Thingvellir National Park and Rift Valley are both historically and Geologically fascinating, plus being on UNESCO's world heritage list. The continental crust here is pretty thin and the earth surface has been shaped by the two major plates, the North American and the Eurasian tectonic plates, moving apart. For maybe a million years The Rift Valley has been forming and the plate boundaries are clearly visible. There is also a theory of the valley being the edge of a minor plate lined with lava fields, volcanic craters and some major volcanoes.
Thingvellir is also the place where all the major decisions in the history of Iceland have been taken by the High Counsel at the law rock, from becoming a christian country in 1000 AD, up to the declaration of independence from Denmark in 1944 AD. In recent years Thingvellir has also found its place in popular culture by providing background for a few scenes and possible inspiration for The Wall in the Game of Thrones tv series. Also it is a popular spot for northern lights tours from Reykjavik during winter. Next to the parking lot at Hakið there is an information center and a small souvenir shop.
The Geysir geothermal area is just under an hours drive east from Thingvellir through the Rift Valley from the North American Plate to the Eurasian Plate going along the mountain range to the north bordering the highlands. This hot spring area is one of a few places where you can find those natural steaming pools of geothermal water in Iceland, and the only one where there is an active geyser erupting every 4-5 minutes.
Early in the 20th century foreign investors planned to buy the area although it remains unclear what they were planning since this was way before there was any actual tourism.
Gullfoss waterfall in Hvítá glacial river plunges 105 feet down two steps into a great gorge after flowing through the barren icelandic highlands from Langjökull glacier, it is the most visited waterfall in Iceland praised for its natural beauty and powerful roar. Named the golden falls after a legend saying that an old viking threw all is gold into the waterfall so no one could enjoy his riches after his day, or possibly just for the rainbows in the spray above the waterfalls on sunny days, or maybe just for its captivating presence, who knows and that is the nature of legends.
Decades ago there were some plans to dam the gorge to create a reservoir for a powerplant, this met with a lot of local opposition in fact one farmer´s daughter threatened to throw herself into the waterfall if any construction started. Fortunately nothing happened so we can now enjoy the great Gullfoss for centuries to come.
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