Everyone stops at Gullfoss, and almost nobody stops at the seven other waterfalls within half an hour of it. That is a strange outcome for a route people drive specifically to see falling water.
This guide covers every waterfall on and near the Golden Circle, how to reach each one, how long it takes, and which ones are worth adding to a day that is already full.
The waterfalls, ranked by whether to bother
Short version, for anyone deciding in the car.
- Always worth it: Gullfoss, Öxarárfoss, Brúarfoss.
- Worth it if you have twenty minutes: Faxi, Þórufoss, Hlauptungufoss.
- Worth a separate half day: Háifoss and Hjálparfoss, which are further out and better than most things on the loop.
- Only if you are passing: Urriðafoss, Helgufoss.
Gullfoss
The one everybody comes for, and it earns the attention.
Gullfoss drops in two stages, 11 meters then 21, into a canyon 70 meters deep. The flow in summer is enormous, and on a bright day the spray throws a rainbow across the gorge, which is where the golden name comes from.
Two viewpoints: the upper platform by the visitor center, and the lower path along the rim that gets you close enough to be soaked. Do both.
Time: 45 minutes to an hour. Cost: free. Access: paved paths, the lower one closed in ice.
Öxarárfoss
The waterfall inside Þingvellir National Park, and the one most people walk straight past.
It sits at the top of the Almannagjá gorge, ten minutes on a boardwalk from the upper parking area. The water drops over the wall of the rift into a pool of boulders, and in winter it freezes into a column.
It is small compared with Gullfoss, and it is in a far more interesting place. The park's trail information shows how it connects to the walk down to the old parliament site, which you should be doing anyway.
Time: 20 minutes from the parking lot. Cost: parking only. Access: boardwalk, easy.
Brúarfoss
The blue one, and the one worth planning for.
The blue cascades at Brúarfoss make a wide fan of small drops in an unusually vivid blue, caused by glacial silt in the Brúará river. It is the most photographed small waterfall in Iceland and the least convenient.
Access changed a few years ago after problems with people crossing private land. There is now a designated parking area and a marked trail of about 3.5 km each way, following the river past two other falls.
Time: 90 minutes to two hours round trip. Cost: parking fee. Access: an unsurfaced riverside path, muddy after rain, not suitable for strollers.
Go early. The trail is quiet before ten and busy after noon.
Hlauptungufoss and Miðfoss
Two falls you get for free on the walk to Brúarfoss.
Hlauptungufoss comes first, about 1.5 km along the trail, a wide curtain across the river. Miðfoss follows, larger and less photogenic. Both are worth the two-minute stop, and both are almost always empty because everyone is walking past them to reach the blue one.
If the Brúarfoss trail is too muddy to finish, these two justify the walk on their own.
Faxi
The easiest waterfall on the route, and the most underrated.
Faxi on the Tungufljót, also called Vatnsleysufoss, is a wide, low waterfall about ten minutes from Geysir on Route 35. It is only seven meters high and roughly 80 meters across, which makes it broad rather than dramatic.
There is a salmon ladder on one side, a small parking area, and usually nobody there. Five minutes off the road, twenty minutes total.
Time: 20 minutes. Cost: small parking fee. Access: short walk on gravel.
Þórufoss
On the road between Reykjavík and Þingvellir, and skipped by almost everybody.
Þórufoss sits on Route 48 in the Laxá river, an 18-meter drop into a rocky gorge. It appeared in Game of Thrones as one of the dragon-feeding locations, which is the only reason most visitors have heard of it.
The pullout is small and the viewpoint is right beside the road, so it costs you ten minutes on a leg you are driving anyway.
Háifoss and Hjálparfoss
Further out, and better than anything on the loop apart from Gullfoss.
Háifoss drops 122 meters in Þjórsárdalur, making it one of the tallest waterfalls in the country, with a second fall, Granni, beside it. The last few kilometers of road are rough, and a 4x4 helps in anything but perfect conditions.
Hjálparfoss is nearby and completely different: a double fall pouring through twisted basalt columns into a pool. The road to it is fine in any car.
Both sit about an hour southeast of the Golden Circle, which makes them a half-day extension rather than an addition. If you have two days out here, spend a morning on them.
Urriðafoss
Not on the loop, but close to the return leg.
Urriðafoss sits on the Þjórsá river near Selfoss, and it carries more water than any other waterfall in Iceland. It is only six meters high, which means the volume rather than the drop is the point.
Ten minutes off Route 1 on the way home, and rarely more than a handful of people there. The board for this region lists the access details along with the other sites in this area.
How to fit the waterfalls into one day
You cannot do all of them, and trying makes a bad day.
The efficient version. Gullfoss and Öxarárfoss are already on your route, and Faxi costs twenty minutes. That gives you three waterfalls without changing the plan at all.
Adding Brúarfoss. This is the real decision, because the walk costs two hours. Do it instead of one of the main sights, or on a two-day version, rather than squeezing it in.
The waterfall day. If falling water is what you came for, skip Geysir entirely. Öxarárfoss, Brúarfoss with the two on the trail, Faxi, Gullfoss and Þórufoss on the way home is a full and genuinely good day.
Practical notes
Four things that apply to all of them.
- Wear waterproofs, not a rain jacket you like. Spray at Gullfoss and Brúarfoss is constant, and the wind decides where it goes.
- Watch your footing. Rocks near waterfalls stay wet, and in winter the paths ice over first. Every serious accident on this route involves someone off the marked path.
- Go early or late. Every waterfall here is empty before ten and after five, and full between eleven and three.
- Check the roads in winter. Þórufoss, Háifoss and the Brúarfoss trail are all weather-dependent, and conditions change daily between October and April.
Where to stay to see them properly
Staying out here is what makes the smaller falls possible, because you get the early and late hours.
The village of Laugarvatn sits in the middle of the loop and is closest to Brúarfoss. Selfoss is the most practical base for Urriðafoss and the return leg.
Flúðir is nearer the southern falls, and the geothermal pool there is a good end to a day of walking.
One night out here turns three waterfalls into seven.
Making a day of it
The Golden Circle is a waterfall route that only advertises one waterfall. Adding two or three of the smaller ones costs very little time and changes the shape of the day, mainly because you spend it in places where nobody else is standing.
If you would rather have the main sights covered with a guide and keep your own time for the rest, our guided day on the route handles the driving.
And if you want a route built around the water rather than the standard three stops, tell us what you want and we will put the day together.
