Things to Do Near Gullfoss Waterfall

What Is There to Do Near Gullfoss?

Plenty, and almost all of it is within an hour's drive. Geysir is 10 minutes away, Brúarfoss around 15, Faxi about 20, Friðheimar tomato farm 30, the Secret Lagoon at Flúðir 40, Kerið crater 50 and Þingvellir roughly an hour.

That density is why the Golden Circle works as a day trip. Gullfoss sits at the far end of the loop, so everything else is on the way back towards Reykjavík.

The trick is choosing three or four stops rather than nine. This guide gives the honest drive time and the honest time needed at each, so you can build a day that finishes before dark.

Geysir Geothermal Area, 10 Minutes Away

The closest stop and the one nobody skips.

Strokkur is the working geyser, erupting every five to ten minutes to heights of 15 to 20 metres. The original Geysir, which gave the world the word, is largely dormant and erupts only rarely.

The wider Haukadalur field around them holds mud pots, fumaroles and hot pools with water above 80°C, connected by a marked boardwalk loop that takes 30 minutes at a stroll.

Stay on the paths. The crust between pools is thinner than it looks, and the water is at boiling point in places.

The whole field is a protected area, and the Environment Agency of Iceland manages it alongside Gullfoss a few kilometres up the road.

Eruption height varies with the underlying pressure, so a run of small spouts is normal and usually followed by a big one.

Allow 45 minutes to an hour, which covers the loop plus enough waiting to see two or three eruptions. The Geysir geothermal area has a large visitor centre across the road with food, toilets and a shop.

Strokkur erupts every five to ten minutes, so nobody waits long for the shot.

Waterfalls Within Half an Hour

Three more falls sit close enough to visit without rearranging the day.

Brúarfoss is about 15 minutes from Gullfoss and is the bluest water in the region, a series of small cascades dropping into a bright turquoise channel. There is a paid car park at the trailhead and a short walk to the falls.

Faxi, also called Vatnsleysufoss, is around 20 minutes away on Route 35 heading back towards Reykjavík. It is wide and low rather than tall, with a salmon ladder running up one side and a car park almost at the edge.

Faxi takes fifteen minutes and is worth it. It is the stop that turns a coach day into a slightly different one, because most large itineraries drive straight past.

Öxarárfoss sits inside Þingvellir at the other end of the loop, and belongs with that stop rather than this one.

Our page on Faxi waterfall covers the parking and the short walk down to the river.

Kerid Crater, 50 Minutes Away

The most photographed volcanic crater in Iceland and the only paid stop on the standard route.

Kerið is a caldera roughly 55 metres deep and 170 metres across, formed around 6,500 years ago, with red scoria walls dropping to a green lake at the bottom.

Entry is 700 ISK, paid at the gate and used for maintaining the paths. It is one of the few Golden Circle sites with a fee.

Two walks are available. The rim loop takes 20 minutes and gives the classic view down into the lake. The path to the water's edge takes another 15 minutes down and rather longer back up.

Allow 30 to 45 minutes. Kerið sits on Route 35 south of Reykholt, which makes it the natural last stop before the drive home.

Warm Up in a Geothermal Pool

Three options, at increasing distance from the falls.

The Secret Lagoon at Flúðir is about 40 minutes away and is Iceland's oldest swimming pool, built in 1891, with hot springs still bubbling along the edge of the water. It is rustic rather than designed, and that is the appeal.

Laugarvatn Fontana sits about 35 minutes from Gullfoss on the shore of the lake, with steam rooms built directly over a geothermal vent and a cold plunge straight into the water.

Reykjadalur, the steam valley above Hveragerði, is an hour away and involves a 3-kilometre uphill walk to reach a river warm enough to sit in. It is free, and it is the option for people who want to earn the bath.

Any of the three takes 2 to 3 hours out of your day once you include changing. That is the calculation to make before you add one to a full Golden Circle itinerary.

The Secret Lagoon is the one most tours pair with the loop, because it needs the least detour.

Friðheimar serves lunch inside a working tomato greenhouse, 30 minutes from Gullfoss.

Food and Farm Stops

The Golden Circle has better eating than a route this busy has any right to.

Friðheimar is a working tomato farm about 30 minutes away, where lunch is served among the vines in a heated greenhouse. Tomato soup with fresh bread is the signature, and the kitchen runs 11:30 to 16:00. Book ahead, because tables go days in advance in summer.

