Table of Contents
Visit Iceland – Why Iceland Should Be On Your Bucket List
“Aurora Borealis”, I repeated the words softly to myself again and again. I went over the words slowly as if they were some magical mantras. They sounded so romantic and exotic that they have stuck in my mind ever since I heard them in an elementary school Geography class. Later my love for those two magical words only increased after I saw the images of the dazzling and glittering phenomenon that is normally known as the Northern Lights. My mind flew with the wings of imagination as I paired the words “Aurora Borealis” with another word that literally seemed to be the stuff of dreams, “Iceland”.
As I read more about the landscape of Iceland, I realized that this land was handcrafted with exclusive and phenomenal special effects by Nature. A land that must figure in the bucket list of any traveler worth their salt. Iceland has figured in my travel bucket list ever since the Geography class of many years ago and my urge to visit Iceland has only strengthened with time.
Travel transformed from a hobby to an all-consuming passion and the urge to visit Iceland has only grown with time. We now realize that there is much more to Iceland than the Aurora Borealis.
Iceland, of course, is a ringside seat to the spectacular shows that Nature puts up, be it the long periods of day and night or the geothermal pools, but there is so much more to Iceland that we waded through various content about vacation packages in Iceland and decided to put together an Iceland bucket list of sights and experiences that we would treat our senses to when we finally realize our dream of waking up in the place of our dreams.
Þingvellir National Park
This National Park of Iceland, known as Thingvellir is indeed a mesmerizing mosaic of experiences that span the frontiers of nature, culture, history, and geology. The fact that this is the place where you can also have the best sightings of the Northern Lights is an added bonus. It is within this National Park that Alping, the intriguing site which was the place where the world’s first parliament started in 930 AD and continued to convene there till the year 1798.
The Þingvellir National Park nestles on a rift valley which has been caused by the separation of two tectonic plates. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where one can actually watch the intriguing geological processes of the earth taking place right before your eyes. The Þingvellir National Park is definitely one of the first places that we will head to when we visit Iceland.
Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon may be one of the most visited sites in Iceland. We have read reports that it does get crowded, but still, this is one place we absolutely must visit in Iceland. The inviting and warm waters of this large and iconic geothermal pool must indeed be irresistible.
Gullfoss
Iceland is the land of waterfalls. We absolutely love waterfalls and Iceland seems to be a paradise for waterfall lovers with more than 10,000 of them dotting the country. The Gullfoss is one of the most spectacular waterfalls with about 4,900 Cu Ft. of water flowing per second in the summer months. The Gullfoss is part of the famed Golden Circle, a famed 300-kilometer route that also includes the Þingvellir National Park and the Geysers of Haukadalur.
Haukadalur
Geysers are one of the most fascinating of natural phenomena. A visit to a place is where the term Geyser itself originated must indeed be a high. Hauadalur is the home of more than 40 geysers that include Geysir and Strokkur. Geysir is one of the biggest geysers in the region spewing boiling water to up to 70 meters in the air.
The English word Geyser is derived from the name of this spectacular hot spring, Geysir. The other famous geyser that attracts visitors is Strokkur which erupts every 6-10 minutes to heights of 15-20 meters. Indeed after having watched the geysers like the Old Faithful and others in the Yellow Stone National Park in the USA, we would love to witness the legendary geysers of Iceland.
National Museum of Iceland
We love museums as they are windows to the culture and history of a place. The National Museum of Iceland promises a journey back in time to the years of the early settlement. The fact that the Museum itself was set up as far back as the year 1863 makes it really interesting. We would love to see the over 2,000 artifacts and particularly Valthjófsstadur door. A medieval carved door that depicts the story of a knight slaying a dragon to free a lion which becomes his companion afterward. A visit to the Iceland National Museum is definitely one of the most interesting things to do for us when in Iceland.
Sólheimsandur
PC: Porter Glendinning
Images of the wreck of an airplane in the midst of a vast stretch of black beach hauntingly tantalize us. These images from movies and other sources have evoked a morbid fascination to visit this forlorn site situated on the black beach of Sólheimsandur very near the sea. We look forward to some stunning pictures at this locale when we visit Iceland.
