Cheapest here7 hours
7 hGolden Circle, Crater & Horses
★ 4.9 · 45 reviews
- The three main stops plus Kerið crater
- A stop at an Icelandic horse farm
- The cheapest seat on the loop
- Free cancellation
$76$10.86 / hour
Check availability→ From $76, or free
Golden Circle tour price: what twelve tours cost, and what driving costs
A Golden Circle tour from Reykjavík starts at $76 for a seat on a coach and runs to $919 for three days down the south coast. The most-booked one in the country is $86. And the route itself is free — no gate, no ticket, about 3,400 ISK in parking for two people. This page puts all of that in one table so you can see what the money actually buys.
Quick answer
The short answer. $86 for the classic full-day coach tour with Kerið, and that is the price most people should pay. Under $80 gets you a seat with a horse farm attached; over $240 is buying the Blue Lagoon on top. Driving it yourself costs a hire car plus about 3,400 ISK in fees.
Golden Circle tour price at a glance
- Cheapest tour
- $76coach, 7 hours, with Kerið
- Most booked
- $8627,200 reviews at 4.8
- Small group
- $1198 hours, fewer people
- With the Secret Lagoon
- $12610 hours
- With the Blue Lagoon
- $24511 hours
- Three days
- $868south coast and glacier
- Driving it yourself
- Free routeplus car hire and fuel
- Þingvellir parking
- 1,000 ISKper car
- Geysir parking
- ~1,000 ISKper car
- Gullfoss parking
- Freeboth car parks
- Kerið
- 700 ISKper person
- Fees for two people driving
- ~3,400 ISKabout $25
Every trip, current fare
Every tour, priced
Twelve trips sorted by price with cost per hour of the day. The cheap end is a coach seat; the expensive end is either a private car or several days.
| Tour | Length of day | Price | Added to the loop | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Circle, Crater & HorsesThe cheapest seat on the loop | 7 h | $76 | Kerið and a horse farm | $10.86 | 4.9 · 45 |
| Golden Circle Full-Day ClassicThe most-reviewed tour in Iceland | 7–8.5 h | $86 | Kerið crater | $10.75 | 4.8 · 27,200 |
| Golden Circle & Tomato GreenhouseThe loop plus soup among the tomato vines | 8 h | $103 | Friðheimar greenhouse | $12.88 | 4.7 · 205 |
| Golden Circle, Brúarfoss & KeriðAdds the bluest waterfall on the route | 9 h | $104 | Brúarfoss and Kerið | $11.56 | 4.7 · 212 |
| Golden Circle & Kerið Small GroupThe classic loop in a small group | 8 h | $119 | Kerið, small group | $14.88 | 4.8 · 801 |
| Golden Circle, Kerið & FriðheimarMinibus, Kerið and Friðheimar | 9 h | $120 | Kerið and Friðheimar | $13.33 | 4.8 · 557 |
| Golden Circle & Secret LagoonEnds in a pool that opened in 1891 | 10 h | $126 | Kerið and the Secret Lagoon | $12.60 | 4.8 · 6,446 |
| Silfra SnorkellingSnorkelling between two continents | 2.5–6 h | $130 | Silfra only, at Þingvellir | $28.89 | 4.8 · 937 |
| Langjökull Glacier SnowmobileAn hour on Iceland’s second ice cap | 4 h | $192 | Langjökull, from Gullfoss | $48.00 | 4.6 · 319 |
| Golden Circle & Blue LagoonBoth big-ticket days in one | 11 h | $245 | Kerið and the Blue Lagoon | $22.27 | 4.9 · 6,006 |
| 3-Day Golden Circle & South CoastThe loop, the south coast and a glacier | 3 days | $868 | South coast and glacier lagoon | $12.06 | 4.9 · 173 |
| 3-Day Golden Circle & Ice CaveThree days, with an ice cave in winter | 3 days | $919 | Ice cave and glacier lagoon | $12.76 | 4.7 · 95 |
What the price actually buys
Four bands, and what separates them
Under $100 — a seat on a coach. Forty to sixty people, the three main stops plus Kerið, seven to eight and a half hours, hotel or bus-stop pickup. This is the band the vast majority of visitors book and there is nothing wrong with it: the stops are the same stops.
$100 to $150 — a smaller vehicle, or something added. A minibus with sixteen to twenty people reaches places a coach cannot, like Brúarfoss. Or the same coach with a greenhouse lunch or a geothermal pool bolted on. The jump in price is mostly the add-on, not the vehicle.
$150 to $250 — the loop plus a big-ticket extra. Snowmobiling on Langjökull or the Blue Lagoon. Both of those cost real money on their own, so the tour price is not really a tour price at that point.
