1. Vatnajökull National Park
Skaftafell (Vatnajökull National Park - South)
Skaftafell, the jewel in the crown of Vatnajökull National Park, encompasses a breathtaking collection of peaks and glaciers. It’s the country’s favourite wilderness: 500,000 visitors per year come to marvel at thundering waterfalls, twisted birch woods, the tangled web of rivers threading across the sandar, and brilliant blue-white Vatnajökull with its lurching tongues of ice, dripping down mountainsides like icing on a cake. Skaftafell deserves its reputation, and few visitors – even those who usually shun the great outdoors – can resist it. In the height of summer it may feel that every traveller in the country is here. However, if you’re prepared to get out on the more remote trails and take advantage of the fabulous hiking on the heath and beyond, you’ll leave the crowds behind. Shun the crowds by visiting Svartifoss under the midnight sun.
Jökulsárgljúfur National Park (Vatnajökull National Park - North)
In 2008 the Vatnajökull National Park – one of Europe’s largest protected reserves – was formed when Jökulsárgljúfur National Park merged with Skaftafell National Park to the south. The idea was to protect the Vatnajökull ice cap and all of its glacial run-off under one super-sized preserve. The Jökulsárgljúfur portion of the park protects a unique subglacial eruptive ridge and a 25km-long canyon carved out by the formidable Jökulsá á Fjöllum (Iceland’s second-longest river) – the name Jökulsárgljúfur literally means 'Glacier River Canyon’. Jökulsá á Fjöllum starts in the Vatnajökull ice cap and flows just over 200km to the Arctic Ocean at Öxarfjörður. Jökulhlaup (floods from volcanic eruptions beneath the ice cap) formed the canyon and have carved out a chasm that averages 100m deep and 500m wide. The canyon is well known for its waterfalls – Dettifoss is of course the most famous, but there are others.
Skaftafell (Vatnajökull National Park - South)
Skaftafell, the jewel in the crown of Vatnajökull National Park, encompasses a breathtaking collection of peaks and glaciers. It’s the country’s favourite wilderness: 500,000 visitors per year come to marvel at thundering waterfalls, twisted birch woods, the tangled web of rivers threading across the sandar, and brilliant blue-white Vatnajökull with its lurching tongues of ice, dripping down mountainsides like icing on a cake. Skaftafell deserves its reputation, and few visitors – even those who usually shun the great outdoors – can resist it. In the height of summer it may feel that every traveller in the country is here. However, if you’re prepared to get out on the more remote trails and take advantage of the fabulous hiking on the heath and beyond, you’ll leave the crowds behind. Shun the crowds by visiting Svartifoss under the midnight sun.
Jökulsárgljúfur National Park (Vatnajökull National Park - North)
In 2008 the Vatnajökull National Park – one of Europe’s largest protected reserves – was formed when Jökulsárgljúfur National Park merged with Skaftafell National Park to the south. The idea was to protect the Vatnajökull ice cap and all of its glacial run-off under one super-sized preserve. The Jökulsárgljúfur portion of the park protects a unique subglacial eruptive ridge and a 25km-long canyon carved out by the formidable Jökulsá á Fjöllum (Iceland’s second-longest river) – the name Jökulsárgljúfur literally means 'Glacier River Canyon’. Jökulsá á Fjöllum starts in the Vatnajökull ice cap and flows just over 200km to the Arctic Ocean at Öxarfjörður. Jökulhlaup (floods from volcanic eruptions beneath the ice cap) formed the canyon and have carved out a chasm that averages 100m deep and 500m wide. The canyon is well known for its waterfalls – Dettifoss is of course the most famous, but there are others.
2. Blue Lagoon
As the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, so the Blue Lagoon is to Iceland… with all the positive and negative connotations implied. Those who say it’s too commercial and too crowded aren't wrong, but you’ll be missing something special if you don’t go. Pre-booking is essential or you will be turned away. In a magnificent black-lava field, the milky-teal spa is fed water from the futuristic Svartsengi geothermal plant; with its silver towers, roiling clouds of steam and people daubed in white silica mud, it's an other-worldly place. The superheated water (70% sea water, 30% fresh water, at a perfect 38°C) is rich in blue-green algae, mineral salts and fine silica mud, which condition and exfoliate the skin – sounds like advertising speak, but you really do come out as soft as a baby’s bum. The water is hottest near the vents where it emerges, and the surface is several degrees warmer than the bottom.
