start at Þingvellir and run clockwise to Geysir and Gullfoss; eight go out on Route 1 to Hveragerði or Kerið first and finish at Þingvellir. Pick a tour or filter the list, and the map redraws the line and numbers the stops in that tour's order.
Reykjavik: Golden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid Crater
Minutes at each stop from the tour page. Leg distances: our measure on OpenStreetMap roads; drive times as the tour schedules them.
Map: coastline LMÍ IS 50V, roads, rivers and lakes © OpenStreetMap contributors. Stops and their order: each tour's itinerary on GetYourGuide, checked Nov 2026. Lines follow the main roads; buses may take other streets in town.
Sixteen routes and the stops each one makes, with the minutes the tour page gives. A tick means the stop is on the itinerary without a time. Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss are on every route; Kerið, the waterfalls, the greenhouse and the lagoons make the difference. Sort by reviews, price, length or number of stops.
* The classic with Kerið skips the crater on departures at 12:00 or later. Prices are from-prices per adult. Itineraries and prices: GetYourGuide, checked Nov 2026.
Three stops are on all 16 tours — Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss — and Kerið is on 12. Tours give Geysir the most time, 40–90 minutes with lunch, Þingvellir 25–60 and Gullfoss 20–60; ten extra stops, from Brúarfoss to four lagoons, separate one day from another. Distances are from central Reykjavík by road.
On 16 of 16 routesA rift valley where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart by a few centimetres a year, and the site of Iceland's first parliament. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.
On 16 of 16 routesA geothermal field. The Great Geysir itself rarely erupts; Strokkur, a few steps away, sends water up to 30 m into the air every few minutes. Most tours stop here for lunch.
On 16 of 16 routesThe Hvítá river drops in two steps into a 32 m deep crevice. The paths above the falls can be icy from November to March.
On 12 of 16 routesA volcanic crater with a lake at the bottom, on Road 35 between Selfoss and Geysir. Tours give it a short stop: time for the rim path or the steps down to the water.
Geothermal town on Route 1, the first break on reverse routes.
Waterfall on the Brúará river, reached on foot.
Geothermal greenhouse; the lunch stop on the farm tour.
Dairy farm between Laugarvatn and Geysir; a short break.
Hot-spring pool in Flúðir.
Lagoon on the Reykjanes peninsula, at the end of the day.
The loop leaves Reykjavík on Road 36 for Þingvellir, crosses to Geysir via Laugarvatn, runs up Road 35 to Gullfoss and comes back south past Kerið to Selfoss and Route 1. Half the tours drive it in this order, half the other way round.
Þingvellir → Geysir → Gullfoss → Kerið or a lagoon
Hveragerði or Kerið → Gullfoss → Geysir → Þingvellir
Distances: our measurement along OpenStreetMap roads, rounded; real road distances can be a few km longer. Drive times: as the tours schedule them on GetYourGuide. Published figures: icelandtours.is, reykjavikrentacar.is, campeasy.com (checked Nov 2026).
Which direction is better? Neither changes what you see; it changes the shape of the day. Clockwise tours reach Þingvellir within the first hour and leave Kerið or a lagoon for the way home. Reverse tours, the classic with Kerið among them, drive out on Route 1 to Hveragerði or Kerið first and end at Þingvellir, 45–70 minutes from the city.
Either way, Geysir comes in the middle of the day, and that is where most tours stop for lunch: 80 minutes on the classic, 90 on the greenhouse tour and the Hvammsvík tour. Tours with a lagoon put the swim last, so the day runs to 10–11 hours.
Minutes as listed on each tour page (GetYourGuide, Nov 2026); tours that list the stops without minutes are left out.
* Not on departures at 12:00 or later. Fee: Wikipedia (Mar 2026) and goldencircledaytours.is, checked Nov 2026; exchange rate wise.com, Nov 2026.
Big coaches don't drive into the narrow streets of the centre: they collect from numbered bus stops, from the BSÍ terminal or from hotels they can reach. Each tour lists 2–42 pickup points; your booking names the nearest one. Tap a stop to see which tours use it.
On Þórunnartún by the Höfðatorg towers. The classic with Kerið, Kerið & Secret Lagoon and the minibus with the Blue Lagoon transfer meet here if you book without pickup.
Hotel pickups are not on the map: the tour's booking page lists them, 2–42 per tour. Pickup lists: GetYourGuide, Nov 2026.
Map: coastline LMÍ IS 50V; streets © OpenStreetMap contributors; stop positions from GetYourGuide.
About 230–250 km for the classic loop (≈240 km by our measure on OpenStreetMap roads) and 3.5–4 hours of driving without stops. With Kerið and detours it reaches ≈300 km. Tours take 6–11 hours in all.
Eight of the 16 routes start with Þingvellir and go clockwise to Geysir and Gullfoss. The other eight drive out on Route 1 to Hveragerði or Kerið first and finish at Þingvellir. The map at the top draws each one.
No: 12 of the 16 do. The classic with Kerið skips it on departures at 12:00 or later, and four routes leave it out altogether: the classic with an optional Blue Lagoon, the Secret Lagoon day trip, the cruise-terminal tour and the greenhouse tour.
40–90 min at Geysir, often with lunch, and 20–60 min at Gullfoss. The afternoon small group is the shortest: 45 and 20 minutes.
At numbered bus stops in the centre (#1 to #14), at the BSÍ bus terminal or at hotels: between 2 and 42 pickup points per tour. Your booking names the nearest one.
13 of the 16 routes list Skarfabakki or Miðbakki as a pickup. The small-group cruise tour and the German shore excursion start right at the ship.
Yes, on two routes: the Brúarfoss and Kerið tour (20 minutes, on foot) and the Chinese-language tour (30 minutes).
Yes: pick a tour on the map above and it shows the stops in order with the minutes at each. The tour page on GetYourGuide lists the same stops.
