Thingvellir Tours
Thingvellir Tours › Thingvellir With Kids: What Works for a Family DayUpdated 2026-09-10

Thingvellir With Kids: What Works for a Family Day

Hours, prices and access verified by the Thingvellir Tours team — last checked 2026-09-10

Icelandic horses standing at a paddock fence in summer

The short answer. Thingvellir works well with children. The park costs nothing to enter, the Heart of Iceland exhibition is free for anyone 17 or under, and the gorge walk can be as long or short as your children want. Silfra snorkeling starts at age 12, so younger children see the fissures from the path. One Golden Circle day adds a horse farm where you feed the horses.

A family day here turns on what the children will enjoy, what they are too young for, and how long you can keep them happy outdoors. Each of those has a plain answer. The Golden Circle tours via Thingvellir show which tours stop where, and which carry infant seats.

Is Thingvellir worth it with children?

Yes, if you plan it as a walk rather than a museum visit. There is no gate and no ticket, so you pay nothing to walk in. You pay only for parking if you drive, at 1,000 ISK a car for the day, and for the exhibition if you want it.

Children tend to remember the walk down between the rock walls, the waterfall and the water in the fissures. They will not remember the dates. Tell them the story as you go, and let the landscape do the rest.

What will children enjoy most?

  • Walking down Almannagjá, the gorge between the fault walls, from the viewpoint at Hakið.
  • Öxarárfoss, the waterfall where the river drops into the gorge.
  • Peningagjá, the "Money Fault", named for the coins visitors began throwing after it was bridged in 1907.
  • Flosagjá, where the water is clear to a depth of up to 25 m.
  • Wildlife: Arctic foxes live in the park, and the great northern diver nests by the lake.

Older children usually like the idea that the valley is still pulling apart, by about two centimetres a year away from the plate boundaries. The nature page has more to tell them.

The Heart of Iceland exhibition

The exhibition at the Hakið visitor centre takes about 40 minutes and has around ten interactive stations. It won two Red Dot design awards in 2019. Adults pay 1,200 ISK; anyone 17 or under goes free, and seniors and students pay 600 ISK.

It is a good first stop on a cold or wet day, and a good reset if the walk has worn someone out. The visitor centre is open 09:00 to 18:00 from April to October and 09:00 to 17:00 from November to March. Things to do lists everything else in the park.

Did you know? Lake Þingvallavatn holds four kinds of Arctic charr, and a tiny groundwater amphipod, Crymostygius thingvallensis, that lives nowhere else on earth. The lake is Iceland's largest natural lake, at about 84 km².

Can children snorkel in Silfra?

Only from age 12. The minimum age is 12 on the snorkel tours, and 14 on the adult band of the Adventure Vikings fare. There is a height limit too: 150 cm on the DIVE.IS snorkel and 135 cm on the Troll one. Every snorkeller fills in a medical form.

If your children are younger, they can still see the fissures. Peningagjá and Flosagjá show the same clear water from the path. If a parent wants to snorkel, one adult can book Silfra while the other walks the valley with the children. The post on how cold Silfra is covers what the snorkel involves.

Which tours work for a family?

A tour saves you driving, but check how long it gives the park and whether it carries what you need.

TourAt ThingvellirWhy families pick it
Golden Circle and horse farm45 minHorse candy for feeding the horses; Kerið
Golden Circle and Secret LagoonPhoto stopA lagoon at the end of the day, entry included
Private day with the Blue Lagoon1 hYour party only, infant seats and wheelchair access listed
Classic coach30 minThe lowest fare; strollers and infant seats listed
Private half-day from Harpa2 hTime at a child's pace, strollers and infant seats listed

The Secret Lagoon day is the one to read carefully: it treats Thingvellir as a photo stop. If the park is the point of your day, choose a tour that gives it 45 minutes or more.

Driving with children

If you drive, Iceland's rules apply to you as they do to everyone. Children under 135 cm need a car seat. Headlights stay on at all times, all year. You may not stop on or beside the road for photos, which matters when a child spots horses in a field.

The park is about 40 km from Reykjavík on Route 36. The road conditions page shows how to check the road each morning.

What to pack for the weather

Children feel the wind first. The park's weather record, from station 945 between 1949 and 1983, gives July an average high of 14.5 °C, and October is the wettest month. Recent decades run warmer than that record, but it is still cool.

  • Waterproof jackets and trousers for everyone.
  • A warm layer, a hat and gloves outside midsummer.
  • Shoes with grip for the gorge path.
  • Snacks, since the park's café and shop are at the Leirar service centre.

When is the best time of year with children?

Summer is the easy season. In mid-June you have about 21 hours of daylight, so there is no rush to finish before dark. The church on the valley floor opens from 1 June to 31 August when a ranger is present, and May and July are the driest months in the park's weather record.

Winter works too, with a shorter plan. In mid-December you get about four hours of daylight, and the visitor centre closes at 17:00 from November to March. Keep the walk to the gorge and the waterfall, and use the exhibition as your warm stop.

If your children want to meet horses, Magic Iceland's Golden Circle day, from $85, stops at a local horse farm and brings horse candy for feeding them. It also gives Thingvellir 45 minutes and visits Kerið crater, in nine hours in all.

A family plan for half a day

  • Arrive at Hakið and pay for parking at the machines by the visitor centre.
  • The exhibition first, 40 minutes, free for the children.
  • Walk down Almannagjá to the flagpole and the waterfall.
  • Cross to Peningagjá and look into the clear water.
  • Finish at Leirar for the café and the shop.

Opening hours and fees are on visiting the park.

Booking for a family? These three give children a horse farm, a lagoon or a private car, and every other fare is on Thingvellir Tours.

Thingvellir tours that work for families