Travel

Visit the spectacularly beautiful country of Iceland! Let this island of glaciers and volcanoes tempt you with amazing scenery and wonderful people.

Positioned in the North Atlantic between Greenland and Scandinavia, Iceland serves up plenty of grandeur on both the scenic and historical fronts. You’ll marvel at the sublime landforms of this geologically restless island, from otherworldly glacial lakes and sheer sea cliffs to steaming hot springs and moonscape lava fields. The capital of Reykjavík,the country’s main urban hub, is famous for its dramatic coastal setting and remarkably vibrant nightlife. Reykjavík’s museums, restaurants, and welcoming, fun-loving populace are their own great attractions, but you also have many celebrated landmarks around the island to check out. These include the dreamy Blue Lagoon resort (a steaming geothermal paradise), the icebergdotted Jökulsárlón lake, gargantuan waterfalls like Gullfoss and Dettifoss, and some of the world’s finest perches for viewing the Northern Lights.

Culture

Without a doubt, Iceland's geographic isolation has impacted its (very interesting!) culture, society and language. As its origins are Scandinavian (from the original Viking settlers), in many ways Iceland's culture still resembles those of other European, Nordic countries like Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. That being said, don't be fooled into thinking they're identical; Iceland's Scandinavian background evolved into something downright unique.

Among Nordic countries, Iceland is renowned for its contributions to (and preservation of) Norse literature and mythology; its medieval sagas, some of which document the Viking discoveries of Greenland and 2Vinland, are particularly famed. Its language, Icelandic, descended from Old Norse and has some pretty interesting features. For example, most male last names contain the father's first name paired with "son," while most female last names contain the father's first name paired with "dottir." As a result, in one family let's imagine an Icelandic family of four (mom, dad, boy, girl) each member would have a different last name.

When visiting Iceland, you'll also find that many locals also speak Danish and English. The vast majority of Icelanders are Lutheran, and in general they have quite a sense of community. (And because they have historically been so isolated, there is even a dating app in Iceland to prevent you from dating anyone closely-related!)

Cultural sights to consider visiting in Iceland (there are many excellent ones) include the Reykjavik Art Museum, the Skogar Folk Museum and Thingvellir National Park. And after you've finished sightseeing, consider enjoying the hot springs, geothermal pools and saunas, all of which along with swimming are hugely popular with the locals.