Above $500 — private, or multi-day. A private car and driver for the day, or three days that carry on down the south coast with accommodation. Completely different products that happen to include the same loop.
The costs nobody mentions
Five things that are not in the ticket price
Small individually. Worth knowing in advance.
- The Kerið fee, sometimes
700 ISK a head at the gate. Some tours include it and some collect it on the bus. The listing rarely says which, and it catches people out.
- Lunch
Almost never included below $150. There are cafés at Geysir and Gullfoss and both are expensive by any standard. A packed lunch is completely normal here.
- The Friðheimar booking
The greenhouse restaurant is a separate booking on most tours that mention it. If the soup among the tomato vines is why you picked that tour, check it is actually included.
- Blue Lagoon entry, on some listings
A few Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon tours price the transport and leave the lagoon entry to you. That is a large difference — check before you compare two listings on price.
- Pickup is not always your hotel
In central Reykjavík many operators use designated bus stops rather than door pickup. It is usually a five-minute walk and it is usually in the listing, in small print.
Comparing tours on price alone hides what they actually do. Here is the ranking.
Which tour is best→Tour or drive?
The honest arithmetic
A day of small-car hire in Iceland, plus fuel for 230 kilometres, plus about 3,400 ISK in parking and the Kerið fee, lands somewhere close to the price of two coach seats.
So for a couple, in summer, the two options cost roughly the same and driving wins on freedom: you leave at seven, you stay at Gullfoss as long as you like, and you stop at Faxi because you saw a sign.
For a solo traveller the coach wins on price outright, and it is not close.
And in winter the calculation changes shape entirely. Four to six hours of daylight, wind that closes roads at short notice, and ice on roads you do not know. A tour that goes ahead is worth considerably more than a hire car sitting outside your hotel while you decide whether to risk it.
Book direct
The four price points that matter
Cheapest, most booked, small group, and the one with the Blue Lagoon.
27,200 reviewsKerið included
7–8.5 hGolden Circle Full-Day Classic
★ 4.8 · 27200 reviews
- The classic full-day loop from Reykjavík
- Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss and Kerið
- More reviews than any other tour in Iceland
- Free cancellation
$86$10.75 / hour
Check availability→ 
Small group801 reviews
8 hGolden Circle & Kerið Small Group
★ 4.8 · 801 reviews
- A small-group version of the classic loop
- Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss and Kerið
- Fewer people, and it stops where a coach cannot
- Free cancellation
$119$14.88 / hour
Check availability→ 
Blue Lagoon6,006 reviews
11 hGolden Circle & Blue Lagoon
★ 4.9 · 6006 reviews
- The Golden Circle and the Blue Lagoon in one day
- Kerið crater on the way round
- Eleven hours, and the two things everybody comes for
- Free cancellation
$245$22.27 / hour
Check availability→ Common questions
Golden Circle tour price, answered
How much is a Golden Circle tour from Reykjavík?
From $76 for a coach seat covering the three main stops plus Kerið crater. The most-booked tour in Iceland is $86, small groups start around $119, and the Blue Lagoon combination is $245.
Is the Golden Circle free?
The route is. There is no gate anywhere on it and the three main stops charge no admission. You pay for parking — 1,000 ISK at Þingvellir, about the same at Geysir, free at Gullfoss — and 700 ISK per person if you add Kerið.
Is it cheaper to drive the Golden Circle or take a tour?
For two people in summer they cost about the same once you count car hire, fuel and fees, and driving buys you freedom. For a solo traveller the coach is clearly cheaper. In winter the tour is worth more than the price difference suggests.
What is not included in a Golden Circle tour?
Usually lunch, sometimes the 700 ISK Kerið fee, and on some listings the Blue Lagoon entry itself. Check those three before comparing two tours on price.
Why are some Golden Circle tours over $1,000?
Those are private tours — a car and a driver for your group alone, priced per vehicle rather than per person — or multi-day trips with accommodation included. They are not the same product as a coach seat.
Do Golden Circle tours include hotel pickup?
Most do, though in central Reykjavík many operators use designated bus stops within a short walk rather than collecting from the door. It is in the listing, and it is worth reading.
Go deeper
More on the Golden Circle
All stops
Every stop on the loop
The three headline sites and the six worth adding, with what each one costs.
GullfossGullfoss waterfall
Two drops, 32 metres, 141 cubic metres a second, and the woman who saved it.
KeriðKerið crater
270 metres across, 55 deep, and the only stop on the route with a gate fee.
The other twoÞingvellir and Geysir
A rift between two continents, and the geyser that is asleep next to the one that is not.
RouteThe route and directions
230 km, which roads, which direction, and every car park with its fee.
ItineraryA one-day itinerary
Hour by hour from Reykjavík and back, in the order that misses the coaches.