3. Gullfoss
Iceland’s most famous waterfall, Gullfoss is a spectacular double cascade. It drops 32m, kicking up tiered walls of spray before thundering away down a narrow ravine. On sunny days the mist creates shimmering rainbows, and it’s also magical in winter when the falls glitter with ice. On grey, drizzly days, mist can envelop the second drop, making Gullfoss slightly underwhelming.
Spectacularly set on a dramatic bay, little Grundarfjörður is backed by waterfalls and surrounded by ice-capped peaks often shrouded in cottony fog. More prefab than wooden, the town feels like a typical Icelandic fishing community, but the tourist facilities are good and the surrounding landscape can’t be beat, with its iconic Kirkjufell.
5. Mýrdalsjökull Glacier Park
Caked in ice all year round, the soaring ridges of the mighty Katla caldera play host to Iceland’s wild and arctic Mýrdalsjökull Glacier Park. This snow-packed field encompasses 700 sq km and represents the fourth-largest of its kind in the country. It’s known for its otherworldly appearance, as verdant peaks poke their way out above the ice-carved valleys, metamorphic creations crowd above the crevasses and quick sand pools lurk on the edges of Sólheimajökull – one of the most striking offshoots of the Mýrdalsjökull Glacier. Guided hiking is uber-popular here, with spots like the Fimmvörðuháls pass and the ridges of Eyjafjallajökull both offering daring getaways.
6. Landmannalaugar
Mind-blowing multicoloured mountains, soothing hot springs, rambling lava flows and clear blue lakes make Landmannalaugar one of Iceland’s most unique destinations, and a must for explorers of the interior. It’s a favourite with Icelanders and visitors alike… as long as the weather cooperates. Part of the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, Landmannalaugar (600m above sea level) includes the largest geothermal field in Iceland outside the Grímsvötn caldera in Vatnajökull. Its multihued peaks are made of rhyolite – a mineral-filled lava that cooled unusually slowly, causing those amazing colours. The area is also the official starting point for the famous Laugavegurinn hike.
7. Reykjavik
The world’s most northerly capital combines colourful buildings, quirky, creative people, eye-popping design, wild nightlife and a capricious soul. Reykjavík is strikingly cosmopolitan for its size. It's merely a town by international standards, compared with London or Paris, yet it's loaded with captivating art, rich culinary choices, and cool cafes and bars. History You can also get a full primer on Icelandic history right in central Reykjavík, from its Settlement Exhibition built around the unearthed Viking longhouse of the area's earliest inhabitants to the enormous National Museum, keeper of the country's most precious artefacts.In the Old Harbour you can enthrall the kids at a high-octane Saga Museum, or learn about the area's maritime history. The capital's art museums and galleries are perfect for seeing what the Settlers' modern-day ancestors are up to. You’ll be able to explore exhibition spaces, like the outstanding Reykjavík Art Museum and National Gallery, and shops featuring cutting-edge Icelandic design. Or, wander the streets photographing creative graffiti and public art installations, like the ever-popular seaside Sun Voyager sculpture, changing guises along with the light. Even if you come to Reykjavík for a short visit, be sure to take a trip to the countryside. Tours and services abound, and understanding Reykjavík and its people is helped by understanding the vast, raw and gorgeous land they anchor. The majority of Icelanders live in the capital, but you can guarantee their spirits also roam free across the land. Absorb what you see, hear, taste, smell – all part of Iceland's rich heritage.Take Reykjavík, then add its snow-topped mountains, churning seas and crystal-clear air, and you will fall helplessly in love, returning home already saving to come back.
8. Borgarnes
Unassuming Borgarnes has got it going on. For such a tiny place, it bubbles with local life. One of the original settlement areas for the first Icelanders, it's loaded with history, and sits on a scenic promontory along the broad waters of Borgarfjörður. Zip past the busy petrol stations and go into the old quarter to encounter the fun small-town vibe and one of Iceland’s best museums.
9. Jökulsárlón
A host of spectacular, luminous-blue icebergs drift through Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, right beside the Ring Road between Höfn and Skaftafell. It’s worth spending a couple of hours here, admiring the wondrous ice sculptures (some of them striped with ash layers from volcanic eruptions), scouting for seals or taking a boat trip. The icebergs calve from Breiðamerkurjökull, an offshoot of Vatnajökull, crashing down into the water and drifting towards the Atlantic Ocean. They can spend up to five years floating in the 25-sq-km-plus, 260m-deep lagoon, melting, refreezing and occasionally toppling over with a mighty splash, startling the birds. They then move on via Jökulsá, Iceland’s shortest river, out to sea. Although it looks as though it’s been here since the last ice age, the lagoon is only about 80 years old. Until the mid-1930s Breiðamerkurjökull reached the Ring Road; it’s now retreating rapidly, and the lagoon is consequently growing.
