Visiting the Reykjavik Golden Circle: Fees, Hours and What a Tour Includes

You need no ticket for the Golden Circle. Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss have no gate, so the fare you pay is the tour. If you are weighing up Reykjavik Golden Circle tickets, start with what each fare covers beyond the ride.

Two things on the loop do charge admission: Kerið crater and the geothermal lagoons. Some fares include both, some include one, and some include neither. That difference, more than the price, is what you are choosing between.

No gate: what is free and what is not

Nobody sells admission to Þingvellir National Park. The park charges a parking service fee instead, and its own word for it is a service fee, not an entrance fee. Geysir and Gullfoss are protected areas run by the Environment Agency, and neither charges you anything to walk in.

If you drive yourself, the parking works by camera. It reads your plate as you arrive, and you pay at the machines or online. One payment covers the park's three main car parks for the whole day, so you can move between them freely. If your car carries a disabled parking permit, register the plate with the park and you pay nothing.

The Kerið fee and the lagoon tickets, fare by fare

Kerið is a volcanic crater on private land, and the landowner charges 700 ISK at the gate. Most small-group days put that fee in the fare. Two big-coach days drop the crater entirely if you take a noon start. The lagoons work the same way: on most combination days the ticket is included, and on one it is not.

The Kerið fee is in the fare

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Kerið on morning departures only

Golden Circle with Kerid Volcanic Crater Day Tour from Reykjavik and Reykjavik: Golden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid Crater. From 12:00 these departures skip the crater and run about seven hours.

You pay the Kerið fee on the day, or the listing does not say

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No Kerið stop

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A lagoon ticket is in the fare

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A lagoon ticket is extra

Private Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon Tour from Reykjavik: the listing prices the Secret Lagoon at US$35 a person on top.

Þingvellir visitor centre: hours and phone

Hakið is the national park's visitor centre, above the rift at the start of the main walk. It is the one office on the loop that publishes its hours, address and phone. The address is Gestastofa Hak, 806 Selfoss, and you can call it on +354 488 1800.

The centre also houses the Heart of Iceland exhibition, which takes about 40 minutes. Adults pay 1,200 ISK, and anyone 17 or under goes in free. Over Christmas the hours are shorter: it closes at noon on 24 December and at 15:00 on 25 and 31 December.

Food, toilets and stops

What to wear

• A waterproof jacket. The spray at Gullfoss soaks you on a windy day, and the rain comes sideways.
• Warm layers you can take off. The coach is warm and the car parks are not.
• Shoes with grip. The paths at the falls and the geyser field turn icy from autumn to spring.
• Gloves and a hat, even in summer, for the wind at the canyon edge.
• A swimsuit and a towel if your day ends at a lagoon. Towels come with some fares and not others.
• A charged phone and headphones, because the big coaches run their commentary through an app.

Weather, cancellations and refunds

Accessibility and age limits, honestly

Only a few listings say they take a wheelchair: a private SUV day, one classic coach that carries folding chairs if you travel with a helper, and the northern lights coach. Most say they do not, and some say nothing, which you should read as no until the operator confirms. At the stops, the paths are gravel and uneven, and the geyser field and the falls have steps.

You can still see a lot from the car parks. The upper viewpoint at Gullfoss and the geyser field are both close to where the coaches stop.

Every operator sets its own minimum age, from 2 on the big coaches to 12 for Silfra. Where a listing states no age, ask before you book if you travel with a small child.

Asked before you go