10 Reasons Iceland Deserves a Spot on Your Bucket List

The Northern Lights Are Everything You've Imagined, and More

We won't oversell this one, because honestly, it sells itself. The Aurora Borealis dancing across an Icelandic winter sky is one of those rare experiences that genuinely exceeds expectations. Curtains of green, purple, and white light ripple silently overhead while you stand in the cold, breath fogging, completely lost for words. Many visitors tell us it's the single most beautiful thing they've ever seen.

Iceland sits directly beneath the auroral oval, making it one of the most accessible aurora destinations on Earth. With vast stretches of darkness outside the capital and reliable seasonal nights from mid-August through April, your chances of a sighting are genuinely good, especially if you keep an eye on the weather.

🚗 Local Tip: Don't try to chase the aurora from Reykjavík, the city glow really does wash out the display. Drive 45 to 60 minutes east towards Þingvellir or south towards Vík, find somewhere dark, and look up. We always recommend checking the aurora forecast at vedur.is before heading out. A KP index of 3 or above on a clear night is your green light!

The Ring Road, One of the World's Greatest Road Trips

Route 1, known as the Ring Road, circles the entire island over 1,332 kilometres. In around 7 to 10 days you'll pass black sand beaches, active volcanoes, glacier lagoons, thundering waterfalls, remote fishing villages, and highland plateaus, all connected by a single road that most travellers find surprisingly manageable.

The Ring Road is entirely paved, well-maintained, and genuinely achievable for anyone who fancies a week behind the wheel. No specialist driving experience needed, though the right vehicle does make a difference.

🚗 Local Tip: We suggest driving counter-clockwise, starting south and heading east. You'll hit the iconic South Coast when you're freshest and most keen to stop every five minutes, and the quieter North and Westfjords reward you later when the crowds thin out. Do book your accommodation 3 to 6 months ahead for summer travel. Small towns like Höfn and Vík fill up faster than you'd expect!

A Living, Breathing Volcanic Landscape

Iceland sits atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are slowly pulling apart. You can literally walk across this divide at Þingvellir National Park, which is pretty extraordinary when you think about it. The result is a country that is geologically alive: geysers erupt on schedule, hot springs bubble beside glaciers, ancient lava fields stretch for miles, and new eruptions periodically reshape the landscape. The Reykjanes Peninsula has been putting on quite the show lately.

It's one of the few places on Earth where you can stand between two tectonic plates in the morning and soak in a hot spring by evening. Iceland's volcanic geology isn't just a backdrop. It's the whole story.

🚗 Local Tip: The recent eruption sites on the Reykjanes Peninsula near Grindavík have been accessible to visitors during calm periods. Always check the latest conditions and safety advice at safetravel.is before driving out. For geysers, head to Strokkur at the Geysir geothermal area, it erupts every 5 to 8 minutes like clockwork. Get there before 9 AM and you'll have it practically to yourself.

Glaciers, Ice Caves, and the Otherworldly Jökulsárlón

Iceland's glaciers are ancient, vast, and honestly quite humbling. Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe, covers roughly 8% of the country on its own. You can hike across crevassed ice fields with crampons, explore electric-blue ice caves carved by meltwater beneath the surface, or simply stand at the edge and take it all in.

Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, where icebergs calve from Vatnajökull and drift quietly towards the sea, is one of those places that tends to make people go very quiet when they first see it. The adjacent Diamond Beach, where chunks of translucent ice wash onto black volcanic sand, is something we never quite get used to either.

🚗 Local Tip: Ice caves are only safely accessible from November through March, when the cold temperatures keep the ice stable. Always book with a certified guide, going in independently is genuinely dangerous. For Jökulsárlón, try to arrive at sunrise if you can. The light on the lagoon is something special, and you'll have far fewer people around than at midday. The car park is right off the Ring Road and easy to find.

Hot Spring Bathing Is a Way of Life

Iceland is warmed from within, and that never stops feeling like a small miracle to us. Geothermal energy heats nearly every home and public building on the island, and that same volcanic warmth fills hundreds of natural and man-made hot springs across the country. After a long day of driving and exploring, sinking into a steaming hot spring while surrounded by a lava field, a snowy valley, or a sky full of stars is hard to beat.