Whale Watching In Iceland
The story of Moby Dick has always been a source of great intrigue and fascination for us. Iceland with its folklore full of the legends of whales makes it a perfect destination for watching these magnificent creatures of the water who have evolved from mammals living on land. A Whale watching tour in Iceland would indeed be an unforgettable experience when we visit Iceland.
Iceland, the land of fire and ice beckons hauntingly, the call of this wonderland of nature, culture, and adventure is irresistible. We look forward to the day when we will wake up not from a dream, but to a dream. A dream called Iceland!
Have you been to Iceland?
PC: Few images are from iceland.is
Thanks for visiting our site Voyager – imvoyager.com and taking the time to read our post!
We’d love if you’d comment and share this post.
[shareaholic app=”share_buttons” id=”27413782″]
A friend traveled to Iceland over the holiday season. The photos I saw made it look quite beautiful. I’d like to get there one day.
My cousin is there on her honeymoon right now. She has been posting lots of pics to insta and FB and I love following along with her trip.
A truly magical place. Auroa Borolis is the biggest motivation for me to visit Iceland once in my lifetime.
What stunning photos. I have always wanted to visit Iceland. I know it’s so pretty there. One day, I hope!
We would encourage everyone to visit Iceland. We loved our time there. Beautiful country. Be prepared to drop some cash if you eat out.
I agree, Iceland looks to be one of those places to see the awe-inspiring wonders of nature, that take your breath away. I didn’t realize whales made an appearance too, or that eating out was rough on your wallet. Even so, I need to go!
These photos are some of the best I’ve seen of Iceland! I would love to go and explore the natural wonders of this country. And I know they have great chocolate, too. 🙂
Wow, Iceland is such a great place to visit. It is my dream place actually and hopefully I can traipse my feet here If I get the chance. I love all that nature’s bounty and all that landscape view’s are truly amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Oh by the way, your photos are really beautiful.
Iceland is beautiful! I’ve always dreamed of going there one day. You’ve just given me more reason to want to go sooner.
Iceland is on my bucket list. It’s a place I’d love to see in real life one day, the landscape looks magical and to see the northern lights would be amazing!
I have always wanted to visit Iceland. I’m not sure why I haven’t planned a trip yet! I definitely should especially after seeing these places that you can explore and go to!
I would love to plan a trip there. I have always loved the awesome geology they have.
I’ve always enjoyed whale watching and I imagine it’s absolutely amazing in Iceland. I worry about the cold though. What are typical temps?
Ah, this is so on my wish list! I love the exotic, yet chilled, look of this place. Thanks for the inspiring images!
If you love nature, you simply cannot miss going to Iceland. It’s such a beautiful place with so many untouched areas that you can explore! Love each one that you featured.
It looks so beautiful. I would particularly like the whale watching. Not sure if life will ever take me to Iceland, but I would love to see the Aurora Borealis I don’t think you can truly grasp its beauty in pictures, its something you have to see with your own eyes.
Wow! What a fascinating place! I have read about Iceland only in geography books, till date. Would love to experience the place in real life some time!
Iceland is on my bucket list. I’ve seen so many amazing and breathtaking photos of Iceland and what you list here just make me wish I could visit soon.
Iceland is pretty high on my travel bucket list! My dream is to see the Northern Lights in person some day. The closet place to view the Northern Lights from where I live is Canada but I really want to visit Iceland someday.
It all looks so amazing! We are dying to go to Iceland. The whale watching in Iceland, and of course the northern lights would be to die for!
Iceland is absolutely breathtaking. I would love to go there one day to experience all that it has to offer.
Yes, Iceland is known for its natural phenomenon due to its very clean environment. I read that the hotels will notify its guests by ringing a siren once the Aurora Borealis appears!
Iceland is on my International bucket list!! I love your photos and can’t wait to go one day!!
The northern lights are so majestic. I’ve unfortunately never gotten the chance to see them since I’m just a bit too south to see them! But you’re right, Iceland has so many more amazing features too besides the aurora. I would love to see those geysers…and the whales!!
I love that you featured Iceland and all the beautiful things that you can visit there! There’s so much to love about the place and it’s really worth the journey.
My friend went to Iceland a few years ago. The pictures were absolutely stunning! She did the Blue Lagoon and everything. I’m a sucker for whales so whale watching would be a must for me.
