What Is Efstidalur?
A working dairy farm on the Golden Circle between Laugarvatn and Geysir, with an ice cream bar, a restaurant, and a farm hotel attached.
The family has farmed here since the 1750s, and the food side is a recent addition built into a converted barn rather than a purpose-built visitor center.
The draw is the ice cream, made on-site from the farm's own milk, eaten at a counter with large windows looking directly into the cowshed.
The Ice Cream
The reason most people stop, and it lives up to the reputation.
Milk comes from the herd on the other side of the glass and is turned into ice cream in the building you are standing in. The distance from the cow to the cone is measured in meters.
The texture is denser and less sweet than commercial ice cream, which is what happens when the dairy fat comes from a small herd and nothing is added to stretch it.
Flavors rotate. Vanilla and liquorice are the standing options, and liquorice is more Icelandic than it sounds.
The Cowshed Café ice cream bar runs roughly 10:00 to 21:00 in summer and 10:00 to 20:00 in winter, though hours shift, so check before making a special trip.
The ice cream bar's windows look straight into the barn, which children find better than any exhibit.
The Restaurant
Better than a farm café needs to be and considerably less busy than Friðheimar.
The restaurant is in the same converted barn, serving beef from the farm, lamb from the district, and trout from nearby lakes.
The burger is the standing recommendation, made from the farm's own beef. Icelandic meat soup and grilled trout are the other regulars.
Hours run 11:30 to 21:00 in summer and 11:30 to 20:00 in winter.
Booking is sensible in July and August and generally unnecessary otherwise, which is the opposite of the situation at Friðheimar 25 minutes away.
Our page on Efstidalur covers the practical details.
Seeing the Farm
Modest and genuinely appealing, particularly with children.
The cows are visible from the café through the windows, and the calves are usually the ones drawing a crowd.
Horses, sheep, and a few other animals are around the yard, and the farm keeps Icelandic horses.
The breed has been kept pure since the tenth century, and Icelandic law prohibits importing horses or re-importing any that have left, which is why the animals here look consistent from farm to farm.
This is a working operation rather than a petting zoo. You are looking at a dairy farm doing its job with a window cut into it.
Twenty minutes covers the animals and the ice cream. An hour covers lunch as well.
The farm hotel has rooms if you want to stay on the loop rather than drive back to Reykjavík.
Where It Sits on the Golden Circle
Position is what makes Efstidalur easy rather than a detour.
It is on Route 37 between Laugarvatn and Geysir, about 10 minutes from Laugarvatn, 15 from Geysir, and 25 from Gullfoss.
That puts it roughly at the midpoint of the loop, which makes it the natural mid-afternoon stop.
Laugarvatn Fontana is 10 minutes away, and its geothermal baths and rye bread tour pair well with lunch here. Our guide to Laugarvatn Fontana covers that side.
Friðheimar is 25 minutes away and is the other farm-to-table stop on the route, at a considerably larger scale and with a booking requirement.
Our guide to things to do near Gullfoss sets out how the smaller stops fit around the main three.
The farm hotel makes Efstidalur a workable base for a two-day Golden Circle.
Efstidalur or Fridheimar?
The comparison is worth making, since both are farms serving food on the same route.
Friðheimar is a tomato greenhouse with a restaurant among the vines. It is a genuine set piece, it needs booking days ahead, and it is the one people photograph.
Efstidalur is a dairy farm with a converted barn. It rarely needs booking, it costs less, and the ice cream is better than anything Friðheimar serves.
If you want the experience, book Friðheimar. If you want lunch without a reservation and an ice cream afterwards, go to Efstidalur.
Doing both in one day is possible and excessive. Pick one for lunch and treat the other as a coffee stop.
Our page on Friðheimar covers the booking there.
Practical Points
Five things worth knowing.
Parking is free, and there is space for cars and small coaches.
Cards work everywhere, and Iceland is close to cashless.
The site is flat and accessible, with the café, restaurant, and ice cream bar all on one level.
Toilets are on site, which matters on a stretch of road where facilities are sparse.
The farm is listed by Visit South Iceland, which carries the regional details alongside the farm's own information.
Opening hours shift outside the main season, so a quick check the day before saves a wasted turning.
Live road status for Route 37 is published at Umferdin. is, and it is worth checking between October and April.
Route 37 links Laugarvatn to the Geysir road and is maintained through winter, though it drifts in wind.
At Hjarðarland, the nearest long-running station to the route, Met Office climate data gives a July average daily high of 16.5°C, which is ice cream weather by Icelandic standards.
Stop Where the Coaches Do Not
The best Golden Circle days include one or two stops that no fixed coach itinerary has time for, and a working dairy farm with its own ice cream is high on that list. Our small-group Golden Circle tour with Kerið and Friðheimar keeps groups under twenty and has the flexibility to add a short stop when the timing allows. Tell us your dates and we will find you a departure.
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