If you’re looking for a day trip outside of the capital, you must (must!) take a tour by rent-a-car or bus and see the Golden Circle! The Golden Circle (Icelandic: Gullni hringurinn) is a popular tourist route covering about 300 kilometres (190 mi) looping from Reykjavík into the southern uplands of Iceland and back. The circuit covers many of Iceland’s best-known topographical features and touches on the root of much of its history.

The three primary stops on the route are the Þingvellir National Park, the Gullfoss waterfall, and the geothermal area in Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur. Though Geysir has been mostly dormant for many years, Strokkur, on the other hand, continues to erupt every 5–10 minutes.

Also worth seeing is the photogenic Kerið volcanic crater – about 15km north of Selfoss up route 35, this ancient collapsed scoria cone is now used for farm finished and offers visitors a quick 15-minute walk around the rim.

If you do rent a car and have time, you may wish to drive to the town of Vík. Despite averaging the highest rainfall in Iceland, Vík is a great place to visit. Particularly stunning are the black sand beaches and cliffs which are out of this world.