Geysir is another of the locations that forms part of the Golden Circle Tour, as discussed in the previous post about Gullfoss. It is the site of the original erupting hot spring that then gave its name to all such hot springs around the world, which has been active for roughly 10,000 years.
Geysir itself hasn’t erupted in many years, and generally only does so after earthquake activity, but the geyser Strokkur, next to Geysir, generally shoots water up into the air every five minutes.
It’s a fascinating experience waiting for an eruption as each time you think it’s about to happen it will pull the water back into the geyser’s basin several times before finally shooting up in the air.
There are other, smaller geysers dotted around the site, and where you really notice the smell of sulphur in the air.
Across the street, inside the tourist building, as well as the usual souvenir shop and cafes is the Geysisstofa – admission for which was free for me as part of the price of the tour. This is a multimedia presentation and information centre about earthquakes and volcanoes that was quite informative, but very small and simply laid out. It was far too dark in there to take photos, and indeed there’s not really too much worth photographing, but on the upper deck there is a small folk museum that took about a minute or two to walk around.
It’s certainly an interesting little place but it doesn’t really compare to the nature on its doorstep, which is certainly worth paying a visit if you’re in Iceland.
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