The Blue Lagoon is iconic and worth a visit, but Iceland's hot spring culture goes much deeper than one famous spa. The real gems tend to be the local pools and wild springs that most tourists walk straight past.

🚗 Local Tip: For a genuinely local experience, visit a municipal swimming pool (sundlaug) rather than a commercial spa. Laugardalslaug in Reykjavík is brilliant, and the pool at Hofsós in the north sits above a fjord with views that honestly put most luxury spas to shame. For something completely free, hike the easy 3 km trail to Reykjadalur hot spring river near Hveragerði, just 45 minutes from Reykjavík. Bring flip-flops and a towel, and you're set.

Wildlife That Will Genuinely Stop You in Your Tracks

Iceland offers some wonderfully accessible wildlife encounters. In summer, millions of Atlantic puffins nest in clifftop colonies, often close enough to observe from just a few feet away. Humpback and minke whales breach regularly off the northern coastline. Arctic foxes roam the highlands, and in the East Fjords, reindeer graze calmly in winter landscapes as though they haven't noticed you at all.

For whale watching, the tours departing from Húsavík in the north are well regarded, with sighting rates that are consistently among the better ones in the world.

🚗 Local Tip: Borgarfjörður Eystri in the East Fjords is our favourite puffin spot in Iceland. There's a small, incredibly accessible colony right by a parking area, and you won't be jostling with crowds the way you might on the Westman Islands. For Arctic foxes, the remote Melrakkaslétta peninsula in the far northeast is your best bet for a wild sighting. The Arctic Fox Centre in Súðavík is also brilliant if you'd like a guaranteed close encounter with rescued animals.

The Midnight Sun, Where Time Becomes Wonderfully Irrelevant

From late May through July, the sun barely sets in Iceland. The sky holds a warm, golden light for hours on end, the kind of low-angle glow that photographers elsewhere get perhaps 20 minutes of each day. You can hike at 11 PM, photograph waterfalls at midnight, and completely lose track of time in the most freeing way.

The midnight sun changes the whole rhythm of a trip. There's no rushing to beat the sunset, no scrambling to reach a viewpoint before the light fades. Iceland in summer is unhurried, luminous, and quietly wonderful.

🚗 Local Tip: Pack a good quality sleep mask because blackout curtains in Icelandic guesthouses can be hit and miss. The midnight sun also means you can drive the Ring Road while most other tourists are asleep. The window between 10 PM and 1 AM is genuinely magical, golden light on the waterfalls and empty car parks everywhere you go. Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss at midnight with no one else around is worth planning your whole itinerary around.

Reykjavík, a Small City with a Huge Personality

With a population of around 130,000, Reykjavík is the world's northernmost capital and it holds its own rather well. A buzzing arts and music scene, restaurants serving seriously good New Nordic cuisine, a lively weekend culture, and the striking Hallgrímskirkja church rising above the rooftops make this a genuinely enjoyable city to spend a few days in.

The Old Harbour neighbourhood is full of seafood restaurants and independent shops. The city runs almost entirely on renewable energy. And within 30 minutes of the city centre, you're in genuinely wild countryside. Not bad for a capital city.

🚗 Local Tip: For the best lamb soup (kjötsúpa) in the city, head to Café Loki directly across from Hallgrímskirkja. You'll be eating where the locals eat. On Friday and Saturday evenings, the Icelandic tradition of rúntur, a relaxed progressive bar crawl along Laugavegur street, is how Reykjavík celebrates the weekend. Don't plan dinner before 8 PM if you want to fit in with the locals. Restaurants are fairly quiet before then!

The Westfjords, Iceland's Best-Kept Secret

If the Ring Road is Iceland's greatest hits, the Westfjords is the rare track that the real fans agree is actually the best material. Dramatic fjords carve deep into mountainsides, remote fishing villages line winding coastal roads, and the Látrabjarg cliffs, Europe's largest seabird colony, jut out over the crashing Atlantic at the continent's westernmost point.