Seen so many beautiful photos of Iceland, especially Sólheimsandur and Gullfoss. I can’t believe I havent been yet even though I am from Norway, it is basically our neighbours lol. I hope I can go soon, the flights are cheap too 😀 I want to go in summer and winter. 😀
I have been to Iceland this summer and I loved it! It truly is a surreal place. I went to some of the places on your list like Gullvoss, Thingvellir, and the National Museum. Your photos of the Blue Lagoon are definitely making regret skipping that. It sounds wonderful!
I have been to Iceland and it was an amazing trip! The landscape was gorgeous and the northern lights were magnificent! Hope you have a great trip there! 🙂
Iceland is definitely on my bucket list too, it is just so beautiful!! All the waterfalls and the blue lagoon is out of this world. And I had no idea that the word geyser came from here, geysir really is the mother of all geysers!
Iceland is so so amazing and can’t stop admiring every picture on this post. Waiting to visit soon. Thanks for sharing.
Everyone and their dog seems to be going to Iceland these days and posting about it, but I still learnt something new from your post! I can’t wait to go and explore this magical place for myself 🙂
Lovely, I’ve had a great trip exploring Iceland too. Didn’t get to see the Northern Lights like that though!
Iceland’s high up on my bucket list, just like most other travel enthusiasts. I’d love to explore Thingvellir National Park to catch the Northern Lights, admire the picturesque natural landscapes and also visualise how the world’s first parliament must have convened back in the olden times! 🙂
I’ve never been to Iceland, but would love to go sometime. Northern lights has been on my wish list for a very long time now. The waterfalls look great as well.
be it Thingvellir or Blue lagoon the landscape of Iceland is indeed unique, beautiful and like nothing else. It’s our dream destination. And we definitely want to visit here in winter so that we can capture the Northern Lights as well in it’s full glory
Great post with beautiful pictures! I’ve always wanted to see Sólheimsandur! Iceland is on the top of my bucket list!
So many people have been visiting Iceland. Hard not to put it on a travel wish list. Your photography is stunning and just urges me on further. I noted down your suggest that the National Park is place for the best sightings of the Northern Lights. I would definitely be drawn to the waterfalls. I had not really read much about geysers, so I would definitely want to add Hauadalur to my to-do list. Then Northern Lights and whale watching. A full itinerary for sure.
I loved my adventure in Iceland. Love that you found the down Navy Plane on the black beach of Sólheimsandu. It is so cool to see it laying there on the coast line.
You are right that visiting Iceland is surreal. Every time I saw one of the “flosses” (aka: waterfalls) my brain struggled to comprehend them because they were so magnificent.
I too loved exploring the Geysirs. Strokkur was truly a magnificent site!
I’ve been wanting to visit Iceland for the last few years, but every time I write down the expenses, we end up traveling to a more affordable place. Still, it is one of my greatest travel wishes to see the Aurora Borealis and the whales in the nature- and like you said, Iceland is so much more than that. All those sights you mentioned- I know them by heart, even though I have never been. 🙂 I wish that your dream (and mine) of visiting Iceland does come true!
I’d definitely love to do a road trip through Iceland and scope out the waterfalls, but of course I wouldn’t skip a trip to the Blue Lagoon even if it is super touristy.
I couldn’t agree with you more, there is something that also draws me to the Aurora Borealis. I used to wish I could see them in Alaska, but now Iceland is the place I want to see them. The National Museum of Iceland sounds cool, especially since it was set up so long ago.
That plain is haunting as you say but what caught my eye is that lovely waterfall Gulfoss – what a surreal sight it creates. The landscape of course looks inviting – its time to plan a trip to Iceland I guess.
Iceland is so high on my bucket list. How amazing does this country look. I would definitely the Thingvellir national park. I love the mosaic of the lakes and little islands and what a plus that this is the best place to see the Northern Lights. Also I’d love to visit the Geysers. The fact that the Strokkur geyser erupts every 6-10 min is incredible. Nice highlights to visit!
This post looks fantastic. Look forward to visiting it soon!
I went to Iceland for 8 days last summer and it wasn’t nearly enough, I also fell in love with Iceland! there is so much to see, so many places to hike… the nature is just incredible! This post reminds me of how much I’d like to return and see the rest!
