Golden Circle waterfalls
Four falls on one loop, in the order you actually drive them — with the road numbers, the coordinates, and today's road status rather than a drive time somebody made up.
The Golden Circle has four waterfalls: Öxarárfoss in Þingvellir, Brúarfoss off Route 37, Gullfoss on Route 35, and Faxi on Route 30 on the way back. Driven in that order the loop works as one day from Reykjavík, on paved road the whole way, in a normal 2WD, year-round. Gullfoss is the one you came for; Brúarfoss is the one that costs you a 3.5 km walk each way; Faxi is ten minutes and almost nobody stops. The live road line below is the thing to check before you leave, not the drive times other guides quote.
Ring Road (R1) openHighlands: 1 of 7 monitored roads closed or impassableVegagerðin, updated just now
| Stop | Road | Height | Coordinates | From Reykjavík, straight line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Öxarárfoss | Route 36 | 20 m | 64.2658, -21.1180 | 42 km |
| 3. Gullfoss | Route 35 | 32 m | 64.3266, -20.1217 | 90 km |
That last column is a straight line, not a drive — the road to Gullfoss is a good deal longer than the crow’s route, and we would rather give you a number that is honestly labelled than a drive time we cannot stand behind. Icelandic drive times move with wind, ice and roadworks; for the day you are actually going, use can I drive there today?, which reads the live Vegagerðin feed for the route rather than an average.
Coordinates are decimal degrees, WGS-84 — paste the pair straight into a phone map or the rental car’s sat-nav. They point at the waterfall; at Þingvellir and Brúarfoss the car park is a separate place, which is exactly why the access column exists.
The four falls, one at a time
#1.Öxarárfoss — Route 36
height: 20 mstraight-line distance from Reykjavík: 42 km from Reykjavík
The first fall of the loop if you drive it clockwise, inside Þingvellir National Park. The Öxará river drops into the Almannagjá rift — the same continental split the park is famous for. Boardwalk the whole way, so it works in trainers and in winter, and the parking is paid.
Access: Boardwalk from the Þingvellir P1/P2 car parks. Coordinates 64.2658, -21.1180.
#3.Gullfoss — Route 35
height: 32 mstraight-line distance from Reykjavík: 90 km from Reykjavík
The headline. The glacial Hvítá drops in two stages into a canyon, and the volume is the point — this is the fall usually claimed to be the biggest in Europe by volume. Upper platform for the wide view, lower path for the spray. In winter the lower path ices over and is closed when it does.
Access: Two viewing levels from a free car park, upper one step-free. Coordinates 64.3266, -20.1217.
Geysir and Þingvellir’s rift are on the same loop and are the reason most people drive it, so a waterfall-only day is not really the point — treat these four as the water stops on a route you were driving anyway. If you would rather spend the day on the falls themselves, the South Coast puts Seljalandsfoss, Gljúfrabúi, Skógafoss and Kvernufoss within an hour of each other, and Golden Circle vs South Coast is the honest comparison if you only get one day.
The loop on the map
Gullfoss at the top of the loop — open the interactive map to see all four falls with everything else along the route.
Golden CircleOpen the interactive mapFrequently
asked questions
How many waterfalls are on the Golden Circle?
What is the drive time between the Golden Circle waterfalls?
Can you drive the Golden Circle in winter?
Is Brúarfoss worth the walk?
Is Gullfoss free to visit?
Which Golden Circle waterfall is the tallest?
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