After making too many unfunny jokes about going on holiday to the supermarket with the same name, I finally visited the beautiful country of Iceland in February of 2024. Along with my beautiful girlfriend I booked a guided trip of Iceland’s famous Golden Circle – three popular natural wonders of the island.

So, because I love lists and ratings, I decided to rate each attraction in the Golden Circle out of 5 (with a few extras we visited on the trip):

GullFoss

Coming from North Wales in the UK I’m used to waterfalls, but the tiny waterfalls in my homeland are put to shame by the flowing behemoths of Iceland. One thing that Iceland does well is a good waterfall.

“Gullfoss” translates to  “Golden Falls” and as Europe’s largest waterfall (by volume) it’s Iceland’s Golden Boy.

There’s nothing I like more than staring into a waterfall (I find it very calming) and Gullfoss is definitely up there with Iguazu and Niagara as a damn good waterfall to stare into. Parts of the falls were frozen which added even more to its mystique.

We were spoilt for choice with waterfalls in Iceland. I may have preferred Skogafoss and Seljandafoss which we visited on a South Coast tour of the country (I thought they were prettier) but Gullfoss is a beast of a Waterfall and well worth a visit.

Rating: 4/5

Geyser

A boiling, bubbling pool of water that erupts every 5 or so minutes. An exciting thing to witness (at a slight distance).

This sight was also memorable because of the mushroom soups we bought from the café next door. With a price that reached almost as high as the geyser (£30 for two soups!) but it also happened to be the best mushroom soup I’ve ever tasted.

Rating: 4/5

(Soup Price: 0/5. Soup Taste: 5/5- would slurp again)

Thingvellir National Park

Due to delays (mainly people returning late to the coach from the other attractions – The Guide was NOT happy) we didn’t spend much time here at all. The landscape was breath-taking and the brief bit of history we were told about the Icelandic tribes that met here to try criminals was interesting, but this was a very fleeting stop.

Rating: 2/5 (Mainly due to time constraints)

Kered Crater

A big frozen blue crater in the middle of the ground. What’s not to love?

This was an extra attraction to the Golden Circle Tour and for some odd reason we really liked this. It was an incredibly pretty sight, surrounded by volcanic rocks of black and red, and involved a slippery and slightly uneven walk around the frozen circumference of the crater.

Rating: 5/5

Secret Lagoon

We paid slightly more to add this as an extra to our Golden Circle Tour and it was definitely worth it. A smaller, quieter and non-blue alternative to the Blue Lagoon, the Secret Lagoon was a welcome period of relaxation and warmth in a busy and cold day.

After getting over the awkwardness of a compulsory communal nude shower (I broke the rules and wore swim shorts for this), we wallowed in the steamy pool in the snowy surroundings (non-nude I should note).

Rating: 5/5

So there you have it. Some breathtaking wonders of the natural world reduced to nothing more than top trumps. If you do find yourself on a Golden Circle Trip I would recommend doing a tour that visits the Kered Crater and Secret Lagoon as we enjoyed these the most.

I also recommend a South Coast tour with a Glacier Hike included, so you get to see some more pretty waterfalls, a black sand beach and the experience of walking on a glacier.