The Golden Circle Stops in Order
The Golden Circle stops in the order each tour visits them, with the minutes at each: Hveragerði, Kerið, Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir, plus the fees and rules at each stop.
BusTravel Iceland’s Golden Circle day from Reykjavik visits five stops in this order: a 15-minute break in Hveragerði, 20 minutes at Kerið crater, 45 at Gullfoss, 80 at Geysir with the lunch stop, and 45 at Thingvellir on the way back. Several other tours start at Thingvellir and go round the other way. For all five with time at each, book Reykjavik: Golden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid Crater, from US$92 a person (checked November 2026), on a morning departure: from 12:00 PM it does not stop at Kerið.
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The order, tour by tour
| Tour | Order, with the time at each stop | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid Crater (BusTravel Iceland) | Hveragerði 15 min, Kerið 20, Gullfoss 45, Geysir 80 with lunch, Thingvellir 45 | 8.5 hours from 8:00 AM; 7 hours from 12:00 PM, without Kerið |
| Small-Group Golden Circle and Kerið Full-Day Tour (Arctic Adventures) | Hveragerði 15 min, Kerið 45, Gullfoss 45, Geysir 1 hour, Thingvellir 1 hour | 8 hours |
| Golden Circle Afternoon Small Group Tour (Arctic Adventures) | Thingvellir 25 min, Gullfoss 20, Geysir 45, Kerið 20 | 6 hours |
| Golden Circle Full Day Tour (Gray Line Iceland) | Thingvellir 45 min, Geysir 1 hour, Gullfoss 1 hour | 6.5 hours |
| Golden Circle, Crater and Blue Lagoon Minibus Tour (BusTravel Iceland) | Thingvellir 45 min, Gullfoss 1 hour, Geysir 80, Kerið 20, Blue Lagoon 2 hours | 11 hours |
| Golden Circle and Snowmobiling Tour (Snowmobile.is) | Thingvellir 30 min, Geysir 1 hour, Langjökull snowmobile 1 hour, Gullfoss 35, Kerið 15 | 10 hours |
From the GetYourGuide itineraries, November 2026. Times are for the stops only; the driving between them fills the rest of the day.
Two directions, then. The tours that go south first, by Hveragerði and Kerið, finish at Thingvellir. The ones that start at Thingvellir finish at Kerið or Gullfoss. Neither changes what you see; it changes when. On BusTravel Iceland’s morning departure the bus is due back about 4:30 PM (8:00 AM plus 8.5 hours), and the last leg takes about an hour, so Thingvellir comes in the middle of the afternoon. In mid-December, with sunset at 15:29 on the 15th (computed for Reykjavik), that is the end of the daylight.
The loop on the map
By road from Reykjavik City Hall, Thingvellir’s visitor centre at Hakið is 47.6 km, Geysir 60.7 km beyond it, Gullfoss 9.9 km past Geysir, and Kerið 54.2 km south of Gullfoss; from Kerið back to City Hall is 68.7 km.
Hveragerði
A short break in a town on the main road east, 15 minutes on both BusTravel Iceland’s day and Arctic Adventures' small-group full day. It is a chance for a coffee and the toilets before the sights.
Kerið crater
Kerið is a crater with a lake in its floor and red rock in its walls. Its owners’ site, kerid.is, gives it as about 6,500 years old, about 270 m long, 170 m wide and 55 m deep, and says it is open when the sun is shining; it gives no clock hours. You can walk round the rim and down to the water.
Two fees are published. kerid.is gives 700 ISK a person; Arctic Adventures, which bought Kerið in 2023, gives 600 ISK with children under 12 free on its own page (both checked November 2026). Several tours pay it for you: Arctic Adventures' small-group afternoon and EastWest's day list it in the price. keridcrater.com covers the fee, the parking and the hours in more depth.
On BusTravel Iceland’s day Kerið is the second stop, 20 minutes, and only on morning departures. Its 7-hour afternoon departures leave it out.
Gullfoss
Gullfoss is a nature reserve run by the Environment Agency of Iceland. Its rules are short: no driving off the roads and marked tracks, no damage to plants, wildlife or rock, and no drones without its permission. A marked trail runs about 3 km from the falls to Brattholt. The site of the café and shop at the falls, gullfoss.is, says the waterfall is free to visit at any hour.
BusTravel Iceland gives it 45 minutes, Gray Line Iceland an hour, Arctic Adventures’ afternoon tour 20.
Geysir and Strokkur
Geysir is 9.9 km by road from Gullfoss, so tours visit the two back to back, in either order. The Environment Agency of Iceland says Geysir itself has been dormant, with its last known eruption in 2016, and that Strokkur nearby erupts at regular intervals and can reach 30 m. Tour descriptions quote different intervals; the agency gives none.
This is the long stop on BusTravel Iceland’s day, 80 minutes, because it is also where you eat. Food is not in the price.
Thingvellir
Thingvellir National Park is where Iceland’s open-air assembly, the Althing, was set up in 930; it met there until 1798. UNESCO put the park on the World Heritage List in 2004 as a cultural landscape, 9,270 ha of it.
On BusTravel Iceland’s day it is the last stop, 45 minutes with a walk. If you drive yourself, parking is 1,000 ISK for a car with five seats or fewer, one payment for the day in the park’s car parks P1, P2 and P5 (Thingvellir National Park, checked November 2026). On a tour, the coach’s parking is the operator’s business.
More from Reykjavik
Day Tours from Reykjavik with Open Dates
Golden Circle days and other trips from Reykjavik with live availability. Pickup, what is included and the cancellation terms show before you book.
All Five Stops, Time at Each
BusTravel Iceland's day: Hveragerði 15 minutes, Kerið 20 on morning departures, Gullfoss 45, Geysir 80 with the lunch stop and Thingvellir 45.
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