It’s true, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But when it comes to Iceland, there’s nothing subjective about it. For this is the land of frozen beaches, whimsical waterfalls and steaming cyan lagoons. It’s where artistic license was given permission to run wild and everyone chose to go with it – even astronauts, who once used the island’s lunar landscapes as their training grounds. So, you can imagine how difficult it was to choose its shiniest and brightest crown jewels. Fortunately, we have a team of experts who know this icy land like the back of their hand. Read on to discover the most beautiful places in Iceland.
1
Jökulsárlón
You think you know nature and then you go to Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. The deepest lake in Iceland, it is roughly 200 metres deep and 11 square miles wide. But that hasn’t always been the case. In fact, before 1930, it wasn’t there at all. A direct result of rising sea temperatures, Jökulsárlón almost feels like global warming’s silver lining. For a visual bonus, try standing at the edge of its black sand Diamond Beach, look out towards its inky lake and ponder how perfectly it reflects the serrated dragon tooth icebergs peeking above it. If you’re lucky, you may just catch a seal doing exactly the same.
2
Ísafjörður
Ísafjörður literally means ‘fjord of ice’. So it’ll hardly come as a surprise that the first things to catch your attention when approaching the quaint Westfjords town are the towering peaks that sandwich it. Wild and unspoilt, Ísafjörður tops our list of most beautiful places in Iceland primarily for its rugged remoteness. But dig a little deeper and you’ll find a tiny tight knit community that celebrates everything from art and music to maritime history. Join locals in celebratory spring sólarkaffi (sun coffee) to welcome the arrival of the sun as it finally reappears over the soaring summits, and watch in awe as carpets of wildflowers roll down them in summer. If you’re wanting off the beaten track, Ísafjörður is it.
3
Vatnajökull
So beautiful that even UNESCO had to get in on the action, Vatnajökull’s beauty comes from its scale. Spanning over 13% of Iceland’s territory with ice 1,500ft thick, the glacier simultaneously conceals and displays the country’s most active volcanoes, which is how it earned its moniker ‘the land of fire and ice’. Spend mornings deep in electric blue ice caves and afternoons speeding through bone-white landscapes on snowmobiles. If you’d rather head out on foot, then follow trails through wild black sand valleys to Disney-esque waterfalls like Svartifoss. Renowned for the hexagonal basalt columns and lime green moss that cocoon the 80ft fall, it’s like it was specially designed to take breath away.
4
Mount Mælifell
They say that beauty comes from within. Well, they obviously haven’t been to Mount Mælifell. A volcanic cone of ash and lava rock, this emerald pyramid coated in grimmia (a moss that changes colour depending on the soil’s humidity) looks more like a Hollywood studio creation than one of Mother Nature’s. Yet, despite being the relatively new kid on the block (Mælifell was discovered at the end of the last Ice Age when the Mýrdalsjökull glacier retreated), this awe-inspiring Highland mountain has wasted no time becoming one of the most beautiful places in Iceland. Hit the lone F-road leading straight to it or pick up the Laugavegur Route (a popular multi-day hiking route), and you’ll soon see what we mean.
5
Blue Lagoon
Tucked away in a jet-black lava field, Grindavík’s Blue Lagoon doesn’t just look good for you, it is good for you. Almost supernatural in appearance, its famed milky-blue waters look as if they’ve come straight from the cauldron of an evil-turned-ethereal witch. But beyond the plumes of swirling steam and mossy outcrops that protect them are the salubrious minerals that have had skincare fans flocking here for decades. Known to cure skin conditions such as psoriasis and rosacea, a dip in its sulphur and silica rich waters puts a whole new spin on the phrase natural beauty. So simply sit back, relax and let the water do the work at this beauty spot.