A Thingvellir Walking Route: From Hakið to Silfra
The short version. Start at the Hakið visitor centre by car park P1, walk down Almannagjá to the flagpole at the Law Rock, and you have used 30 minutes well. Two hours adds Öxarárfoss, the assembly plain, Peningagjá and, in summer, the church. Four hours adds the booth ruins, the lakeshore and a trail out towards the abandoned farms. One parking payment covers all three car parks for the day, so you can end the walk wherever suits you.
The order you walk Thingvellir in decides what you see, and the car parks decide where you can stop. Here is the route stop by stop, with what fits into 30 minutes, two hours and four. If you are coming on a tour, the private tours of Thingvellir are the ones that leave time for the longer versions.
How is the park laid out?
Thingvellir sits in a rift valley about seven kilometres wide, between the Almannagjá fault on the west and the Heiðargjá fault on the east. The assembly site lies on the western side, below the high wall. Lake Þingvallavatn fills the south of the valley.
Three paid car parks serve the walk. P1 Hakið is at the top of Almannagjá, by the visitor centre. P2 Efri-Vellir is below Öxarárfoss. P5 Valhöll is nearest the church and Silfra. Cameras read your number plate, and one payment covers the day in all three.
The Leirar service centre, with a café, a shop and the permit desk, stands by the campsite at the junction of roads 36, 361 and 52. Trails are well signed at the assembly site, and the park publishes a trail map. The map page puts every stop in place.
Where should you start?
At Hakið. The visitor centre stands at the top of Almannagjá beside the viewing platform, and it is where the walk down begins. It is open from 09:00 to 18:00 from April to October, and from 09:00 to 17:00 from November to March.
Pay for parking first, at the machines by the visitor centre or in the restroom building beside it, or online at Checkit.is. If you want the Heart of Iceland exhibition, it takes about 40 minutes and costs 1,200 ISK for adults; anyone 17 or under goes free. See it first on a wet day, or last if the light is good.
Stop 1: what do you see from the viewpoint?
The whole valley. From the platform at Hakið you look over the assembly plain, the white church, the river and the lake beyond. Þingvallavatn is Iceland's largest natural lake, about 84 km², and its deepest point, at 114 m, lies below sea level.
Give it five minutes. It is the one place where the layout of the park makes sense at a glance, and it helps you place every later stop.
The lake you are looking at is fed from far away. About 90% of its inflow travels underground, and water takes 20 to 30 years to arrive from the Langjökull glacier. Its only outflow is the river Sog, at the southern end.
Stop 2: the walk down Almannagjá
From the platform, the path drops into the gorge itself. You walk between the fault walls, with the high western wall beside you. This is the edge of the rift, and it is still active: two earthquakes in the summer of 2000 dropped stones from the ravine walls.
The path at the viewpoint is paved. Take your time here: the gorge is the stop a short coach visit is built around, and it is worth more than a glance. The post on walking Almannagjá covers the gorge in detail.
Stop 3: where was Lögberg?
Along the gorge you reach the flagpole. It stands on the ledge at the top of the slope called Hallurinn, north of the Hamraskarð pass, and it marks one of the two candidate sites for Lögberg, the Law Rock. The other candidate is inside Almannagjá, against the higher wall.
The Law Rock was the hub of the Alþing. Anyone attending could speak there, the assembly opened and closed there, and rulings were announced from it. The Lawspeaker recited the whole law from here over three summers, and was the Commonwealth's only paid official. Iceland's declaration of independence was signed at Lögberg in 1944.
Below it lay the rest of the assembly. The Law Council, 48 chieftains with two advisers each, sat on a central platform. People lived for the two summer weeks in booths of turf and stone, and the Booth Trail, Búðaslóð, passes several ruins. One of the two that date from the Commonwealth is Njálsbúð.
Stop 4: Öxarárfoss
Follow the gorge north and the Öxará river falls into it at Öxarárfoss. The Sturlunga saga says the river was diverted into Almannagjá to give the assembly fresh water. Car park P2, Efri-Vellir, sits below the falls, so this is a natural place to start if you arrive from the north.
In the 10th century, duels were fought on Öxarárhólmi, an islet in the river, until they were banned after the conversion to Christianity.
Stop 5: Drekkingarhylur
Drekkingarhylur, the Drowning Pool, is where women found guilty under the Great Judgment of 1564 were drowned. That law, Stóridómur, made corporal punishment far more frequent. Place names such as Gallows Cliffs remain in the valley.
