Golden Circle · Backpacking

The national park runs four campsites: Nyrðri-Leirar all year, and Syðri-Leirar, Fagrabrekka and Vatnskot from 1 June to 15 September. 1,800 ISK per adult per night plus 400 ISK accommodation tax, with toilets, showers, picnic tables and grills. Camping anywhere else in the park is forbidden.

Þingvellir charges for parking, not entry — 750 ISK for a car of up to five seats, read off your plate and valid all day at P1, P2 and P5. Gullfoss is free to visit and free to park. Geysir costs nothing. Kerið is the one real ticket at 700 ISK.

There is no cheap way round a 230 to 250 kilometre loop with a hire car. Fill up in Selfoss rather than at the Geysir pumps, and do the sums honestly: a coach day tour out of Reykjavik usually beats renting for two people, and always beats it in winter.

Camping 1,800 ISK plus 400 ISK tax, Þingvellir parking 750 ISK, Kerið 700 ISK, a supermarket lunch from Bónus for about 1,000 to 1,500 ISK, and a swim at Laugarvatn's municipal pool for 1,250 ISK. Swap that pool for the Secret Lagoon at Flúðir and the day jumps by 4,500 ISK.

Strætó's countryside routes reach Selfoss, but nothing runs to Þingvellir, Geysir or Gullfoss. Hitching is common in summer and genuinely unreliable in winter, so without a car the only dependable option is a booked day tour.