Iceland

The large and impressive waterfall Ófærufoss lies well inside the world's largest volcanic canyon Eldgjá, that covers a vast area. To get to the waterfall you have to walk for half an hour, but it is a beautiful area with contrasts of sharp volcanic rocks, rivers and extreme green vegetation and flowers. The water in Òfærufoss falls into three levels, and you can walk up via a staircase to the middle of the waterfall and enjoy the view. There has previously been a lava arch over one of the levels that you could cross, but it has now collapsed.

This is the iconic attraction of Iceland. An outdoor pool where you can slide into the 37-39°C (98-102°F) warm mineral rich ice blue seawater heated by lava flow deep underground. The lagoon is actually fed by the clean water output from the nearby geothermal power plant. In line with the Icelandic spirit, you can sip drinks in the fresh air while soaking up the rough beauty of the place. This is the king of all geothermal spas.

Dyrhólaey Peninsula lies just off the coastal town of Vík in the south of Iceland and is a giant volcanic rock. It takes approximately 5 to 10 minutes to drive to the top with a 4x4 car, and around 30 to 40 minutes to walk up there. The area is rich in birdlife, and especially in the summer time there is a very good chance of seeing puffins nesting. The view from the steep peninsula is quite impressive on all sides. You can see both the glacier Mýrdalsjökull, four distinctive, large lava pillars that rise from the sea, the whole coastline, the town of Vík, and the striking black arch, made of lava, where a member of Parliament once flew through.

For an "end of the world" feeling, head to Djupavik at the Reykjarfjörður fjord in the Northwest of Iceland. You can still see the closed-down herring factory that was once the pulse of the village. The treeless Strandir coastline at the Arctic Sea is covered with driftwood from Siberia, which is not really around the corner!
About one hour drive North from Djupavik, just a few kilometers from literally the end of the road, you get to Krossness. On the beach they have an outdoor hot pool. What can be better than watching the sun set over the Arctic Sea from inside a hot pool on the beach?

Geysir and Strokkur are, guess what..., geysirs! They are part of the Golden Circle, which is a group of tourist sites not all too far from Reykjavik.
The area is generally known as Geysir although the geysir called Geysir (still following?) has been a bit clogged for years now due to earthquakes and people messing with it.
The smaller geysir called Strokkur still erupts very regularly every couple of minutes, just enough time to adjust your tripod and camera settings. It spews its water 30 meters up in the air, only half of what Geysir does but still very impressive!

When you travel to Iceland, you should definitely also take advantage of walking on one of the many glaciers that you see when you drive around the varied landscape. It may be risky to walk on them alone, so it is recommended to take a glacier guide who can steer clear of known glacier cracks and the like. It is also a good idea to take the right equipment - i.e. crampons and ice ax. But it is an exciting and different feeling to walk on pure ice and see the black lava ash that has coloured the huge ice formations several hundred years ago - and "blue ice" in between the cracks, where the ice melts.

The Golden Falls (what Gullfoss means in Icelandic) is not the biggest waterfall in Iceland (Dettifoss is more powerful and Glymur is taller), but it sure is amazing. From a distance, it looks like it plunges straight into the earth, while a closer inspection will reveal that it "only" falls 32 meters into the crevice that has carved its way trough the landscape. It is a part of the Golden circle (Gullfoss, Geysir and Pingvellir) which are the must see places in Iceland.

When driving around Iceland, you come across many horse stables / riding centers, where it is possible to rent horses for both day trips and multi day trips. Of course, you ride on Icelandic horses while in Iceland, and there are plenty of rides for both beginners and experts. There are many actual horse trails on Iceland, and horseback riding is also a nice alternative way to get around in the vast landscape and across the many rivers, which are difficult to cross on foot and in ordinary passenger cars.

If you are hiking a glacier and you want to challenge yourself, ice climbing is an excellent opportunity. As with glacier hiking, it is important that the equipment is in order, so it requires both a guide, crampons, ice axes, helmets, harnesses and ropes - and fear of heights is probably not the best thing to suffer from .... The guide typically finds a suitable vertical wall of ice, where he fastens the hook and rope on top. Then, you will be strapped to one end of the rope, and the guide keeps a hold of the other end, all while you climb up the wall by hammering 2 ice axes, and your crampons into the ice and rappel back down. It can easily be done, even if you have not tried it before, and it requires more technique than strength, but it is pretty crazy!

Travelling in the South East of Iceland on the ring road, you pass by Jökulsárlón. Where a branch of the Vatnajökull glacier almost reaches the ocean, a lagoon is filled with icebergs floating towards the sea. Less than a century ago, the glacier still reached the ocean but the lagoon has been growing rapidly in the last decennia.
You can hike along or take a boat trip on the lagoon to admire the different shapes and colours of the ice and also to see seals swimming in-between them.
The black-sanded beach contrasts well with the icebergs that made it all the way out to the sea while waves are crashing into them.