Iceland is absolutely stunning and like no other European country we’ve ever visited. Our family’s trip there last summer was the inspiration for our family travel blog!
Honestly, Iceland has been on our bucketlist for ages and somehow we keep delaying the plan for the right time. We would love to spend a quite good amount of time here to justify it’s sheer beauty. A place that looks so magnificent in just pictures – can only imagine how stunning it must be in person. Hope the trip happens soon.
All of these reasons are why Iceland is on my list too! We’ll definitely need to make a visit to such an amazing place essential for 2018 🙂
OMG, your photos are given me travel lust. Iceland is totally on my bucket list. Seeing the Aurora Borealis there would be amazing! Hoping to make it there this year.
Iceland is an incredible country indeed! One of the rare countrys we would travel straight back to in a heartbeat! One of the big things we had to considetr though was weather to travel in summer or in winter – the Aurora Borealis is a big dream of mine too, though obviously only appears in winter months. Where-as in summer you have 24 hours of daylight, so can get a lot more into each day, enjoy beautiful nature, go wild camping, and the roads are all open for road trips (many close in the winter). So that’s something to keep in mind when you do plan your first trip, whether you want the midnight sun or the northern lights 🙂
You are going to absolutely love Iceland! I agree with everything on your list, but would add a Game of Thrones Tour, a couple dozen more waterfalls, the Great Geiser, Glacier climbing, Diamond Beach, the crashed airplane… Take the boat tour to see the northern lights, and go swimming in the heated beaches of Reykjavik. Also, there are over 120 geothermal pools to choose from, some of which you just drive up to, take off your clothes and jump in to join the locals. If you want, you can read some of my own stories there at SkyeTravels.com/category/Iceland.
I absolutely dream of visiting this place so much! I used to only see it as the place you see the Northern Lights, but like you said it has much more. I love nature, so I’m going to love the Blue Lagoon, the mountains, the waterfalls, and the Icelandic Horses. Actually right now, I was checking flights back to the U.S and one has a long 8 hour layover in Iceland and I got excited, even if I just saw the city and get a small taste of it. Not sure I’ll book it, but I was seeing flights from the US to there are super cheap! So I know I’ll be booking a flight to Iceland soon enough to finally see this beautiful country.
Iceland is crazy high on my bucket list. We had a great flight deal come up this year, but I sadly had to pass because I’m waiting for a job and have to stay in Canada this summer. I know I will get there though and see all of its magic:)
Your bucket list for Iceland is a dream come true. Seeing all these stunning landscapes in one trip would give me several sleepless nights even after I return. I haven’t seriously started researching on Iceland yet, but it won’t be long before I actually do.
Iceland has been on my bucket list for far too long. Gullfoss Waterfall is one of my all time things I want to see, as well as trying to catch the Northern Lights and relax in the Blue Lagoon. One day I’ll make it there once I’ve saved up enough money!
Ahh, Iceland is such a must-visit place! The landscape is something completely else than in other parts of Europe. I would like to see the lights – your pics are stunning!
Seeing these places again brings back wonderful memories I have from Iceland. It truly is a magical place. I went in the summer though, so no northern lights for me. It’s time to go back in the winter so I can see them there! Love all the waterfalls, most of all.
So true, the more you read about Iceland the more you want to be there. This is absolutely one place, which I have to travel soon for it offers best in the world vistas and unique things to do. Blue lagoon and Gull foss look awesome. Every image from Iceland is a big reason to be there. Thanks for this article which helped me realign my travel goals.
I have not visited Iceland before but I reeally would like to go someday! I do hear it’s quite expensive – especially food – but seeing the Aurora Borealis is worth it!!
Iceland is definitely on our bucket list and more so after reading your post. Very informative and lovely pictures.
Iceland is such a beautiful place! One of us visited last year and saw several of those sites, including the plane! Really nice captures for this post!
The natural landscape is just unreal and your photos capture it beautifully! So other worldly. Iceland is totally on my bucket list and I dream about it every day!
Iceland certainly is beautiful but the expensive price tag for a luxury traveler is extreme. Hopefully, I will be able to visit at some point because the pictures of the Northern lights and waterfalls of Iceland are so incredible! It looks like you had a fantastic trip!
Beautiful and Attractive Images…I really like your post…It is so beautiful and informative post. Thanks for sharing it.