Grand views and fascinating history make this outdoor lover’s hotspot worth a stop.
Iceland’s remote location and harsh climate aren’t exactly welcoming. But its striking scenery, draped with glaciers and punctuated by craggy peaks and steamy geysers, makes this destination increasingly attractive to nature-loving travellers.
The valley landscape has plenty of moss and green scrub covering black volcanic lava flows. Even when the first settlers came to this island — some 800 kilometres from Scotland, its nearest neighbour — Iceland was nearly without trees. Those early immigrants were Vikings, thousands of whom came in the ninth and tenth centuries.
Living on an island of live volcanoes in the middle of the ocean is not easy. One of the biggest lava flows in recorded history came from the Laki volcano in 1783, and the famine and illness that followed left 20 per cent of Iceland’s population dead. The volcanic ash also impacted weather and crops in Europe for several summers, causing widespread hunger. Some historians say those conditions contributed to the economic unrest that led to the French Revolution at the end of that decade.
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