Driving the Golden Circle in Iceland with Kids

If you're planning on visiting Iceland then the Golden Circle will most definitely be on your itinerary. Taking in some of South West Iceland's most stunning natural sights, it's easily accessible as a day trip from Reykjavik.

Whilst I was doing our holiday research I found lots of tour operators running Golden Circle tours but I wondered if these would be suitable for children. Although I liked the idea of having a tour guide, we decided that self driving would suit us more. Elliot and Erin are 6 and 2 and I thought it would be much easier and much less stressful doing things at our own pace!

We hired a car through Blue Car Rental and we used Google Maps on our phones to get around. The Golden Circle is very popular amongst tourists though so you could probably get by with just using signs/maps! We found the internet coverage excellent in Iceland and we were able to use it pretty much everywhere we went.

Thingvillir National Park

Our first stop was Thingvillir (Þingvellir) National Park which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. It's the only UNESCO World Heritage site in Iceland and has a past steeped in history. The park is located in a rift valley, created by the movement of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. This makes for some jaw dropping scenery!

There is no entrance fee for the park but if you arrive by car you will have to pay a parking fee of 500 ISK, but this is valid for the entire day and at all parking areas.

There is a large visitor's centre with the usual cafe/shop/exhibits but we skipped this and headed straight for the lookout point. With it being a beautiful sunny morning, we could see for miles and it literally looked like a postcard!

We followed the main path that ran parallel with the cliff and were rewarded with more stunning views. The terrain was perfectly fine for the children however some of the lookout points just had a bar and were not child-friendly at all - Erin stayed on her reins the entire time (much to her disgust!) so we could keep a good grip on her.

There are several carparks dotted around the park so we decided that Paul should go back and get the car and drive onto the next carpark whilst myself and the children followed the path and enjoyed the views. This sounded like a good plan but we didn't realise that the further we got from the visitor's centre, the deeper the snow got on the paths!

We passed lots of people coming down a steep path (and most of them sliding down on their bums!) and my heart sank as it was the only way up to the carpark that Paul was parked in! (Little did I know that he was up top taking photos as you can see from the pic below...)

Can you spot us?!

With a bit of help from some passers-by, a few tears and rather alot of snow we managed to get to the top in one piece..well, maybe not my dignity. That was shattered after I face planted the snow on the clamber up! 

Gullfoss Waterfall

Gullfoss was our next stop on the Golden Circle and it was around an hours drive from Thingvillir. This was a good opportunity for the kids to have a bit of a rest after trudging through the snow - Erin was asleep literally minutes into our journey! 

A top tip if you're travelling along this route is to seek out the cheaper food options. Eating out in Iceland is notoriously expensive but a much cheaper option is to go for hotdogs which you can pretty much find everywhere in Iceland. We stopped at a service station (here) and discovered a really good grocery shop and the all important hotdogs!  We were able to have a quick lunch at a fraction of the price of any of the cafes and restaurants at the Golden Circle hot spots. 

Gullfoss is another of the most popular tourist spots in Iceland and this was evident by the amount of cars and buses in the carpark! There is a large gift shop and restaurant on site, and plenty of viewpoints to see the waterfall. 

If you were thinking about taking a buggy, you would only be able to view from the top as there were a number of steps going down to the lower viewpoints. There are rope fences which weren't really enough to contain a lively toddler so definitely keep little kids on reins if possible! 

The waterfall is impressive, and the roar of the water as we climbed down the steps was deafening! On sunny days you can spot rainbows above the waterfall like we did - although don't let the sunshine in our photos fool you. It was COLD! 

Geysir and Strokkur 

Next on our Golden Circle itinerary was Geysir, home to the famous erupting geysers - chance is if you've ever googled Iceland, you'll have seen a picture of the the water erupting out of the ground! 

Geysir is the original geyser but this one doesn't erupt as much these days. Strokkur however, goes off every 5-10 minutes so you will never have to wait long to see an eruption. The water is blasted to around 30 metres high! I found it so fascinating - it was brilliant to see it afar like in the photo above but once we got up close we could actually see the water bubbling in the ground. It would bubble into a dome and then kind of get sucked in and then at that point you knew the eruption would be any second! 

The kids thought it was brilliant and we spent ages wandering around looking at all the smaller geysers and waiting for the big one to erupt. It did take us by surprise at first though - we thought we'd found a really good vantage point to watch it erupt. Little did we know that the reason no one was stood there was that it was in the splash zone! Poor Erin looked like she'd been in the shower but they thought it was hilarious!

