Hiking in Thingvellir National Park

Thingvellir National Park (Þingvellir in Icelandic) is one of the most visited places in Iceland. Together with Gullfoss Waterfall and Geysir Geothermal Area, they constitute The Golden Circle, which is the perfect route for a day trip from Reykjavik. For me, it was the perfect way to get a first glimpse of Icelandic nature while doing a beautiful and relatively easy hike. Want to know more? Here is my experience Hiking in Thingvellir National Park!

An overview of Þingvellir National Park

Þingvellir National park is a rift valley where the North American and Euroasian tectonic plates meet. It was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2004 both for historic reasons (the world and Iceland’s First Parliament was created here) and for its unique nature which consists of solidified magma lava fields covered in green moss.

Main tourists sites at Þingvellir

Þingvellir National Park, with its many tourist spots, is the largest attraction of The Golden Circle. During your visit to the park, you should not miss the following.

1. Walk between the Eurasian and North American Tectonic Plates

Iceland is divided by the Mid-Atlantic Rift. Some regions like the Reykjavik or the Snaefellsness Peninsula are on the North American tectonic plate while others, like the East Fjords are on the Eurasian one. Both tectonic plates meet at Þingvellir National Park and it is the only place in the world where this happens above sea level.

These tectonic plates separate approximately 2,5 cm per year and have been doing so for centuries. As a consequence, the park is filled with ravines.

2. Silfra Fissure

The most famous ravine of the park is Silfra (which literally translates as Silver). This is the only ravine in which it is allowed to dive. Going more than 100m deep, divers can immerse themselves and admire the beauty of the geology under the water.

However, the water is only 2º C year round! You will need a drysuit to dive in the Silfra Fissure.

3. Alþingi, where the world's first parliament was created.

Alþingi translates in English as “Fields of Parliament”. Here, over 30 ruling chiefs reunited in 930 Ad to discuss the law on the island. The meeting was such a success that they started to meet every year, creating an institution that was named Alþing. During their meetings, laws were discussed, disputes were settled and criminals were punished.

4. Öxarárfoss

Oxarárfoss is a small waterfall that falls from the river Öxará within the Pingvellir National Park. The waterfall has a height of 13 meters and a width of 6 meters.

Icelandic myths used to say that this waterfall had prophetic powers. It was said that on New Year’s Eve, the waterfall would turn red with either wine or blood. If it was wine, the next year would be a prosperous one and if it was blood, there would be a war.

5. Þingvallakirkja

It is a small church located within the park. It was built as soon as Christianity was adopted by the Alþingi in 1000 AD.

Next to the church, are three small houses that serve as the summer residence for the prime minister of Iceland.

How to get to Þingvellir National Park

Þingvellir National Park is 45km away from Reykjavik. To get there, you just need to take Route 1 (Ring Road) towards the north until you reach Route 36. From there you need to follow this road for approximately 30km.

Visiting the park is free, but you will have to pay for parking. There are 4 different parkings where you can park your car. The price you’ll pay will depend on the size of your vehicle but it is for the complete day and can be used on any of the parkings. Official prices can be found on the Þingvellir National Park website.

P1: This is the parking lot located next to the Visitor’s Center and the entry to theAlmannagjá Gorge.
P2: This parking is in between the Alfamarja Gorge and Oxararfoss
P3: PArking at the beginning of the Oxararfoss Trailhead
P5: Parking next to the Silfra Fissure.

What do you need to hike in Þingvellir National Park?

Hikes at the park are quite easy but here are some recommendations of what to bring:

Hiking shoes: Trails will have a lot of lava rocks so sturdy shoes with a good grip will be very handy
Backpack with water and snacks. You will only be able to get some food at the visitors center
Waterproof clothes: The weather in Iceland is unpredictable so you never know when it is going to rain. It rained during our whole hike and we were grateful to have a rain jacket and pants.

Hiking in Þingvellir National Park

There are many hiking trails in Thingvellir National Park. The park itself offers the following pdf with all the possible trails.

The most famous trail done by all the tourists is the one following the Almannagjá Gorge. This trail takes visitors through most of the main sites that are referenced at the beginning of this post.

If you are not in a hurry, I recommend doing the loop I did, which not only takes you through all the main sites of the park but some additional beautiful and less crowded areas of the park. Our loop was a combination of the Almannagjá Trail, the Skogarkotvegur trail, and the Gonguvegur trail. The main points are on the map below.

Hike Summary

Trail Start/End: P1 Parking Lot
Distance: 7,6 km
Elevation gain: 286m
Route type: Circular Loop
Approximate time: 4h

Walking between two continents

The first part of the trail takes you along the Amannagjá Gorge.

We parked our car at the P1 Parking Lot and after enjoying the view of the valley from the platform, we began our descent through the gorge.

As we were walking down, the North American tectonic plate was to our left and the Eurasian tectonic plate to our right. We were walking between continents!

TIP: This part is always quite busy but if you wait long enough you can always get a few moments with little to no people.

Lögberg, the site of the world’s first parliament

We kept walking along the gorge and we arrived at the place where the first parliament was established. The exact location is located with a pole with Iceland’s flag. During the Alþingi meetings, laws were informed and criminals were judged and punished.

For small infractions, fines were given whereas for bigger infractions, exile could be imposed (sometimes for life). If the criminal was found to be where he wasn’t supposed to be, the family of the victim could kill him.

If you keep walking a little bit further, you arrive at Drekkingarhylur. In this pond, between the XVI and XVIII centuries, adulterous women were drowned by being thrown into the pond with heavy sandbags tied to their feet.

Öxarárfoss

From here we kept walking along the gorge until we reached the Öxarárfoss waterfall. Since it was the first of the many waterfalls we visited in Iceland, we spent some time enjoying it.

Skógarkotvegur

From Öxarárfoss, most people turn back and return to the parking lot but we went a bit further and turned right to start walking towards the abandoned farm of Skogarkot. We had the park all for ourselves and enjoyed the peace and beauty of the place. We got to cross several ravines (some empty ones and some with water).

Gönguvegur towards the Þingvallakirkja

At Skógarkot, we turned right again and started walking back towards the parking through Gönguvegur. The trail was very well marked with stone towers along the way. At some point, we even got to cross a ravine through a natural rock bridge!

At the end of this trail, we arrived at the famous Pingvallakirkja and the Prime Minister’s summer residence.

Silfra Fissure and walking back to the car

Our last stop of the hike was the Silfra Fissure. However, unless you are going to do some scuba diving, this looks like any other pond within the park so you can skip it if you’re tired.

From there, we took the stairs to return to the beginning of the gorge and get back to the parking lot.

I hope you liked this blog about Hiking in Thingvellir National Park. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Hiking in Thingvellir National Park – The Golden Circle