10. Skálholt
An important religious centre, Skálholt was one of two bishoprics (the other being Hólar in the north) that ruled Iceland’s souls from the 11th to the 18th centuries. It rose to prominence under Gissur the White, the driving force behind the Christianisation of Iceland. The Catholic bishopric lasted until the Reformation in 1550, when Bishop Jón Arason and his two sons were executed by order of the Danish king. Skalhólt continued as a Lutheran centre until 1797, when the bishopric shifted to Reykjavík.
11. Akureyri
Akureyri stands strong as Iceland’s second city, but a Melbourne, Manchester or Montréal it is not. And how could it be with only 18,000 residents? It’s a wonder the city generates this much buzz. Expect cool cafes, quality restaurants, a handful of art galleries and even some late-night bustle – a far cry from other rural Icelandic towns. Akureyri nestles at the head of Eyjafjörður, Iceland’s longest fjord, at the base of snowcapped peaks. In summer flowering gardens belie the location, just a stone’s throw from the Arctic Circle. Lively winter festivals and some of Iceland’s best skiing provide plenty of off-peak appeal. With its relaxed attitude and extensive food and accommodation choices, it’s the natural base for exploring Eyjafjörður and around, and it's seeing a growing number of cruise ships calling by.
12. The Westfjords
The Westfjords is where Iceland’s dramatic landscapes come to a riveting climax and where mass tourism disappears – only about 10% of Iceland's visitors ever see the region. Jagged bird cliffs and broad multihued dream beaches flank the south. Rutted dirt roads snake north along jaw-dropping coastal fjords and over immense central mountains, revealing tiny fishing villages embracing traditional ways of life. In the far north, the Hornstrandir hiking reserve crowns the quiet region, and is home to cairn-marked walking paths revealing bird life, Arctic foxes and ocean vistas. The Strandir coast is less visited still, with an end-of-the-line, mystical feel, geothermal springs and minuscule oceanside hamlets. Leave plenty of time: unpaved roads weave around fjords and over pothole-pitted mountain passes, but the scenery is never short of breathtaking. Once you get used to it, you may not want to leave.
13. Mývatn
Undisputed gem of the northeast, Mývatn lake and the surrounding area are starkly beautiful, an otherworldly terrain of spluttering mudpots, weird lava formations, steaming fumaroles and volcanic craters, set around a bird-filled lake. The Mývatn basin sits squarely on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the violent geological character of the area has produced an astonishing landscape unlike anywhere else in the country; this is the Iceland you’ve always imagined. Top attractions in the area include the Námaskarð mud pools, the black lava monoliths of Dimmuborgir, hike-able Vindbelgjarfjall at just over 500m above sea level and the sulphuric Mývatn Nature Baths.
14. Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park
Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, 40km northeast of central Reykjavík, is Iceland’s most important historical site and a place of vivid beauty. The Vikings established the world’s first democratic parliament, the Alþingi, here in AD 930. The meetings were conducted outdoors and, as with many Saga sites, there are only the stone foundations of ancient encampments. The site has a superb natural setting, in an immense, fissured rift valley, caused by the meeting of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, with rivers and waterfalls. The country’s first national park, Þingvellir was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.
15. Höfn
Although it’s no bigger than many European villages, the Southeast’s main town feels like a sprawling metropolis after driving through the emptiness on either side. Its setting is stunning; on a clear day, wander down to the waterside, find a quiet bench and just gaze at Vatnajökull and its guild of glaciers. Höfn simply means ‘harbour’, and is pronounced like an unexpected hiccup (just say ‘hup’ while inhaling). It’s an apt name – this modern town still relies heavily on fishing and fish processing, and is famous for its humar (often translated as lobster, but technically it’s langoustine). Bus travellers use Höfn as a transit point, and most travellers stop to use the town’s services, so prebook accommodation in summer. On bus timetables and the like, you may see the town referred to as Höfn í Hornafirði (meaning Höfn in Hornafjörður) to differentiate it from all the other höfn (harbours) around the country.
Source: Lonely Planet; The Crazy Tourist
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