10 Reasons Why You Should Visit Iceland (Seriously)

Otherworldly landscapes. Northern lights. Incredible wildlife. Every traveller on the planet should visit Iceland at least once in their lifetime, and we’re here to tell you why. 

If the idea of visiting Iceland has even remotely crossed your mind, you simply need to stop thinking and start booking.

Give me 10 minutes, and I will also explain to you why.

1.  First of all, Iceland looks like Mars

Iceland’s landscapes are truly nothing like you’ll ever see in the rest of the world. This is probably the single thing everyone loves the most about this country: it doesn’t look like anywhere else. Every day you’ll drive through snow-covered volcanoes, steamy hot rivers, glaciers, black beaches, iceberg lagoons and lava fields. The scenery is crazy beautiful, full of extremes, it doesn’t make any sense.

Iceland is also known as the land of fire and ice for a reason – aren’t you just a bit curious to see for yourself why?

2.  It is home to Europe’s largest glacier (and you can hike it)

11% of the land in Iceland is covered in glaciers. Vatnajökull, the largest of them, is about the same size as the islands of Cyprus or Corsica. Cherry on top? Parts of it can be “easily” hiked.

For safety reasons, glacier excursion can only be arranged with the support of a local guide, who can make sure that a) your ass doesn’t fall into a crevasse 5 minutes into the hike, and b) you have the proper equipment, which includes crampons and a badass ice axe to channel your inner viking.

I struggle to articulate how it felt to be up there (although I tried in this post), but I can tell you this for sure: hiking a glacier will be one of the most thrilling experiences of your life. If you only need one reason to visit Iceland, this is it. 

3.  There are more than 10.000 waterfalls

Forget TLC. You should, by all means, go chasin’ waterfalls. Thanks to the sheer number of glaciers, Iceland also has an abundance of waterfalls. Skogafoss, Seljandfoss, Gullfoss, Godafoss, just to name a few − you’ll never see water dropping over rocks so majestically.

4.  Northen Lights

If you’re planning on visiting Iceland between late September to mid-March, you might have the chance to see the incredible show of the Aurora Borealis. Due to the high latitude and the presence of vast open skies free from city light pollution, Iceland is regarded as one of the best places in the world to catch the famous light show. It’s a rare light show nonetheless – the conditions have to be just right – but if you get lucky, grab a seat (and a blanket) because you’re in for a treat.

5.  Midnight Sun

The proximity to the Arctic Circle gives Iceland another special feature: bright summer nights. Never-ending days can be experienced from mid-May to late July, but the peak is reached during the summer solstice, when the sun sets a few minutes past midnight and rises before 3 AM. This experience can feel out of this world, as you can arrange all kinds of activities at midnight – like whale watching and horseback riding – if you just want to sleep, make sure to put an eye mask in your luggage. 

6.  Geothermal energy is very cool 

Do you need a little bit of peace and quiet? Some well-earned relaxation on your holiday? Iceland will happily welcome you with some boiling mud coming right from the earth’s core, then some flying steam that erupts right below the ground you’re walking on, and top it all off with some sulfur fumes all around.

Jokes aside, it’s very exciting to be able to feel Earth’s power and witness all its cool manifestations, like geysers and natural hot springs.

7.  Icelandic horses, puffins and foxes are simply adorable

Iceland not only has a remarkable landscape, but it also has some very remarkable animals. Let me present you:

The Icelandic horse,

the Icelandic puffin,

and the Icelandic Arctic fox.

8.  You can hike beautiful mountains with unpronounceable names

Hiking is great in many countries around the world, but Icelandic mountains are something else. Besides, anyone can hike Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Fuji, but how many out there can say they’ve hiked Fimmvörðuháls? And what about Hvannadalshnukur? And Kerlingarfjöll? How many people can actually say that? Nobody. And that’s because pronouncing Icelandic names involves making our tongues do things that human tongues are simply not designed to do, which makes getting to know this region twice as fun. And if you need to brag to your friends, just throw a few vowels together and hope for the best.

9.  Icelandic volcanoes are iconic

Can anyone recognise the subject of this photo? This is Eyjafjallajokull, the Icelandic volcano that with its eruption in 2010 messed up all your European flight plans and caused almost $2 billion in losses for airlines. How rude. And it’s not a unique phenomenon for Iceland, as there are 130+ volcanoes in the country, 30 of which are still active.

The country is a huge volcanic laboratory sitting right between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Remember tectonic plates? Me neither. Anyhow, whether your goal is to check out some incredible volcanoes or catch up on some geoscience, Iceland is the best place to start.

10. Reykjavik is a very interesting city

When planning a trip to Iceland, most people are focused on the natural adventures, which is quite normal and honestly correct. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover just how cool Reykjavik is: tiny and colourful houses, very interesting street art and museums, a strong live music and entertainment culture. I immensely enjoyed my time there, and highly recommend not skipping it when planning a trip to Iceland. 

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