After passing Selfoss you continue driving road nr. 1 in eastern direction. Then you turn to road nr. 30 and then 31. which will lead you into Þjórsádalur valley.
Already the drive is going to be amazing. The valley is very colorful. Depending on which time of the year you are going to drive into the valley the colors will change. The grass is extremely green, then you will see the blue of the river to your right and if you come in June or July the lupines are going to ad a beautiful purple color. It is also very popular for Icelanders to ride along the river Þjórsá so maybe you will meet a group of riders tölting along the riding paths.
Your first stop is going to be Gaukshöfði on the left side of the road. You can drive up the hill until you see a parking lot and a bench. After walking up the hill which takes you about 5-10 minutes you are going to have a great view over the valley Þjórsárdalur. You will be able to see þjórsá and its river banks, the highlands in the distance, and straight in front of you you will be able to see Mt. Hekla the active volcano. Also historically this place has a story to tell. The viking Gaukur has been killed up here. His blood brother had to pay him revenge as Gaukur had an affaire with his wife. Later on during your drive through þjórsárdalur valley you are going to visit Gaukurs farm.
Afterwards you drive back on the main road and keep on driving further into Þjorsárdalur valley. To your right the there will be the turn to Hjálparfoss waterfall. The kissing waterfall is very pretty and you can drive completely up to it. Paths are leading closer so you can take a closer look. Also here you can find benches to take a picnic with the view on the waterfall, if you are hungry.
The third stop called Þjóðveldisbær is only some kilometers away. This torf house is a replica of the excavated farm Stöng you are going to visit next. You can take a look into Þjóðveldisbær and see how Vikings lived in the earlier days. Beside the big farmhouse you will see a smaller house to your right. This is the church. And what makes this place really magical is the small waterfall falling down in the back of the farm.
Now it is time to take a look into the original house, or better said what is left of it. A graveled road is leading to the house of the Viking Gaukur who has been killed at Gaukshöfði, the place you visited first. Leave your car at the parking lot and cross the bridge. At the other side of the bridge are benches and tables. Also there is a nice place to picnic there as the atmosphere is very beautiful. If you are lucky it might happen that you meet a group of riders with their free running herd. We also cross this way and keep our horses for a break in the paddock down the hill as the paths lead to Landmannalaugar where we travel with our guests on horseback. You will take the path up the hill to the excavated farm Stöng. It will take you 10-15 minutes. You can take a look inside the ruins and a shield in front of the door is explaining the history of the valley. Inside you will find another explanation for how the rooms have been used.
To reach your next stop called Gjáin you can either walk to it in about 30 minutes or you drive over by car. Gjáin shows what nature can create. This nature pearl reminds of a natural version of Garden Eden. Except of the walking paths and small wooden bridges everything is made by Mother Nature. Take your time and enjoy the atmosphere.
Your last stop of the day are the two waterfalls Háifoss and Granni. To reach them you can either keep on driving the graveled road or you drive back on the asphalt road and turn after some kilometers to the left again of a graveled road. If you don’t feel komfortable in driving graveled roads I would recommend to drive back on the asphalt road in between. When you drove up you will see a parking lot appearing to your left hand side. You park the car and walk to the canyon. There a breathtaking view is going to await you. You will be able to see over Þjórsárdalur valley and the waterfalls Háifoss and Granni are also very impressive. Háifoss counts to one of the highest waterfalls in Iceland.
This is the end of your trip to Þjórsárdalur. You can now either keep on going to the highlands like Sprengisandur, or Landmannalaugar, but also the south coast, and the Golden Circle are not far away.
