230 kilometres, three road numbers
The Golden Circle route is about two hundred and thirty kilometres of ordinary sealed road, and it uses three road numbers. There is no gate, no ticket and no opening time — you can start it whenever you like. This page gives the directions in the order that avoids the coach convoy, every car park with its fee, and the honest answer about whether you need a 4x4.
Quick answer
The short answer. Reykjavík → Route 36 to Þingvellir → 365 and 37 to Geysir → 35 to Gullfoss → 35 south past Kerið → Route 1 back. About 230 km, three and a half hours of driving, six to eight as a real day. A two-wheel-drive car is enough in summer. Leave at seven or leave at two, and never between eight and nine.
The directions
Written anticlockwise from Reykjavík, which is how tours do it and how the light works.
Out of the city on Route 1, then Route 36 east through Mosfellsheiði. The park appears suddenly as you come over the rise above the lake. Use the upper car park (P1) for the Almannagjá path and pay the 1,000 ISK by plate at the machine.
North-east on 36, then 365 across the heath past Laugarvatn, joining 37 to Haukadalur. Straightforward and sealed. This is the leg that passes Laugarvatn Fontana if you want a geothermal detour.
The shortest leg on the loop. Nine or ten kilometres, and Gullfoss parking is free at both the upper and lower car parks.
Retrace to Route 35 and head south through Reykholt and Flúðir. This is the leg with the add-ons on it: Friðheimar’s greenhouse, Faxi waterfall, the Secret Lagoon at Flúðir, and Kerið crater near Grímsnes.
Down to Selfoss, then west on Route 1 over Hellisheiði and back into the city. There is fuel and food at Selfoss, which is the last reliable stop.
Doing it in reverse — Kerið first, Gullfoss last-but-one, Þingvellir at the end — puts you against the coach traffic all day and gives you Þingvellir in the evening light. If you are starting after lunch, this is the better order.
Do you need a 4x4?
Sealed road the whole way. In winter it is the wind you plan around, not the tarmac.
No. Every road on the standard Golden Circle loop is sealed and maintained, and a small two-wheel-drive hire car does it comfortably in summer.
There are two caveats and neither is about the surface.
Winter is about traction and wind, not the road grade. From roughly October to April you want proper winter tyres, which any Icelandic hire car will have by law. Wind is what actually closes roads here, and it closes them to everyone regardless of drivetrain.
F-roads are a different thing entirely. If you extend towards the highlands beyond Gullfoss — Kjölur, for example — you leave the sealed network and a 4x4 becomes a legal requirement, not a preference. The standard loop does not go there.
Check road.is on the morning you drive. Every time, in any month from October onwards. It is the single habit that separates a good Icelandic road trip from a bad one.
The parking, honestly
Nobody charges admission at Þingvellir, Geysir or Gullfoss. The costs are:
Þingvellir: 1,000 ISK per car for up to five seats, 1,200 ISK for six to nine. One payment covers all the main car parks for the day, so you can move between P1, P2 and P5 without paying twice. Pay at the machine or online, by registration plate — there are cameras and they do enforce it.
Geysir: about 1,000 ISK per car. Same system, pay by plate.
Gullfoss: free. Both car parks.
Kerið: 700 ISK per person at the hut, and the parking is free.
So a couple driving the full loop with Kerið spends about 3,400 ISK. That is roughly twenty-five dollars for the whole day, on top of the car.
Want the same day laid out hour by hour rather than leg by leg?
A one-day itinerary→Book direct
Three tours that do the same loop with somebody else at the wheel.
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Common questions
A loop of about 230 kilometres east of Reykjavík on Routes 36, 365, 37, 35 and 1, linking Þingvellir National Park, the Geysir geothermal area and Gullfoss waterfall. It is a public road with no gate and no ticket.
About three and a half hours of pure driving, and six to eight hours as a real day with stops. Add an hour if you include Kerið and a greenhouse, and two if you finish in a geothermal pool.
Anticlockwise — Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss — is the standard, and it is how tours run. If you are starting after lunch, drive it clockwise instead: you meet the coaches head-on rather than travelling with them, and you get Þingvellir in the evening light.
No. The whole standard loop is sealed road and a two-wheel-drive car is fine in summer. In winter you want winter tyres, which Icelandic hire cars have by law. A 4x4 only becomes necessary if you head onto F-roads towards the highlands.
About 3,400 ISK for two people: 1,000 ISK parking at Þingvellir, about 1,000 at Geysir, free at Gullfoss, and 700 ISK each at Kerið. Everything else is fuel and the hire car.
The route is signposted and it is five road numbers in sequence — 36, 365, 37, 35 and 1 — so a phone with offline maps is more than enough. Download the area before you leave the city; coverage is fine on this loop but not guaranteed everywhere.
Go deeper
The three headline sites and the six worth adding, with what each one costs.
GullfossTwo drops, 32 metres, 141 cubic metres a second, and the woman who saved it.
Kerið270 metres across, 55 deep, and the only stop on the route with a gate fee.
The other twoA rift between two continents, and the geyser that is asleep next to the one that is not.
ItineraryHour by hour from Reykjavík and back, in the order that misses the coaches.
PricesTwelve tours priced against each other and against driving it yourself.
3-Day Golden Circle & South Coast
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h