Why Iceland Should Be On Your Travel Bucket-List

One word for Iceland: Epic! This country takes the cake for being unique. Rocking up in winter or in summer? It doesn’t matter, this place looks like another planet, year around. Iceland is a Nordic island country with a population of around 332,529 and an area of 103,000 km2. This makes Iceland the most sparsely inhabited nation in Europe. It’s both volcanically and geologically active consisting of lava fields, mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, volcanoes and what’s more? You can even dive between two tectonic plates. Now that’s class!

Tempted? Well you should be! Here are some reasons as to why Iceland should be on your travel bucket-list.

1. The Capital

Reykjavik is the world’s northernmost capital of a sovereign state and it is the largest city of Iceland. Here, you’ll see that the whole city is made up of colourful cute houses and it serves as a gateway to all the adventure options available in the country. Reykjavik is an open-minded city with an energetic culture which means the music and art scene as well as the nightlife is top-notch.

2. Northern Lights

Fancy heading to one of the best places in the world to observe the phenomenon that is the northern lights? Uh yes! The northern lights are like magic however; they are also one of the most elusive and unpredictable attractions. Optimal conditions to see the northern lights are when the skies are clear and dark. The hunt for the northern lights is epic, chasing the stripes of colour through the sky is an unreal experience.

3. The Landscape

Iceland’s landscape is unbelievably diverse and downright amazing, a landscape like nothing else you’ve ever seen before. With so many spectacular nature scenes such as enormous exploding geysers, incomparable waterfalls, volcanic creators, remarkable national parks and insane glaciers, Iceland is a stunning display of nature’s incredible beauty.

4. Icebergs

Icebergs; they’re so epic to see, and Iceland has plenty of them! Head to Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon which contains huge amounts of big icebergs that have broken from the nearby glacier. The colour of these icebergs is unreal. They reveal a bright blue colour which is utterly surreal.

5. The Horses

Now, if you never thought horses were cute, you will think they are now. Icelandic Horses are giant teddy bears, but they’re smaller, stockier and furrier than a regular horse. These horses are the original horse of the Vikings, taken to Iceland over a thousand years ago and pure bred ever since.

6. Become An Explorer

Firstly, you must get your mouth around the pronunciation of some of Iceland’s must-see lures secondly, go explore them! You could; grab your ice axe and set out to discover one of Iceland’s implausible glaciers; sightsee Iceland’s most popular waterfall, Gullfoss; dive between two tectonic plates; ride one of the majestic Icelandic horses or explore everything that the Golden Circle has to offer.

7. Viking Language

The Icelandic language has virtually not been altered from ancient Norse. So, if you learn a few sayings, you fundamentally become a Viking.

8. The Food

Fermented shark, puffin or mink whale tickle your taste buds? Icelandic cuisine isn’t exactly raved about. But, if you’ve got a strong stomach and want to try something a little different go for a piece of fermented shark washed down with a shot of Brennivin or, black death as it’s called. On the contrary, Iceland have more international influences meaning that the cuisine over the years has improved a lot.

Keen on exploring Iceland? Travel Talk will be commencing tours there from 2017 so watch this space!