Þingvellir National Park on the Reykjavik Golden Circle: the Rift, the Assembly and Silfra

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a stop on almost every Golden Circle tour from Reykjavik, and the one with the most to explain. You are standing in a rift valley where two plates pull apart, on the field where Iceland's assembly met for more than eight centuries. Entry is free; you pay only to park.

A rift valley and a parliament in one place

Most places are famous for one thing. Þingvellir is famous for two, and you see both from the same path.

The park was established in 1930, after a law of 1928 made it the property of the nation. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2004, for its cultural value. Geysir and Gullfoss are protected by Icelandic law, but they are not on the World Heritage list.

Walking Almannagjá to Lögberg

Almost every tour does the same walk, and you can do it without a guide too. You start at the top and walk downhill, and the coach meets you at the bottom.

1. Hakið viewpoint Start at the visitor centre by car park P1, at the top of the gorge. The platform shows you the whole rift, the lake and the church.
2. Down the gorge The path drops into Almannagjá, the great fault on the western side of the valley.
3. The flagpole Lögberg, the Law Rock, is where the assembly opened and closed and the Lawspeaker recited the law. Its exact site is debated; the flagpole ledge is the usual answer.
4. 1000 and 1944 Christianity was adopted here in the year 1000, and Iceland's independence was declared at Lögberg in 1944.
5. The meeting point The path continues to the car parks below, where many coaches wait for you.

Walk it slowly. The distance is short, but the path gets crowded when several coaches arrive at once. If your tour gives you 30 minutes here, that is roughly the walk and one stop to look.

Öxarárfoss and Lake Þingvallavatn

Öxarárfoss is the waterfall at the northern end of the gorge, where the river Öxará drops over the fault wall. The sagas say the river was diverted into Almannagjá to give the assembly its water. The P2 car park, Efri-Vellir, sits below it. Only some tours walk as far as the falls, so ask your guide if it matters to you.

Þingvallavatn, the lake south of the assembly field, is Iceland's largest natural lake, about 84 km² with a deepest point of 114 metres. About 90% of the water reaching it travels underground. Water from the Langjökull glacier takes 20 to 30 years to get there, and that is why Silfra is so clear.

Silfra: what the park allows

Silfra is a water-filled fissure in the northern part of the lake, at most 10 metres wide and up to 60 metres deep. The water is 2 to 4 °C all year. You can snorkel or dive it, but the park sets the rules:

• Never alone: the park says it is prohibited to enter Silfra without a buddy.
• No caves or overhead spaces, and a maximum depth of 18 metres for divers.
• Divers need a diving licence plus a drysuit certificate or 10 logged drysuit dives in the past two years.
• Full cold-water protection, and you declare that you are in full mental and physical health.

The Golden Circle and Silfra combination day adds its own rules on top. You must be at least 12, able to swim and to follow a briefing in English, weigh 45 to 120 kg and stand 150 to 200 cm tall, and fill in a medical form. The drysuit and the undersuit come with the fare ($296).

What the tours get wrong about Silfra

You may hear either of these on the bus. The park itself corrects them.

You cannot touch both continents in Silfra. The fissure sits inside the rift zone, not on a single plate edge, and the plates are about 5 km apart. What you swim through is one of many cracks between them, not a line with America on one side and Europe on the other.

Silfra was not formed in 1789. A major rifting event did shake the area that spring, but the park says the fissure itself is far older than that. Enjoy the water for what it is: groundwater that spent decades under the lava before you reached it.

Parking, car parks and the visitor centre

There is no gate and no admission. The park charges a parking service fee, and cameras read your number plate. One payment covers the three main car parks for the rest of the day, so you can move the car from the top to the bottom of the gorge without paying twice.

You pay at the machines or online through Checkit.is. A car with a disabled parking permit pays nothing, as long as you register the plate with the park first. On a tour, the operator pays for the coach. The three car parks are P1 at Hakið, P2 at Efri-Vellir below the waterfall, and P5 at Valhöll, nearest the church and Silfra.

The Hakið visitor centre opens 09:00 to 18:00 from April to October and 09:00 to 17:00 from November to March, and its phone number is +354 488 1800. Its exhibition, Heart of Iceland, costs 1,200 ISK for adults and takes about 40 minutes.

How long each tour gives the park

Here is the time each tour's itinerary gives Þingvellir, longest first. The shortest stop is 30 minutes and the longest is 1 hour. If you want to walk the gorge and see the falls, look for 45 minutes or more.

Asked about Þingvellir

Where these facts come from

The history, the rules for Silfra, the fees and the hours are the national park's own, read 23 September 2026. The World Heritage details are UNESCO's. Each tour's minutes and rules come from that tour's own listing.

• Þingvellir National Park: the assembly and the park (national park)
• Parking service: the fee, the car parks and paying (national park)
• The Hakið visitor centre and exhibition: hours and prices (national park)
• Diving and snorkelling in Silfra: the rules (national park)
• Þingvellir National Park, World Heritage list entry 1152 (UNESCO)