The Golden Circle from Hella – Jeep Day tour
The Golden Circle is one of Iceland‘s most popular day tours. You can observe the beauty of Iceland´s nature and learn about the country´s history, dating back to the settlement era. We begin the day by driving from Hella to the waterfalll Urridafoss. Urriðafoss is a waterfall located in the river Þjórsá in southwest Iceland and is the watermost waterfall in Iceland. In the early days of power companies plans were to build a power plant in Urriðafoss and make a railway to Reykjavík from the waterfall. It did not happen but now Landsvirkjun is planning to build hydropower stations on the lower part of Þjórsár river, at Urriðafoss and Núpur. The proposed Urriðafoss Power Plant is expected to have a capacity of approximately 125 MW and a power-generating capacity of 930 GWh per year. The powerhouse will be underground and a tunnel leading from the powerhouse will open out into Þjórsá river below Urriðafoss waterfall.
The waterfall is expected to disappear. Next destination is Skalholt where the first bishop, Isleifur Gissurarson, was ordained in 1056. Skalholt was the bishopric of South Iceland and a cultural and educational centre for 700 years. From Skalholt we will visit a small waterfall called Faxi and there after we drive to one of the world´s most active geothermal fields, the Geothermal field at Haukadalur, where plenty of boiling springs and hot mud pots are to be found.
The Great Geyser is what this geological phenomenon is named by. Strokkur, another famous geyser nearby, erupts every few minutes, shooting a tower of water and steam 30 meters into the air. Following, we will visit the Golden Falls, one of the most impressive cascades in Europe. There you can view the history of Sigridur Tomasdottir from Brattholt. It is suspected that Sigridur managed to prevent the harnessing of the waterfall, which had been planned for electricity generating purposes. From the Golden Falls we drive to Thingvellir, where you will review the nation´s history. At Thingvellir, Althingi – the national parliament – was founded around 930, and continued to convene there until 1798. Many major historical events in the Icelandic history have taken place at Thingvellir. Today, Thingvellir is a national park, which is meant to remain in public ownership and be protected by Althingi forever. The National park Thingvellir is on the World Heritage List which is an international agreement adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972.
The World Heritage List was founded on the premise that certain places on Earth are of outstanding universal value and as such should form part of the common heritage of humankind. From The National park Thingvellir we go to the eruption crater Kerid. The crater Kerid was formed about 6,500 years ago and lies at the northern end of a row of craters known as Tjarnarhólar. It is oval, about 270 m long, 170 m wide and 55 m deep: the depth of the water at the bottom varies between 7 and 14 m. From there we return back to your hotel in Hella.
Golden Circle Jeep Day Tour details, PDF document here >>>>>
Season: All year round
Days of week: Every day up on request
Departure: 9:00am
Duration: 8 to 10 hours
What to bring: Clothes and shoes according to weather
Prices
From Hotels Hella
Price per person= 39.000 ISK
3 pax or more, 10% discount
Min 2 persons in tour
Refreshments not included.