A land of ice, fire and stunning natural wonders
Outside, the light dancing in the sky and the hills glistening white against the darkness are saying Iceland. Inside, the sound is very definitely from somewhere else.
“It’s Pacific-north-western,” said singer Jenny Don’t, the energetic frontwoman of the US country band Jenny Don’t & The Spurs who were playing in one of the coolest venues in Iceland, Kex – an old biscuit factory that’s now a hipster hangout.
The country is small – its population is smaller than Glasgow’s – but it does lay claim to a staggering array of natural wonders.
Volcanoes, geysers, geothermal spas, ice lagoons, waterfalls and the visible meeting point of two tectonic plates – the Eurasian and the
North American – and that’s before spending time in Reykjavik itself.
After the band’s set, we joined an ad-hoc group of locals and tourists to head out in search of the aurora borealis, one of the island’s main attractions. Our spontaneous trip to the Grotta Island lighthouse yielded the faintest glimmer of what was to come the next night.
We’d booked a place on Reykjavik Excursions’ northern lights tour, heading out by coach from the Reykjavik bus depot deep into the January darkness. Our guide assured us that aurora activity was high – the previous three nights had seen displays so strong he’d classify the experience as a solar storm.
We joked about his level of detail on advising passengers how to photograph the lights, but would soon be glad of his tip to download an app designed to help smartphone users capture the light travelling through space to meet us as we stood, heads tilted upwards, rapt by one of nature’s most awesome spectacles. When they finally appeared, two bus loads whooped and cheered and inexplicably ran “towards” the lights over the frozen field, such was the power of their interstellar allure. We took pictures, but we stood and pondered more, in this rarest of experiences.
And for all that this landscape, hewn from ice and fire, is
stunning all-year round, it’s when experiencing the universal whiteness against the clearest of blue skies that Iceland’s natural beauty is at its most transformative. On our second day we joined the Golden Circle Tour and were spirited around the island’s natural geysers, tectonic clefts and waterfalls in a day-long bus tour perfect for those spending a couple of days here before moving elsewhere.the Gullfoss waterfall, in particular, has to be seen to be believed.
I last visited Iceland 10 years ago, just before the obsession with social media channels became a challenge to just enjoying the moment. Nowhere else was this disengagement with the here and now more obvious than at the Great Geysir, where a depressing majority put a phone or tablet between themselves and the visceral thrill of nature’s ferocious force. Returning to Reykjavik on our final day, we explored the capital’s cultural offerings with the City Card – around £24 for a 24-hour pass – which offers transport options, entry to museums and some geothermal pools.
It also includes a ferry ride to the historic island of Viðey. We opted for a visit to the mind-blowing immersive art experience by Icelandic artist Shoplifter. Entitled Chromo Sapiens, it’s become known locally as the neon hair cave, which visitors walk through to a drone soundtrack by Icelandic band Ham.
Before dinner at Michelinlisted Sumac, we had enough time for a night visit to the islands’ most popular tourist experience – the Blue Lagoon. The man-made pools, surrounded by volcanic rock, contain naturally warm mineralrich water, used to power a geothermal power station. The Blue Lagoon is a must for stop-over visitors. Bathing under starlight in the clouds of steam makes for a totally unique otherworldly experience.