The Golden Circle with kids

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Strokkur is the easy start for children. In the Haukadalur geothermal field it erupts every few minutes, so the wait is short, and the steaming pools around it show what is happening underground. Add a crater with a lake at the bottom, a 31-metre waterfall and perhaps a ride onto a glacier in a giant truck, and the Golden Circle works for most ages. The planning question is which activities your children are old enough for.

At the main sights

At Þingvellir the visitor centre at Hakið is free for children and teenagers up to 17, and its exhibition takes about 40 minutes. The paths at the assembly site are signed, and the Almannagjá gorge marks the eastern edge of the North American plate.

The Geysir area is a protected natural monument full of hot springs. We could not find an official rule on distances there, so our own advice is simple: hold small children by the hand near the pools and keep your distance when Strokkur erupts. At Gullfoss the Environment Agency of Iceland asks all visitors to keep to the marked paths. Its figures make good material for the car ride: on average 109 cubic metres of water go over the falls every second, and in the largest floods up to 2,000.

Kerið has footpaths around the rim and a path down to the lake. The operator puts the crater at about 55 m deep and 270 m across, and its age at around 6,500 years. For Brúarfoss, use the newer car park: Perlan describes a five-minute walk from there, against 3.5 km each way on the older trail.

Glacier trips that take young children

Langjökull is the main add-on for families. The Into the Glacier tour from Húsafell rides a monster truck over the ice to the entrance of the tunnel, calls itself family-friendly and lets children under 12 in free. Reviews mention sledges in the tunnel for the youngest. Húsafell lies west of the glacier, so this is a separate day trip rather than a stop on the loop.

From Gullfoss, the Sleipnir trucks take children from four years. The monster truck tour stops at a pop-up glacier café with cocoa and kleinur and adds sledging. The ice cave tour walks into a natural ice cave on uneven ground with narrow steps, and there are no child seats on that one. A snowmobile tour from the Gullfoss Café car park takes children from six as passengers, with one adult booked per child; the drivers must be 18 and hold a licence.

Tours from Reykjavík

The large coach day with Kerið accepts children from two years, and so does the combination tour with the Secret Lagoon. The small-group tour sets its limit at five. On any of them, a full day means 6.5 to 10 hours, much of it on the bus. With toddlers, check the departure time: coach tours that leave at noon or later skip Kerið.

Hot pools and food

The Secret Lagoon in Flúðir, which its operator calls Iceland's oldest swimming pool, was built in 1891, and its water is 38 to 39 °C. Children need to come with an adult, and towels and swimsuits can be rented for a fee. At Laugarvatn Fontana children up to five go in free; the bread baking there is open to children too, though reviews point out that you watch rather than bake. Friðheimar, the tomato greenhouse in Reykholt, runs a horse show in 14 languages and keeps its kitchen open daily from 11:30 to 16:00.

For older children

From nine years and 30 kg, the Mega Zipline in Hveragerði sends riders along a kilometre of cable at 50 to 80 km/h, from April to October only. River rafting on the glacial Hvítá is offered as a family outing of about three hours; check the age limit on the tour page before you book. Silfra is the exception on the Golden Circle: snorkellers must weigh at least 45 kg and meet a minimum height, and diving starts at 17.

Clothes and timing

Pack as Visit South Iceland suggests for adults: layers, a wind- and waterproof jacket and trousers, waterproof shoes with grip and a swimsuit. In winter add ice grips. Daylight in December lasts about four hours, and in June it never gets fully dark, which can make bedtime harder. More detail is on weather and what to wear and the itineraries page.