This experience was just as good as advertised. We chose to do this rout in a minibus tour book through Trip Advisor with Sterna Travel; we can no speak highly enough of them. Our departure was at 10AM from bus stop #9 near our Airbnb. 45 minutes later we were at the Þingvellir National Park to walk between tectonic plates, then to walk around the Geysir hot spring area (where we were lucky enough to stand in the spot that allowed us to get soaked with warm erupting geyser water), then to walk down to the huge Gullfoss waterfall. Our tour also included an hour and a half in soak in the Secret Lagoon. This was a great way to spend eight hours.

The Golden Circle takes in three popular attractions all within 100km of the capital
Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss. The Golden Circle offers the opportunity to see a meeting-point of the continental plates and site of the ancient Icelandic parliament (Þingvellir), a spouting hot spring (Geysir) and a roaring waterfall (Gullfoss), all in one doable-in-a-day loop.

Þingvellir National Park 23km east of Reykjavík, is Iceland’s most important historical site and a place of vivid beauty.
The site has a superb natural setting, in an immense, fissures rift valley caused by the meeting of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, with rivers and waterfalls. The country’s first national park, it was made a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2004.

Geysir - One of Iceland’s most famous tourist attractions, Geysir is the original hot-water spout after which all other geysers are named. Luckily for visitors, the very reliable geyser, Strokkur, sits alongside. You rarely
have to wait more than five to 10 minutes for the hot spring to shoot an impressive 15m to 30m plume before vanishing down its enormous hole.

Gullfoss- Iceland’s most famous waterfall, Gullfoss ('Golden Falls') is a spectacular double cascade dropping
a dramatic 32m. As it descends, it kicks up magnificent walls of spray before thundering down a rocky
ravine. On sunny days the mist creates shimmering rainbows, and in winter the falls glitter with ice.

Although it's a popular sight, the remote location still makes you feel the ineffable forces of nature that have worked this landscape for millennia.

What a beautiful trip Iceland has been, and we now know why they call the ring road the Golden Circle. Breath-taking landscapes coupled with a great sense of space and to top it all up, people that are so hospitable.