Iceland

Iceland Travel Guide

An eerie moonscape under a mystical subarctic sky greets you on the highway from Keflavík International Airport into Reykjavík, Iceland's capital. The low terrain is barely covered by its thin scalp of luminescent green moss. Although trees are few and far between, an occasional scrawny shrub clings to a rock outcropping. The air smells different -- clean and crisp -- and it's so clear that on a sunny day you can see for miles.

Welcome to Iceland, one of the most dramatic natural spectacles on this planet. It is a land of dazzling white glaciers and black sands, blue hot springs, rugged lava fields, and green, green valleys. This North Atlantic island offers insight into the ferocious powers of nature, ranging from the still-warm lava from the 1973 Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) and the 2000 Mt. Hekla volcanic eruptions to the chilling splendor of the Vatnajökull Glacier. More than 80% of the island's 103,000 square km (40,000 square mi) is uninhabited. Ice caps cover 11% of the country, more than 50% is barren, 6% consists of lakes and rivers, and less than 2% of the land is cultivated. There's hardly a tree to be seen in most of the country, making the few birches, wildflowers, and delicate vegetation all the more lovely in contrast. Contrary to the country's forbidding name, the climate is surprisingly mild in winter, although in summer you're unlikely to be comfortable in just a T-shirt and shorts.

Surrounded by the sea, the Icelanders have become great fishermen, and fish remains the cornerstone of the economy. Seafood exports pay for imported foodstuffs and other goods, all of which could not be produced economically in such a small society. Because of importation needs and high value-added taxes on most goods and services, prices tend toward the steep side. Hotels and restaurants are pricey, but with a little digging you can usually find inexpensive alternatives. Tipping in restaurants is not required.

Iceland is the westernmost outpost of Europe, 800 km (500 mi) from the nearest European landfall, Scotland, and nearly 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from Copenhagen, the country's administrative capital during Danish rule from 1380 to 1918. So far north -- part of the country touches the Arctic Circle -- Iceland has the usual Scandinavian long hours of darkness in winter. Maybe this is why Icelanders are such good chess players (Iceland played host to the memorable Fischer-Spassky match of 1972). Such long nights may also explain why, per capita, more books are written, printed, purchased, and read in Iceland than anywhere else in the world. It's no surprise that the birthrate is unusually high for Europe, too.