It is a quiet stop, and a sobering one. The history page sets it in context.
Stop 6: Peningagjá and Flosagjá
Cross the plain to the fissures. Flosagjá holds clear water up to 25 m deep. Its eastern branch, Nikulásargjá, was bridged in 1907, and visitors began throwing coins into it; it became Peningagjá, the "Money Fault".
Spöngin, the lava spit between the branches, was taken for the Law Rock in the 18th and 19th centuries. Two lava hills called Kastalar marked the northern boundary of the assembly site.
Stop 7: when is the church open?
Þingvallakirkja, the white church on the valley floor, was built in 1859, and its bell tower was added in 1907. A church has stood here since about 1017, when King Olaf of Norway sent timber and a bell.
It opens from 1 June to 31 August when a ranger is present, commonly 09:00 to 10:00 and 13:30 to 17:00. In winter it is closed except for services. Car park P5, Valhöll, is the nearest.
Stop 8: Silfra, from P5
P5 is also the car park nearest Silfra, the fissure where people snorkel and dive. The water stays at 2–4 °C all year. If you have booked a snorkel, this is where the walk ends and the tour begins: DIVE.IS meets at the Silfra car park, and Troll by P5.
Snorkelling needs a booked fare, with the drysuit, the guide and the permit. The post on how cold Silfra is covers what it involves.
What fits into 30 minutes, two hours or four?
| Stop | Nearest car park | 30 min | 2 h | 4 h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hakið viewpoint | P1 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The gorge path | P1 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Law Rock flagpole | P1 or P2 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The waterfall | P2 | — | Yes | Yes |
| The fissures | P5 | — | Yes | Yes |
| The church, in summer | P5 | — | Yes | Yes |
| Heart of Iceland exhibition | P1 | — | — | Yes |
| Booth ruins and the Drowning Pool | On foot, across the assembly site | — | — | Yes |
| A trail towards the old farms | On foot, beyond the assembly site | — | — | Yes |
Thirty minutes is what most Golden Circle coaches give you. Two hours is what Oak Travel's private half-day from Harpa gives you, and four is the Prime Tours private tour.
What does a half day add?
Space. Beyond the assembly site, the trails run out to the abandoned farms of Hrauntún, Skógarkot and Vatnskot. Riders may use three old bridle paths only: Langistígur, Skógarkotsvegur and Nýja-Hrauntúnsgata.
A half day also lets you slow down at the lake. Þingvallavatn holds brown trout, four kinds of Arctic charr and three-spined stickleback, and the great northern diver nests here. The nature page covers the lake, the birds and the plants.
When should you do the walk?
Any time of day works: the park has no gate and no closing time posted. The visitor centre at Hakið opens at 09:00 all year, so arrive then if you want the exhibition and the restrooms at the start.
In summer, time your walk so the church fits one of its opening windows, commonly 09:00 to 10:00 or 13:30 to 17:00. In winter, start as the light comes up: in mid-December you have about four hours of daylight, against about 21 in mid-June. The weather page goes month by month.
What should you bring?
- A waterproof jacket; October is the wettest month, and no month is dry.
- A warm layer, even in July, when the park's record gives an average high of 14.5 °C.
- Shoes with grip for the gorge path and the trails.
- Coins or a card for the parking machines, or the Checkit.is page on your phone.
Where should the walk end?
Wherever your car or your tour is. Because one parking payment covers P1, P2 and P5 for the day, you can drive between them rather than walk back uphill. Start at P1 for the view, move the car to P2 for the waterfall, and finish at P5 for the church and Silfra.
On a tour, the driver sets the meeting point, so ask where it is before you set off. The practical detail is on visiting the park, and every tour is compared on Thingvellir Tours.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to walk around Thingvellir?
Where do you park to walk Almannagjá?
Is the Thingvellir walk suitable for everyone?
Can you walk from Almannagjá to Silfra?
Is there a map of the trails?
When is the church at Thingvellir open?
Tours with time for the whole route
Exclusive Thingvellir National Park Private Day Tour
Four private hours from your Reykjavík hotel, built around the park rather than the whole Golden Circle.
From $477 per person
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Thingvellir National Park Tour ( Þingvellir )
A private car from Harpa for up to three, and two hours inside the park at your own pace.
From $713 per group, up to 3
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Small-group Golden Circle Classic Tour from Reykjavik
A minibus of 19 at most with pickup in Reykjavík, and 45 minutes at Thingvellir on the Golden Circle.
From $121 per person
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