Iceland

Iceland is one of the youngest and most active islands on the planet: straddling the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates drift apart by a few centimetres each year, it is a full-scale geological laboratory where volcanoes, geysers, glaciers and fissures continue to shape the landscape before travellers' eyes. In 2010, the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull grounded European air traffic for six days; in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Reykjanes peninsula returned to dramatic eruptive activity visible just a few kilometres from the capital.

But Iceland is not only a land of fire: it is also a land of ice. The Vatnajökull glacier covers 8% of the country's surface and is Europe's largest by volume — a thousand-metre-thick dome of ice beneath which several active volcanoes still simmer. The Ring Road (route 1) unfurls 1,332 km of uninterrupted panorama: waterfalls (Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss, Goðafoss, Dettifoss), deeply cut fjords to the east and west, black-sand beaches bristling with basalt columns (Reynisfjara), glacial lagoons studded with blue icebergs (Jökulsárlón), steaming geothermal fields (Geysir, Mývatn) and pale green meadows where Icelandic sheep and horses graze.

The capital Reykjavik is the world's northernmost capital and a city on a human scale (130,000 inhabitants) with a distinctively Nordic charm: brightly painted rooftops beneath the soaring concrete spire of the Hallgrímskirkja, a thriving cultural scene (music, design, new Nordic gastronomy) and street art on every corner. It is also the almost obligatory starting point of any trip to Iceland, 50 minutes by bus from the Blue Lagoon and one hour from the Golden Circle sites.

Iceland is one of the most expensive destinations in Europe — count on around €150/day/person for a modest comfort trip — but it offers in return a raw nature experience that few other countries on Earth can rival. It is also one of the most egalitarian, safest and most modern societies in the world, with 100% renewable electricity (geothermal and hydroelectric), almost no crime and a warm welcome from the Icelanders (340,000 inhabitants spread across 103,000 km²) that more than makes up for the harsh climate.