Reykjavik Golden Circle bus tours take you round the loop on a big coach, from a fixed stop in the city or with pickup, for the lowest fares on the route. The coaches carry 49 to 100 people where they state a cap, and several add the crater, a horse farm, a lagoon, the glacier or an evening after the northern lights.
Leave the BSÍ terminal on a first-class bus with Wi-Fi and an English-speaking guide. You get about 45 minutes at the park and an hour each at the geysers and the falls, with the park visitor fee included.
From $81 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
This coach runs the loop backwards, geysers first and the park last, in six and a half hours from BSÍ or your accommodation. A live guide and an app audio guide come with it; headphones do not.
From $88 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Largest review record on the route: a coach from Bus Stop 12 with morning and afternoon starts, a Hveragerði break and 80 minutes at the geysers with lunch. Morning starts add the crater; from 12:00 the day skips it. From age 2.
From $89 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Meet the horses: a new coach with a toilet and Wi-Fi, 57 seats at most, and 30 minutes at a farm where you feed them. The crater entrance is in the fare, and the geysers get 90 minutes.
From $95 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Guided in Chinese from start to finish, with tea and hot water on board. Over ten hours the day adds Brúarfoss and the crater to the three sights; whether the crater fee is in the fare is not stated.
From $86 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Ten hours from Bus Stop 12 at 8:00, with the crater fee and 90 minutes in the Secret Lagoon in the fare. Bring your own towel. Book by 30 September to keep the saving; from age 2.
From $111 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Sights by day, lights by night: a coach with a toilet on board runs the loop and the crater, fee included, breaks for two hours in the city, then spends about four hours after the northern lights. No sighting is promised.
From $151 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
From BSÍ at 9:00 the coach stops at the park and the geysers, then heads to Langjökull for an hour on a snowmobile, two to a machine, and on to the falls. One licensed driver per pair; nobody under 6.
From $361 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The cheapest coach leaves the BSÍ terminal at $81, and every coach here refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead. Pick your date and see the start time before you pay.
Check availabilityA coach day on the loop: you meet at the BSÍ terminal or at Bus Stop 12 at Höfðatorg, or you are collected from a hotel or a numbered city bus stop, and a guide rides with you. The basic coach days give the three sights their time and come back in six and a half to eight and a half hours. The longer ones add something the fare pays for, from the crater fee to a lagoon ticket or a snowmobile ride.
Nobody sells a ticket to the Golden Circle. Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss charge no admission, so the coach fare is the whole price of the sights. The visitor guide lists the fees that do exist.
Coach fares here run from $81, and the basic coach days cost $81 to $89. You pay for a seat and a guide, and nothing else is bundled in unless you choose a combination day.
The coaches leave from fixed points in the city: the BSÍ terminal on Vatnsmýrarvegur and Bus Stop 12 at Höfðatorg. If you are staying nearby, you can walk there; pickup is included on some coaches and an option on others.
Some coaches from BSÍ carry an app audio guide in many languages as well as the live guide; you bring your own headphones. One coach is guided in Chinese from start to finish.
The snowmobile ride on Langjökull, the evening hunt for the northern lights and the 90 minutes at the Secret Lagoon are all sold as coach days. If you want one of those, a coach is how you get it.
This is the choice most people are weighing. You are trading a lower fare for a larger group and less time for questions.
| Big coach | Minibus | |
|---|---|---|
| Fares | $81 to $361 | $114 to $296 |
| Group, where stated | 49 to 100 | 17 to 22 |
| Start | BSÍ or Bus Stop 12; pickup on some | Pickup in town |
| Crater fee | In some fares | In nearly every fare |
| Commentary | Live guide; an app guide on some | Live guide |
| Toilet on board | On the horse-farm and aurora coaches | Not stated |
If a smaller group matters more than the fare, compare the Golden Circle classic tour Reykjavik options, where most of the minibuses sit.
You get the seat, a guide and the time at the stops the itinerary lists. The basic coach from BSÍ adds Wi-Fi and the park visitor fee. The horse-farm coach adds the crater entrance, a toilet on board and horse sweets for the farm. The aurora coach adds the crater fee and a toilet too. One traveller noted there was no toilet on the Bus Stop 12 coach, so use the stops.
You do not get lunch: every coach stops where you can buy it, and the Bus Stop 12 coach builds lunch into its 80 minutes at the geysers. On the basic coaches you do not get the crater either. And on the snowmobile day, a solo machine costs extra at the glacier; one traveller was charged almost 100 USD for it.
| What to expect | |
|---|---|
| Fares | $81 to $361 per person |
| Length | 6.5 hours for the three sights; up to 12.5 with the aurora hunt |
| Meeting points | BSÍ terminal, Bus Stop 12 at Höfðatorg, or pickup |
| Youngest | 2 on the Bus Stop 12 coaches; 6 on the snowmobile day |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours ahead |
Be at the terminal 15 minutes before the start, or at your pickup stop before the time you are given; a coach may not wait. The how to get there page lists the numbered stops. About three and a half hours of a basic coach day is driving, by one traveller’s count, so a window seat is worth arriving early for.
Morning starts from Bus Stop 12 add the crater, and lunch sits inside 80 minutes at the geysers. Pick your date and see the start time before you pay.
Check availabilityNext: Choose between coach and minibus in the best Golden Circle tour for your trip, or price the day in what each fare buys. Every fare sits side by side on Reykjavik Golden Circle Tours.