The pathways are mostly paved and definitely suitable for buggies although we left ours in the car and just had the reins. With steaming vents, hot springs and boiling mud pits you definitely need to keep an eye on little ones - there are roped fences but it would be easy for a child to slip under these.

On site opposite the main geothermal area there is a large gift shop, cafe, restaurant and hotel. We stopped for a hot chocolate and ice-cream and it was nice to escape the cold for a bit!

It's free to see the geysers and there is a large carpark but it does get VERY busy. Most bus tours seem to come and go pretty quickly but we actually spent a few hours here and it did get much quieter towards late afternoon. I'd probably say this was our highlight of the Golden Circle!

Kerið Volcanic Crater Lake

Kerið is a 3,000 year old volcanic crater lake located along the Golden Circle route. It doesn't really look much from the road but as you climb nearer the rim, you can look down and see the spectacular colours. The water is usually bright blue although it was iced over when we visited. However we could clearly see the red volcanic rocks of the crater wall beneath the ice and snow. The crater is 270m long, 170m wide and 55m deep and is very impressive! 

There are two options for a walk - you can take the steps down to the bottom of the crater or you can walk up and around the crater rim. We chose to walk around the crater rim - it was quite uneven in places and a little muddy/icy but Erin was on her reins and we managed it with no issues. There are no fences and you are up quite high so I didn't let go of her hand! The views are worth it though and it felt like we were walking on top of the world!

Elliot and Paul took the steps down the bottom of the lake whilst Erin and I headed back to the car to warm up. It looked pretty slippery so I'm glad we left them to it!

Northern Lights

We decided as we were out in the car we may as well try and get a glimpse of the elusive Northern Lights. We had a bit of time before it got dark so we took a slow drive back to Reykjavik, taking in the impressive scenery. Iceland is so beautiful and it was even more special to see if at dusk when the sun was setting. 

The kids fell asleep in the back of the car so we parked up at a quiet spot with little light pollution. As the sky fell darker and darker, we excitedly kept our eyes peeled for any activity.

We did spot some unusual light - it seemed to get brighter and wispy but it came and went within around 20 minutes. It wasn't until I looked more closely at the photo once I got home that I spotted the green tinge!

Our Golden Circle day was mega long and we didn't get back to our apartment until gone 10pm but having our own transport made it so much easier with the kids. It meant we could take our time and not be on someone else's schedule.

We all had a brilliant time and the kids really enjoyed the day - they certainly slept well that night!

Visiting the Blue Lagoon Iceland with Kids

One of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland is undoubtedly the Blue Lagoon - a geothermal spa located 45 minutes from Reykjavik.

 It might look like a natural hot spring but the lagoon is actually man-made, The water comes from a nearby geothermal power plant where superheated water is pumped from the ground and used to run turbines that generate electricity. The water cannot be recycled due to its rich mineral content so it is pumped into the nearby landscape. The water renews itself every 2 days.

I have seen so many pictures of the Blue Lagoon on Instagram and although we were only in Iceland for 5 days, I knew it was definitely somewhere we needed to visit!

The question was, could we take the children? Is it suitable for children?

Yes and Yes!

The minimum age for visitors is 2 years old so my kids were above the minimum age. They are both water babies and adore their swimming so I knew that they would enjoy it - although I did have to warn my son that it wasn't like a regular pool. He wouldn't be able to jump in from the side - it was more of a floating pool!

You MUST pre-book tickets online before visiting otherwise there's a risk of it being fully booked. When you book, you choose an hour slot and you can arrive anytime within this hour. Prices vary from the comfort package at £75pp to the premium at £94. You can get cheaper tickets if you are willing to go at off-peak times but it's best to check the website for these. The good news is that children under 14 go free - which made the eye-watering entry prices slightly better when there were just two tickets to pay for!

Our reservation was 11am and we arrived straight from the airport which is just 20 minutes away. We had a hire car but there were a lot of buses coming in and out so I think it would be relatively straight forward to get there using public transport. We were a bit early so we had a little wander along the pathways that snake around to the left of the lagoon. Wow, that's when the wind hit us!! We'd left all our hats/gloves/thick coats in the car as I wanted to take as little as possible into the lagoon so we didn't hang around outside for long.

I'd heard bad reviews about lots of queues at the entrance but we went straight in with no problems. Although the children were free, they were still given a colour coded wristband as were we. The adult wristbands are used to pay for drinks once in the lagoon so don't lose them - they are also used for the lockers.

