Iceland's dramatic landscape is so visually overwhelming that first-timers spend all their time photographing it. The travelers who get it right also stop — at the community pool in a small town, at the kitchen table of a guesthouse owner who has a theory about the Northern Lights, at the fish and chips truck on a gravel road near Stykkishólmur.
What to do there
- 01
Landmannalaugar in the central highlands — accessible only in summer by 4WD, a geothermal field where hot rivers flow through black lava flanked by rhyolite mountains striped red, green, and ochre. A natural hot spring pool where you soak while steam rises. Starting point for the 4-day Laugavegur trek, one of the world's best hikes.
- 02
Snæfellsnes Peninsula (3 hours from Reykjavík) — the Iceland most visitors miss. The Snæfellsjökull glacier volcano at the tip is the setting for Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Center of the Earth.' The black sand beach at Djúpalónssandur has Viking-era lifting stones still sitting there.
- 03
The Westfjords — the jagged northwest peninsula where Iceland feels like it belongs to sea birds and very few others. The Hornstrandir Nature Reserve has no roads, no infrastructure, and the largest Arctic fox population in Iceland. Boats from Ísafjörður in summer.
- 04
Municipal thermal pools — not the Blue Lagoon, but Laugardalslaug in Reykjavík (the Olympic pool with outdoor hot pots) or Grettislaug hot spring on the Skagafjörður Peninsula, natural rock pools above the sea on the honor system.
- 05
Northern Lights away from Reykjavík — drive 30 minutes north on Route 1 toward Þingvellir on a clear winter night, pull over, turn everything off, and wait. Check the aurora forecast on vedur.is. They peak after 11pm.
Best time to go
June–August for long days and accessible highlands. October–March for Northern Lights.
Insider tip
Iceland's gas stations are the social hubs — the attached convenience stores sell surprisingly good soup, skyr, and lamb stew. The lamb soup at the Borgarnes service station on Ring Road 1 is legitimately excellent at about $12.
Where in the world
Sound of Iceland
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