The pearl tour with Mountaineers of Iceland: Golden Circle in a Super Jeep and Snowmobiling.
It was such a blast! The golden circle includes Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss.
Article by Jenny Gerleman – an intern at PlanIceland.com
Þingvellir – the national park
I was picked up at the Hilton Hotel at 08.30 in the morning with a Super Jeep! The first stop was Þingvellir where the oldest still existing parliament in the world was founded in the year 930. The dramatic landscape of Þingvellir is a result of the border between the European and North American tectonic plates. There’s only two places in the world were you could see two of the earth’s tectonic plates meeting above the earth’s surface. And that’s not all! Þingvellir is also designated UNESCO World Heritage. But enough of facts, you could read all about it when you are visiting it!
It takes some time to walk around everything and to see all the historical places, but it worth it. It’s so beautiful around Þingvellir with the rift valley and the volcanos fissure zone running through it.
Geysir – the geothermal hot spring area
After that we went to Geysir, our guide and driver Kiddi talked in a microphone about the landscape, the Icelandic people and fun facts about Iceland. Did you know that Iceland is one of the largest banana producers in Europe? Kiddi was experienced and humorous. You didn’t have to hesitate to ask something.
When we got to Geysir, Kiddi told us what to see and what we could do. The main thing to see there is Strokkur that erupts about every 4-8 minutes, the famous Geysir had the last majestic eruption in 2000 so you would be blessed to see it erupt. Strokkur is really amazing to see, so majestic. The climate here is so breathtaking with the geothermal field. Just take a look at my pictures!At Geysir I walked around and enjoyed the nature. Earth is amazing! I grabbed some food and then we drove to Langjökull for some snowmobiling!
Snowmobiling – Langjökull is the second largest glacier in Europe.
On the way there Kiddi showed us what the super jeep could do through driving up on high bumps and so on.
It was my first time to drive snowmobiling, so I was quite nervous and excited. Kiddi instructed us how to use the snowmobiling and what not to do. Afterwards it was my turn to try to drive the snowmobiling. It’s easy to drive but it’s quite tricky when you are trying to turn it because it could tumble. It was so fun to drive the snowmobile.
When we drove we were driving in a line after Kiddi and another guide in the back. Even though it was snowing it wasn’t cold at all because we were provided with all the necessary gear which included overalls, helmets, boots and gloves. We were driving snowmobiles for about 1 hour, and this was the highlight of the tour for me because I’ve seen the golden circle many times before. Did you also know that more than 13% of Iceland is covered by glaciers and snowfield?
Gullfoss – the golden waterfall
When we were finished with the snowmobiling we went for Gullfoss. Gullfoss is also known as the golden waterfall, it’s so breathtaking! I was able to walk pretty near the Gullfoss so that was an experience.
After Gullfoss we were supposed to drive back to Reykjavik but we got an extra treat. Kiddis motto is “that is better to outperform then underperform” and I could tell you that he lived up to that! It was a really nice surprise and stop. And I’m not going to tell you where we went but it was quite amazing! You just have to go there yourself!
