The Golden Circle is famous for several attractions and many tourists who only have a short stopover in Iceland mostly focus on the Golden Circle. It is also the most crowded area of Iceland we have seen. If you have more time to spend in Iceland we recommend to start with the Golden Circle and enjoy after some more pacefull areas.
Starting from Reykjavik the golden circle is just above 200 kilometers and you can easily do this in 1 day. You don’t need a 4×4 as there all attractions can be reached via normal roads.
There are plenty of tours which you can book, but when you do it on your own, you decide yourself how long you stay and you can add extra stops if you want.