Sud de l'Islande et Cercle d'Or

Unlike the north of the island, southern Iceland is very popular, for a simple reason: the scenery is fascinating, and Iceland's distinctive geological features are numerous there. Smoking volcanoes, black sand beaches, snow-capped peaks, moss-covered lava fields, glittering glaciers and thundering waterfalls follow one another in complete disorder, much to the delight of visitors.
Here you'll find, for example, the Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls, or the colourful mountains of Landmannalaugar. In the south of the island, two active volcanoes compete with each other: Hekla has erupted 20 times since the settlement of Iceland (officially in 874), while Katla has erupted at least 21 times, and could do so again soon.
Off the south coast of the island float the Vestmann Islands, where you can see traces of the 1973 Eldfell eruption; Heimaey, the town on the main island of the same name, is nicknamed the “Pompeii of the North”.

The region is well known for the Golden Circle, Iceland's most famous trio, made up of Þingvellir National Park, the Strokkur geyser and Gullfoss waterfall. Þingvellir (“the plains of Parliament”) is the historic site where the Alþing, Iceland's parliament (the first in the world), met every year from 930 to 1798, before being designated a national park in 1930. It is also the only place in the world where you can see tectonic plates at the earth's surface. Further east lies the Geysir geothermal area, home to the geyser of the same name, the father of all geysers, as well as Strokkur, which spouts water up to 30 metres high. While the former can lie dormant for several years, the latter erupts every 5 to 10 minutes. From the highland plateaus, the rivers that flow down form iconic waterfalls such as Gullfoss, the “golden falls”. In summer, you might even see a rainbow arching over this 32-metre waterfall.