Golden Circle and Kerid Small Group Tour With Hotel Pickup

Thingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss

Thingvellir is the rift valley where the North American and Eurasian plates separate, and where the Althing met from the tenth century. Geysir is the geothermal field whose reliable vent is Strokkur. Gullfoss is the two-step fall on the Hvita.

On a minibus these stops run to your group's pace rather than a coach load's, which is most of what you are buying at $119 against $91. The listing allows about 45 minutes at Thingvellir and around 80 at Geysir.

Kerid, in the Operator's Own Numbers

The listing describes Kerid as 270 m wide and more than 55 m deep, with a lake 14 m deep at the bottom. The crater's own site adds that it is roughly 6,500 years old, in the Grimsnes area of the Western Volcanic Zone, and that it formed by collapse rather than explosion after a cone volcano emptied its magma chamber.

Entry is a 700 ISK service fee paid at the gate, which no Golden Circle listing includes. There are steps down to the lake and a rim path around the top.

The Optional Bakery Stop

The listing sells two versions: the standard itinerary, and one that adds a geothermal park with bread tasting and a second geyser visit. The bread is baked in the ground by geothermal heat, which is a genuinely local thing to see rather than a filler stop.

Pick the option at booking. It is not something you can add on the day.

Only a Small Backpack

The operator states that only small luggage such as a small backpack can be taken on this tour. On a minibus that is a space constraint rather than a policy, and it matters if you were planning to do this on an arrival or departure day with your bags.

If you need to travel with luggage, the full-size coach versions have hold space. The morning coach is the obvious alternative at $91.

Age and Fitness

Children are accepted from five and must be accompanied by an adult, and the listing says infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller at the stops. It rates the day as suitable for all physical fitness levels, which is accurate: every stop is a short walk on made paths, apart from the steps at Kerid.

It also runs in all weather. Dress for standing outside at four stops, not for sitting in a minibus.

No Lava Here

Kerid is about 6,500 years old and there is no lava on this route. Nothing is erupting anywhere in Iceland at the moment: the Met Office reports uplift at Svartsengi with a magma intrusion into the Sundhnukur crater row as the most likely next step, which is on Reykjanes rather than the Golden Circle.

For ground that erupted in 2021 to 2023, read the Fagradalsfjall page. For the inside of a volcano, Thrihnukagigur runs 5 May to 30 October. For molten rock on a schedule, the Lava Show pours basalt at 1,100°C indoors.

What It Is Good At

It is the best-balanced Golden Circle listing on this site for a family: small vehicle, hotel door, a five-year minimum, and a crater that children can actually walk around.

The review record supports that: 4.8 from 969 reviews, which is strong for a minibus operator competing against companies running twenty buses a day.

The Comparison

Price tracks the vehicle and what is bundled at the end of the day, not the quality of the stops. All four pay the same gate fee at the crater, which is to say none of them pays it for you.

Which to Book

With young children, this listing or the Secret Lagoon day. The Secret Lagoon version is $8 cheaper and includes admission fees, but it is a full coach and runs two hours longer, and between 12 and 22 May it swaps the lagoon for Laugarvatn Fontana while the pool is upgraded.

Without children, the $91 morning coach does the same four stops and gives you the evening back. The $268 Blue Lagoon day is the one to book only if the bath is the reason you are going at all.