Reykjavik Golden Circle Coach Tour with Kerid Crater

★★★★★ 4.8 (27,475 traveller ratings)

Kerið on morning departuresBig coachMorning or afternoon startGuide included

You walk to Bus Stop 12 at Höfðatorg, or book the pickup option, and board an air-conditioned coach with a live guide. Seven hours later you are back, having stood at Gullfoss, waited for Strokkur and walked the rift at Þingvellir. Book a morning departure and the day includes the Kerið crater too.

Hours, prices and access verified by the Reykjavik Golden Circle Tours team — last checked 2026-09-23.

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A low fare, and the longest record on the route

What $89 buys, and what it leaves out

This is the cheap seat, and it is worth being clear about what cheap means here. The loop itself costs nothing to enter: Þingvellir charges parking for cars, not admission, and Geysir and Gullfoss have no gate. So the fare pays for the coach, the guide and the time at each stop. What $89 does not buy is a small group. A coach carries a full load, and the meeting point is a bus stop you walk to, unless you book the pickup option.

What it does buy is experience at scale. With 27,475 ratings, this day has the largest record on the route by a wide margin, and the scores hold up: 4.8 for the guide, 4.8 for the transport, 4.7 for value. Isabell-Christin had a guide and a driver who chose quiet time slots at each stop, so the crowds had moved on. Laura came away with the geology and the volcanoes explained.

The Kerið rule: a morning start keeps the crater

Kerið is the one stop that decides which departure you book. Morning departures stop at the crater for 20 minutes. Departures at 12:00 and later skip it and run about seven hours without it. If the crater is on your list, book the morning. The fare does not say whether it carries the crater’s 700 ISK entrance fee, so bring krónur or a card to the rim.

If you can only go in the afternoon and want the crater, the afternoon minibus from 12:00 keeps Kerið in its fare from $114. When to go sets out the light and the crowds month by month.

The loop, stop by stop

From Reykjavík the coach drives about 40 minutes to Hveragerði for a 15-minute break. Then Kerið on a morning run, a crater about 6,500 years old with a lake at the bottom. Gullfoss follows, with 45 minutes at the falls, where the river Hvítá drops 11 metres and then 20 into its canyon.

Geysir is the long stop, 80 minutes with lunch to buy. The great Geysir last erupted in 2016; Strokkur erupts every few minutes, as high as 30 metres. The last stop is Þingvellir National Park, 45 minutes to walk through the rift. The assembly met here from around 930 until 1798, and the park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004. Then it is about an hour back to the city. Sandra’s coach stopped once more on the way, for a flock of sheep coming home from summer pasture across the road. Every stop on the loop is described in full, with the minutes each tour gives it.

Your seven hours on the coach, in order

1. Bus Stop 12, Höfðatorg, or your pickup. Board the coach for the drive east, about 40 minutes.
2. Hveragerði, 15 minutes. A short break in a geothermal town.
3. Kerið, 20 minutes, morning departures only. The crater rim and the lake; no crater from 12:00.
4. Gullfoss, 45 minutes. The two drops of the falls and the canyon below.
5. Geysir, 80 minutes. Strokkur, the paths through the field, and lunch to buy.
6. Þingvellir, 45 minutes. A walk through the rift valley.
7. Back to Reykjavík, about an hour. Drop-off where you started.

Who this suits: travellers who want the loop at the lowest fare

What the fare covers, and what it does not

Food and drinks are not in the fare, and the Kerið fee is not named either way, so carry 700 ISK or a card on a morning departure. Nothing else asks for money: Geysir and Gullfoss charge no admission, and Þingvellir’s parking fee is the coach’s business, not yours. The visitor guide lists every fee on the route, and who pays it.

Bus Stop 12 at Höfðatorg, or a pickup you book

Morning and afternoon tours both leave from Bus Stop 12, Höfðatorg. If you book the option with pickup, you are collected from one of the city’s numbered bus stops or listed hotels, and the list runs from City Hall and Harpa to the Skarfabakki cruise terminal. Pick the stop nearest your bed when you book.

Numbered bus stops exist because big coaches are kept out of many downtown streets. Be at yours before the time you are given. Getting to the pickup points covers the bus stops, the terminal and the cruise port.

Know before you go

• Use the toilet at every stop. Michael noted there is no toilet on board, and queues at a full stop eat into your time.
• Book a morning start for Kerið. Departures at 12:00 and later skip the crater.
• Carry 700 ISK or a card. The fare does not say it covers the Kerið entrance fee.
• Bring lunch money. Food and drinks are not included; Geysir is the lunch stop.
• Heavy rain can cancel the day. In heavy rain or storms the tour can be cancelled, with another date or a full refund.
• Cancel a day ahead and pay nothing. The full fare comes back up to 24 hours before the start.

What coach travellers say when they get back

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Questions about the Bus Stop 12 coach