What is Iceland’s Golden Circle and why is it so popular?

View of the Gullfoss water falls on the river Hvita near Haukadalur in southwestern Iceland on July 6, 2014.AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET(Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)
(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Talk to anyone about their visit to Iceland and chances are they will tell you about their Golden Circle tour.

The region is by far the most visited area of Iceland, accounting for the vast majority of the 2.2 million tourists who visit the northern country each year.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.