Thingvellir (Þingvellir) Hike
Thingvellir (Þingvellir) Hike
Duration: allow one hour for this circular walk.
Difficulty: easy walk on trails.
Interest: history, culture, geology and a beautiful waterfall.
Start/end of walk: from route 361 along the lakeshore, take a side turning just before the church appears on your left. You cross a bridge to reach a parking area at the foot of the cliff. Hotel Valholl stood here but was destroyed in a fire in 2009.
The Walk: take the path along the river and the base of the slope, away from the lake. After about 100 yds, where the path divides, climb up the slope and then take the steps down into the fissure Almannagja.
Meet a broad dirt trail. At this point you have a choice: either bear right along the track or take a detour left, following the track uphill to a viewpoint over the lake and assembly site – where there are toilets (paying) and an exhibition on the natural history of the area.
Return to where you started the detour and continue along the track. Notice how the land has subsided and broken away, leaving the cliff face to your left. After 100 yds take the boardwalk to your right past some interpretive panels, which explain how things might have looked when the assembly was in session.
The boardwalk loops around to return to the main path. Continue following the broad path crossing the river by the bridge and shortly reach a car park. Continue straight on for a further 100 yds, then the path bears left climbing into the ravine again. Where it splits, bear left to reach the lovely small waterfall Oxarafoss.
Backtrack to the car park you have just passed, and reach the road. Turn right and walk along the road for 300 yds to the fissure of Peningagja, whose water is in clear. This is the only place in Iceland where you can toss a coin in the water for good luck!
Notice how this fissure follows the same north-south direction as all the others, which is the general direction of the mid-Atlantic Ridge as it traverses the center of the island. Now pass the 19th-century church and Iceland’s National Cemetery to return to your vehicle.