Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon Tour review
Who it’s for
People who want a soak with their sightseeing and do not want to pay Blue Lagoon money for it. The Secret Lagoon, properly Gamla Laugin, is Iceland’s oldest swimming pool, built in 1891, and it is rustic in a way the Blue Lagoon is not: no silica mask, no swim-up bar, water at 38 to 40°C and a boardwalk round a steaming field. Adult admission is charged at the gate, so a good chunk of the gap between this and the plain full-day coach is simply the ticket.
It suits families with older children, and it suits anyone who wants to drink a beer with lunch. Under-2s are not accepted. If your idea of the day is the white-silica postcard, you want the Blue Lagoon combo instead and you should expect to pay roughly double.
The day in order
Same departure point as the full-day coach — Bus Stop 12 at Höfðatorg, with 24 pickup points if you would rather be collected. The order runs south first, which is what puts the lagoon so early.
- Kerið crater, entrance fee included. About 6,500 years old, 55 m deep, red scoria and an opaque aquamarine lake.
- Secret Lagoon, Flúðir — 1.5 hours in the water. Bring swimwear and a towel; towel rental is an extra fee at the desk.
- Geysir and Strokkur, which erupts every 6 to 10 minutes.
- Lunch, at your own cost.
- Gullfoss, on the glacial Hvítá.
- Þingvellir, the rift valley and the Alþingi site, then back to Reykjavík.
Ten hours sounds long on paper. Birgit from Germany put it best: “You didn’t even notice the 10 hours because it was so varied.” That matches my experience of the route — the day breaks into enough different shapes that the coach time disappears.
What works
- Ninety minutes is a genuine soak, not a dip — Daniel from Germany called it “one highlight” of the day and Kathie from Canada said the stops were well timed
- Kerið entry and the lagoon ticket are both included, so the gate price is already handled
- Wi-Fi on the bus, which matters more on a ten-hour day than on a six-hour one
- The same three headline sights as the standard tour, with nothing dropped to make room
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure
Worth knowing
- The lagoon is stop two. Julie from Canada wrote “The Secret Lagoon was lovely, wish it had been at the end”, and she is right — you get back on the bus damp for four more stops
- Towel rental costs extra at the desk; bring your own and save the fee
- Wendy from the US found it “well paced, although we could have used more time at a couple of the stops” — the lagoon eats minutes that the other tours spend at Gullfoss
- Food is not included on a ten-hour day
- Guide style is a lottery: Gereon from Germany found his “a tiny bit too self-loving and in the style of a stand-up comedian”, while Mareen thought Bane did a great job
- The lagoon closes for upgrades 13–22 May and Laugarvatn Fontana is substituted on those dates
Pack a swimsuit you can put on damp and a microfibre towel, and wear your hair up. You are getting out of 38°C water into Icelandic air with four stops still to go, and the coach heating will not dry a full head of hair before Gullfoss. Icelandic pool rules also mean a thorough naked shower before you go in — it is not optional and nobody is looking.
What ten hours actually feels like
The long combos live or die on pacing, and this one is paced better than its length suggests. You are moving before the morning coach wave commits to Þingvellir, you are in the water while everyone else is queueing for lunch at Geysir, and you reach Þingvellir in the late afternoon when the car parks are emptying. That last point is the quiet advantage nobody advertises. It is the same trick the afternoon tour plays, applied to one stop instead of all four.
The reversed order does have a cost, and Julie named it. If the soak is the part you are paying for, ending the day on it would be better, and no tour on this loop currently does that with the Secret Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon combo does put its water stop last, which is one of the few honest arguments for the more expensive day out.
Is it worth the money?
Compared with the full-day coach, you are paying a little more and getting a lagoon ticket, an extra couple of hours and a bus with Wi-Fi. On the exchange rates I would not quote at you, that is close to break-even on the ticket alone, which makes the soak itself nearly free. Against the Blue Lagoon combo it is the clear budget option, and I compare the two properly on the Secret Lagoon combo page. The whole price ladder sits on the tour prices page.
Frequently asked questions
How long do you get in the Secret Lagoon?
An hour and a half in the water, which is the longest single stop on the tour. The pool holds 38 to 40°C year-round and it is the oldest in Iceland, built in 1891 at Flúðir. The rest of the ten hours covers Kerið, Geysir, Gullfoss and Þingvellir — see how long the Golden Circle takes for how that compares with the shorter tours.
Do I need to bring a towel?
Bring one. Towel rental is available at the Secret Lagoon desk for an extra fee and it is not part of the tour price, so a packed towel saves you money and a queue. Bring swimwear too, and expect to shower without it before entering — standard in every Icelandic pool. The rest of the packing list is on what to wear on the Golden Circle.
Is the Secret Lagoon better than the Blue Lagoon?
Different, and much cheaper. The Secret Lagoon is a rustic 1891 pool in a field with no silica mask and no bar; Blue Lagoon Comfort admission alone costs a good deal more and buys you the mask, a towel and the postcard. If you want both the loop and the famous one in a single day, read the Blue Lagoon combo review — it is an eleven-hour day.