Reykjavik Golden Circle Ticket Prices: What Each Fare Buys

There is no Golden Circle ticket. Þingvellir (Thingvellir), Geysir and Gullfoss charge no admission, so Reykjavik Golden Circle ticket prices are in fact tour fares: a seat, a guide and time at the stops. They run from $81 to $931, and the gap is explained by what each fare carries beyond the ride. Here is the ladder, band by band, with what you still pay on the day.

The price ladder

Every fare here is per person except the top one, which is for a car of up to four. The visitor guide lists the fees that exist on the loop.

What do the cheapest fares include?

A seat on a big coach, a guide and the three sights. The floor-fare coach from BSÍ at $81 adds Wi-Fi and the park visitor fee, and gives Geysir and Gullfoss an hour each. The audio-guide coach at $88 adds an app audio guide in many languages; bring headphones.

What they leave out is the crater. The base fares of both coaches skip it. The Bus Stop 12 coach at $89 stops there on morning starts. Cruise passengers notice the gap: one found the audio-guide coach much cheaper than the ship’s own excursion, and another found a BSÍ coach £400 cheaper than the ship’s version of the same trip.

When is the Kerið fee in the fare?

The Kerið (Kerid) crater charges 700 ISK a person. Every minibus classic puts it in the fare, from $114. So do the Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon minibuses, the Secret Lagoon coach, the horse-farm coach and the aurora coach. Three private days include it too.

The per-group private car and the private lagoon day visit the crater but leave its fee to you. The Bus Stop 12 coach visits the crater only on starts before noon, and the Chinese-guided day does not say. Where a fare is silent, carry the fee in cash or on a card.

Lagoon days: which ticket, which towel

The lagoon days run from $111 to $261, and each puts a bath ticket in the fare. What else is in it differs:

• Secret Lagoon, coach: $111, 90 minutes in the pool, the crater fee in the fare. Towel not included.
• Secret Lagoon, minibus: $168, an hour in the pool, 17 at most. Swimsuit and towel rent at extra cost.
• Sky Lagoon: $249, two hours, towel in the fare. Bring a swimsuit.
• Blue Lagoon: the most-reviewed Blue Lagoon minibus at $259, or the other Blue Lagoon minibus at $261, with a towel, a silica mask and a drink in its Comfort package.

At the Secret Lagoon itself, an adult ticket is 4,500 ISK. The three lagoons compared post sets the baths side by side.

Why do private fares vary with group size?

You are paying for a car and a driver-guide, not a seat. Most private fares here are per-person figures that vary by group size, and the figure shown is the starting one. Read the price for your own number before you compare.

What each fare carries differs. At $435, the highlights day includes the crater fee and the parking at the park and at Faxi. The private lagoon day at the same figure does not include the lagoon ticket: that is US$35 a person on the day. The SUV day includes all fees and taxes. The Golden Circle private tour from Reykjavik options are compared side by side.

The one per-group fare

The per-group private tour is quoted for the whole car: $931 for up to four people. It includes parking, bottled water and Wi-Fi, and you choose a car, a minivan or a minibus. The crater fee is not in it, and its record is short. One traveller called the charge very high; divide it by your number before you compare it with a per-person fare.

Which fares include pickup?

Every minibus classic collects you in town, and so do the lagoon minibuses and the private days. On the big coaches it depends. The audio-guide coach includes pickup from your accommodation or a bus stop. The coach from BSÍ and the Bus Stop 12 coach sell pickup as an option, and leave from their terminal or stop if you walk there.

Pickup rarely means your hotel door. Coaches are kept out of many downtown streets, so a hotel inside that zone is served from a numbered city bus stop nearby. When you book, check which stop is yours and be there before the time you are given. The how to get there page lists the stops.

When should you book?

Early enough to keep your choice, late enough to watch the weather. Every tour we list refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead, so an early booking costs you little. A minibus of 17 to 22 has few seats to sell, and a private day has one car.

Private days booked at short notice may need confirming: the Friðheimar private day confirms within 48 hours when you book inside two days. If your dates are tight, book the private day first and the rest round it.

What will you pay on the day?

Four things turn up. Lunch, which no shared fare includes: tours stop where you can buy it. The crater fee, where the fare leaves it out. Gear on the lagoon days: a swimsuit, and a towel on some. And the solo snowmobile: the ride is sold two to a machine, and one traveller was charged almost 100 USD at the glacier to ride alone.

Tipping is not in any fare. Some listings exclude gratuities by name; tip only if you want to.

What does the most-booked tour cost?

The coach from Bus Stop 12 carries the largest review record on the route by a wide margin, at $89. For that you get a guide, a big coach, the three sights, a stop in Hveragerði and, on morning starts, the crater. Its Geysir stop is 80 minutes with lunch.

The most-reviewed minibus day is the Blue Lagoon day at $259, with the bath and the crater fee in the fare. The two sit at opposite ends of the shared ladder, and both are popular for the same reason: each does one job clearly. See the classic minibus loop for the middle of the ladder.

Are there child fares?

The coach from the BSÍ terminal sells a family discount, with at most two children per paying adult. Check each fare for your children’s ages when you choose a date. Minimum ages matter more than discounts: from 2 on the Bus Stop 12 coaches, from 5 or 6 on most minibuses, and from 12 on the snorkel day. The FAQs list the ages tour by tour.

Promotions and when they end

One fare here is a promotion. The Secret Lagoon coach shows $111, a 15% saving if you book by 30 September. After that date, check the fare again. Other fares move with demand, so the price you see on your date is the one that counts. Every tour we list refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead.

Is the dearest tour worth it?

A private day is worth it for a group that wants its own hours. The activity days, from $296, are worth it if the activity is the point: the snowmobile ride, the snorkel in the rift, the superjeep to the ice. They are not the best way to see the three sights, since the activity takes hours from the stops. One snowmobile traveller wished it had been a separate trip. The two glacier days are set out on the Golden Circle glacier tours page.

For most first visits, the best value is a minibus classic at $114 to $135: the crater fee in the fare, a small group and pickup. See the Golden Circle classic tour Reykjavik options side by side.

Golden Circle prices: frequently asked questions

A lagoon fare, a promotion and a price for the whole car

Reykjavik: Golden Circle, Crater & Blue Lagoon Minibus Tour

Eleven hours: the loop, the crater and two hours in the Blue Lagoon, with entry, a towel, a face mask and a drink in the fare; from age 2.

From $261 per person

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Golden Circle, Secret Lagoon and Kerid Crater Tour from Reykjavik

Ten hours on a coach from Bus Stop 12, with the crater and 90 minutes in the Secret Lagoon, ticket in the fare; from age 2, towel not included.

From $111 per person

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Golden Circle Private Tour From Reykjavik

A private car, minivan or minibus for up to four at one price, with water and parking in the fare. The crater fee is yours to pay.

From $931 per group (up to 4)

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