Silver Circle

Door-to-door pickup from your accommodation.

Historic peninsula town on Borgarfjörður. The Settlement Centre of Iceland has two world-class exhibitions: the Viking Age settlement of Iceland (874 AD) and the Egils Saga — told with dramatic sound and light. Burial mound of the first settler's father, Skallagrímur, is in the town park. Great café for lunch.

Medieval home of Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241), author of the Prose Edda — the primary source of Norse mythology (Odin, Thor, Loki). Without this book, most of what the world knows about Norse gods would be lost. Snorralaug, his private geothermal pool from the 12th century, is still warm today. Snorri was assassinated here in 1241 on orders of the Norwegian king.

Europe's most powerful hot spring — 180 litres of near-boiling water (97–100°C) erupting from the earth every second. The roaring, steaming outflow is extraordinary to witness. Water is piped via one of the world's longest hot-water pipelines to heat Borgarnes and Akranes. Adjacent Krauma Spa uses this water for its five geothermal pools (optional, book in advance).

Magical lava waterfalls stretching 900 m along the Hvítá riverbank. Hundreds of crystal-clear springs seep directly from beneath the 1,000-year-old Hallmundarhraun lava field — water that originated as glacial meltwater far inland. The colour contrast between the bright blue spring water and the glacial green river is extraordinary.

The Children's Waterfall — just upstream from Hraunfossar (same car park). The full force of the Hvítá is compressed into a narrow, roaring lava gorge. Named after a dark local legend: two boys drowned here after crossing a natural stone arch; their grief-stricken mother, a sorceress, destroyed the arch and cursed the spot.