I spent part of two days walking along the outlaws’ trails that cross the plains and lavas of Kjölur, under variable weather, swinging moods, and the gloomy vigilance of the Hrútfell Mountain, the sole landmark of the area. I began to feel…

It is early in the afternoon, July 30, when I finally reach Kerlingarfjöll. A wave of relief pervades me as the familiar sight of Ásgarðar, the celebrated resort at the root of the Kerlingarfjöll Mountains, surfaces through the mist– first the gas…

Hopefully, readers will excuse me if I dwell on the sappy expression “the heart of Iceland” in the course of this story. The phrase had already started to haunt me in Reykjavik while I was planning the trip and gathering information. I…

Waking up to a hangover, a stuffed-up nose, and a soundtrack of pattering rain, this was one of those mornings when you open your eyes in a hotel and you have absolutely no idea where you are. After orienting myself and remembering…

. Five nights of Iceland Airwaves will wear you down, mentally and physically. Don’t get me wrong; as an avid music fan and critic who tends to avoid the festival circuit, Airwaves stands out as manageable, engaging, unpredictable, and a whole lot…

The engine huffed and puffed loudly as the modified Toyota Hilux bit its way over yet another stretch of sand, continuing on its run through an ever-shifting cloud of fuzz and dust. One more traveller was challenging the old Gæsavatnaleið trail. Winding…

“Stykkið,” or “the piece” from which Stykkishólmur takes its name, now sits under the largest of three wharves in the small town’s harbour. From where I stand on top of Súgandisey, a tall island bridged with the town’s mainland, I see only…

I had anticipated a baptism of fire sooner or later on my 40-day march across the Highlands. It was inevitable. After ten days of walking in fair weather and without obstacles, the improbable prospect that I might traverse the country unscathed began…

Askja. For a long time, since my first visit in 2001, that little and harsh name evoked the mightiest images of dread and desolation in my head, of unspeakable mysteries and vanished German explorers. For a long time, I associated Ódáðahraun –…

Let’s clear up one thing straightaway: hitchhiking in Iceland no longer is the bonanza it used to be. Or, at least, this is what my current experience seems to suggest. I set out from Reykjavík – this is how the story runs…

In these modern times the therapy market is booming with self-help books, talk shows, relaxing CDs, day spas and the usual pill that’s suggested by four out of five not so known doctors. However, sometimes all you need is a day away…

“Why on earth am I doing this?” The question surfaced a bit earlier in the morning and lingered there for a handful of seconds, as a last desperate warning or unconscious solicitation to withdraw. I was at the Akureyri campsite, while a…

I wake up in this sublime world worrying. I can’t help it. I keep looking to the sky for signs of more rain, estimating the chance that the winds will continue to work against me. Instead of resting in the holy land…

When the opportunity to cycle across Iceland came my way, I only had a day and a half to get ready. I guess I had been preparing for a trip like this for over a year but now I was suddenly confronted…

For all its ambitions, Reykjavík barely qualifies as a city proper. And this is a good thing, as cities are often cold, grey structures that don’t allow for much adventurousness aside from staying out late at some dirty bar or other. While…

The last time I came to Iceland, in 2006, I drove the 1,339 km Ring Road in 27 hours. My best friend and I came flying out of Reykjavík in our Toyota Yaris at twice the speed limit, so used to Los…

“Well, of course it’ll be difficult!” Fabrizio stretches his hand out to the cigarette pack and appears nervous, as the conversation hits the subject of the hardships he will face on the way ahead. Quite curiously, I feel I am getting quite…

Even though summer had come and gone we – the Danish writer of this article and her travelling companions, two exchange students from Canada and Germany – thought it would not be too late to go see the countryside. In late September,…

Geocaching is a hobby where people seek small treasures that other geocachers have hidden. This is done with the help of GPS satellite receiver. One has to go online, check the geocaching Internet page, choose a cache to seek and get the…

When driving along the south coast of the country, admirable sights that will fill your camera’s memory card pretty quickly are only minutes apart, making the region a popular day-trip destination. Numerous impressive waterfalls, steep mountains, glacial rivers, hot springs and historic…

If you continue driving east along the ring road, you will soon notice another one of Iceland’s remarkable waterfalls, Skógarfoss, which falls down some 60 metres into the river Skógá, and is the main appeal for photoenthusiasts arriving at Skógar. Located south…

Dyrhólaey, a long preserved promontory stretching from the coast and out into the ocean, is the southernmost part of Iceland. Surrounded by black sand beaches and green meadows, this 120 metre high precipice was created by an eruption thousands of years ago.…