The Westfjords feels like Iceland before Iceland was on everyone's radar. Roads are gravel, distances are deceptive, and the quiet is deep and genuine. It takes more effort and a bit more planning, and it rewards you for both.

🚗 Local Tip: Budget at least three extra days beyond your Ring Road itinerary for the Westfjords, you'll wish you had more. Some roads are classified as F-roads, so a 4WD vehicle is essential, and we're always happy to point you in the right direction when you pick up your car. Ísafjörður is the main hub with good food and accommodation. And please don't miss Dynjandi waterfall. It's arguably more spectacular than Skógafoss and sees a fraction of the visitors.

The Icelanders, Warm, Witty, and Wonderfully Grounded

Icelanders are descended from Norse settlers and Celtic captives, shaped by centuries of geographic isolation, volcanic eruptions, and hard winters. The result is a people who are quietly confident, enormously creative (Iceland produces more writers, musicians, and artists per capita than almost anywhere on Earth), and completely unpretentious about all of it.

Visitors tell us again and again that Icelanders are among the most genuine people they've met on their travels. There's no rehearsed hospitality here, just straightforward warmth, dry humour, and the national outlook of þetta reddast, roughly meaning "it'll all work out," which tends to rub off on people. You'll likely take a piece of it home with you.

🚗 Local Tip: Ask a local about huldufólk, the hidden people of Icelandic folklore. Many Icelanders take their existence quite seriously, and roads have genuinely been rerouted to avoid disturbing supposed elf dwellings. It isn't a tourist gimmick. It's a living part of Icelandic culture that we find rather wonderful. One more thing: tipping is not customary in Iceland. Service is included in prices, and pressing a tip on someone tends to cause more awkwardness than appreciation!

When's the Best Time to Visit?

Iceland rewards visitors in every season, and the experience is wonderfully different depending on when you come.

Winter (December to February) is the season for Northern Lights, ice caves, and snow-covered landscapes. Daylight is short, around four to five hours, but the atmosphere is intimate and the aurora chances are excellent.

Spring (March to May) brings waterfalls at peak flow from snowmelt, returning puffins, and the first tentative hints of midnight sun. Crowds are manageable and prices are friendlier than summer.

Summer (June to August) is peak season for good reason: midnight sun, all roads open including the highland F-roads, puffins nesting on every cliff, and long warm days perfect for hiking and camping. Book everything well in advance.

Autumn (September to November) is arguably the most underrated time to visit. Aurora season begins, visitor numbers drop, prices fall, and the landscape takes on a moody golden quality that is brilliant to photograph.

Once Is Never Enough

One thing we've noticed over the years is that Iceland has a habit of bringing people back. Guests return their car, head to the airport, and a year or two later we're handing them the keys again. It happens more than you'd think.

Sometimes it's because they did the Ring Road in summer and want to see it under snow. Sometimes it's because they heard about the Westfjords but ran out of time. Sometimes they just can't quite explain it, they simply need to come back.

Iceland is one of those rare places that feels different in every season and reveals something new in every region. The person who spent a week on the South Coast in July hasn't yet seen the ice caves of Vatnajökull in January. The couple who explored Reykjavík and the Golden Circle haven't yet driven the remote roads of the East Fjords. There's always another side to this island worth discovering.

So if this is your first trip, welcome. And if you're already planning your second, you're in good company.

Before You Close This Tab

Iceland is one of those destinations that tends to surprise people, even those who've done their research. The landscapes are real. The silence is real. The feeling that you're somewhere genuinely wild and unhurried is real.

The best way to experience it is at your own pace, with the freedom to pull over whenever something catches your eye, which on this island happens rather a lot. That's what we try to make possible at Lava Car Rental. We hand you the keys and Iceland takes care of the rest.

Safe travels, and we'll see you on the road!

Planning your Iceland trip? Browse our fleet at Lava Car Rental, from compact city cars to rugged 4WD vehicles built for F-roads and winter driving.