Efstidalur is a family dairy farm 25 minutes from Gullfoss, with a restaurant overlooking the cow shed and ice cream made from that morning's milk. It is the informal alternative and rarely needs a booking.

The Gullfoss visitor centre café is at the falls themselves, and the Icelandic lamb soup there has a genuine reputation. Refills are usually included, which matters more in January than in July.

The Geysir centre across the road from the geothermal field has a canteen, a bakery and the largest shop on the route.

Skálholt, 35 minutes away, was Iceland's episcopal seat from 1056 and has a cathedral, a crypt and a small café, which makes it the quietest lunch stop of the four.

Adventure Options From Gullfoss

Two activities start close to the falls, and both need most of a day.

Snowmobiling on Langjökull leaves from a base up the F35 highland road beyond Gullfoss, roughly an hour from the falls on rough track. You get about an hour on the ice, on Europe's second largest glacier by area.

The ice cave inside Langjökull is a man-made tunnel drilled into the glacier, reached from the same direction, and it runs year-round unlike the natural caves further east.

River rafting on the Hvítá launches downstream of Gullfoss near Reykholt, with grade 2 to 3 water in summer and a stretch through a basalt canyon.

Horse riding is available at several farms along Route 35, with one- to two-hour rides suiting a Golden Circle day better than a half-day trek.

Our Golden Circle and snowmobile tour covers the three main stops and the glacier in a single day, which is the only realistic way to combine them without a very early start.

Thingvellir National Park, an Hour West

The third of the big three, and the one furthest from Gullfoss.

Þingvellir is where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart, and where the Alþingi assembly met from around 930 until 1798 according to Þingvellir National Park.

The Almannagjá gorge is the walk everyone does, a paved 15 minute descent through the rift wall from the upper car park to the assembly site.

Öxarárfoss sits a short walk off the main path, and Silfra, the fissure where snorkellers swim between two tectonic plates, is at the northern end of the lake.

Parking costs 1,000 ISK, paid online or at the machine, and holders of a disabled parking permit are exempt.

Allow 1 to 1.5 hours. The site rewards more, and most itineraries do not have more to give.

Kerið is 55 metres deep and 170 across, and the rim loop takes about 20 minutes.

Planning Your Route Around Gullfoss

The order matters more than the list, particularly outside summer.

Most itineraries run Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss and then a fourth stop on the way home, because that puts the walking first and the driving last.

Running it in reverse works too, and it is the better choice in July when you want to reach Gullfoss before the coaches do. Arriving at the falls before ten changes the experience considerably.

Add one extra stop rather than three. A day with Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss and Kerið runs about 8 hours, including driving, and a day that also adds a lagoon runs 10 to 11.

Check daylight before you build the plan. In late December there are around four hours of sun in southwest Iceland, which is enough for three stops and nothing else.

Weather decides the rest. At Hjarðarland, the nearest long-running station to the route, Met Office climate data puts September as the wettest month at 147 mm and July as the calmest for wind at 3.4 metres per second.

Build in a spare hour rather than a spare stop. Every itinerary here loses time somewhere, and it is usually at the one place you did not expect to like.

Our guide to what the Golden Circle covers sets out the full loop with distances between each site.

Which Stops Are Worth It?

Honest rankings, because not everything near Gullfoss deserves your afternoon.

Geysir is essential and 10 minutes away. There is no version of this day where you skip it.

Kerið is worth 700 ISK and 40 minutes, and it is the most different-looking thing on the route.

Friðheimar is worth booking ahead for, and it is the stop people describe afterwards.

Faxi is worth 15 minutes purely because nobody else stops there.

Brúarfoss is worth the walk on a bright day and not much on a grey one, since the colour is the whole point.

The lagoons are worth a day of their own rather than an hour bolted onto this one.

See the Best of It in One Day

Fitting Gullfoss, Geysir, Þingvellir and a fourth stop into one day means knowing which roads are quick and which are not, which is the part a guide handles for you. Our small-group Golden Circle tour with Kerið and Friðheimar covers all five in about nine hours, with groups under twenty and time at each stop rather than fifteen minutes and back on the bus. Tell us your dates, and we will confirm what fits the daylight.