"Iceland" Iceland by sarahandgareth

Icelandair advertises itself as a cheap way to get from North America to Europe, using Iceland as a kind of giant stepping stone. However, when we found cheap Icelandair flights to Germany, we decided to take a week to explore rather than just passing through the airport. This proved to be an excellent idea: we loved the natural beauty, and the country's fascinating history, although Iceland's high prices definitely restricted our nightlife activities.

Although it's not the prettiest city in Europe, Reykjavik is absolutely the pole around which Icelandic life revolves these days. More and more of the population moves here each year, and there's an exceptional concentration of museums, cultural venues and shopping opportunities here - as well, of course, as the obligatory fishing port, given that Iceland's economy still depends to a great degree on that industry. While you might not find yourself snapping as many pictures as in, say, Stockholm or Paris, this is the place to take the pulse of modern Iceland - and to learn a lot about its past, too.

For more information about Iceland's capital city, please see our Reykjavik page.

Most visitors - and we were no exceptions - explore Iceland by way of the Ring Road, highway 1 (although it's lightly trafficked two-lane blacktop for most of the country's circumference). While you can drive the whole thing if you have either the time or the willingness to spend most of your time in a car, many people choose to either go north or south for a day or two. We picked the northern route, taking us up to Akureyri, and beyond to gorgeous Lake Myvátn and the Krafla volcanic area, as well as to the area around Saeberg, with small fishing communities and traces of fascinating Viking-era (and later Christian influences) around every corner. There was an extraordinary variation in landscapes, from semi-Alpine vistas, to barren heathlands, to wave-slapped coastlines, to the unearthly sights of the geothermal areas; when we needed a break from that, tiny Akureyri had a couple of nice museums and the supermarkets we needed to re-stock for more exploring.

For more information about Akureyri, visit our Akureyri page.

• Pros:Unique geography, friendly people, loads of daylight!
• Cons:REALLY high prices for virtually everything...