We had the comfort package and so everyone was given a towel and off we went to the locker rooms which are separate for male and female. Paul took Elliot and I had Erin...I think he had the easy job ;)

I was worried that we would have to get undressed in front of everyone - this is not something I'd like to do by myself let alone with a 2-year-old!! But I needn't have worried, there were several cubicles so we found an empty one and got our swimsuits on.

The Blue Lagoon are apparently very strict about visitors showering naked before entering but in all honesty, I didn't see any staff enforcing this. There are plenty of shower cubicles so we hopped in and had a quick shower - I also made sure I lathered my hair with the conditioner that is supplied. Your hair gets very dry in the lagoon due to the silica in the water so it's really important to keep it conditioned!

Erin was not a fan of the showers and screamed her head off so that was a bit stressful - there wasn't anywhere in the cubicle where she could stand and not have water in her face so she wasn't too happy! In all the drama of showering minus our swimsuits, we also dropped both towels on the floor drenching them....doh! Fortunately, there seemed to be plenty of towels to help yourself to so we had no issues replacing them.

Once showered we went to the meeting area and found Paul and Elliot, we also picked up armbands for the children. All kids under 8 must wear these and the lifeguards were very strict about this. There were lots of coat hooks and people were leaving their towels and robes here. To be honest, all the towels were identical so you might have to memorise the number of the peg!

There are two ways of getting into the Blue Lagoon. You can easily go through the double doors and be faced with the freezing Icelandic temperates whilst lowering yourself into the pool.

We chose a much nicer way! There is a ramp inside where you enter the water from - as you exit, you don't feel the cold as much because you're already in the pool. And wow, that water temperature is lovely! It's just like getting into a bath.  The temperature outside was probably around 3/4C but it honestly didn't feel like it due to the warmness of the water.

The lagoon is quite big and there plenty of places to explore such as waterfalls that massage your back and neck, the mask bar where you can scoop up some white silica to put on your face, the drinks bar and the sauna and steam room. Or the smoke room as Elliot called it!

What surprised me was the difference in temperature in different parts of the pool. The water is generally between 37-40C but there were some real hot spots!

All packages (except kids) allow you to have a drink from the bar and there were alcoholic beverages such as beers, or you could have something healthier like a smoothie. Paul had a beer and I had a slushie. I didn't fancy sharing it 3 ways so we bought the kids one too! I think it worked out about £4 when we came to pay at the end.

We ended up spending almost 2 hours in the pool - the children were happy to stay longer but we were starting to resemble wrinkly prunes! The time went so fast and it was lovely floating around in the warm water.

Once out of the water, Paul and I went our separate ways with a child each. This is where I found it a bit stressful! The first problem was showering - again Erin screamed her head off and it wasn't a very relaxing experience! She kept trying to escape out of the shower cubicle (there aren't any locks, it's just a swing door) so I was having to hold her and try and wash our hair etc.

The next issue was the logistics of getting back to the locker! You are meant to dry off before entering the changing area to keep it dry. Being a plus size lady, I found the towels quite small so I had to grab a couple of fresh towels and attempt to wrap a couple round me and keep them up...as well as getting Erin dried and stop her screaming/slipping over, plus also carrying our wet costumes!

We managed to shuffle back to the changing area without flashing too much flesh and I was relieved to find an empty cubicle to get us dressed in!

There are lots of mirrors plus hairdryers in the changing area which is useful - they even have cotton buds to make sure you have all the silica mask out of your nooks and crannies!

Once you leave the changing area, you swipe your wristband and settle up any money that is owed. You then have to swipe again to get out and your wristband is popped in the turnstile as you leave.

We were all really hungry after all that floating about so we headed to the cafe for a bite to eat. There are several dining options at the Blue Lagoon ranging from the sit-down Lava Restaurant to the grab and go cafe. We didn't want to hang around too long so we just bought a few snacks from the cafe. Be warned, it is very pricy but if you're heading to Iceland then you'll know how expensive everything is!

Final Thoughts

Is the Blue Lagoon worth the money?
The entry price is expensive but it's a fantastic experience and definitely not like any pool I've ever visited before! If you want to save money, consider going early in the morning or last thing at night when the prices are slightly cheaper.

Is it suitable for Kids?
Yes! Although we only a handful of children while we were there, it's definitely somewhere children would enjoy, especially if they love the water like mine do. It was a real novelty for them being outside in the very cold temperate but being all warm in the pool. Elliot even said it was his favourite part of the whole holiday!