Photos to Inspire You to Travel to Iceland

Photos to Inspire You to Travel to Iceland

Aptly nicknamed "The Land of Fire and Ice," Iceland features natural wonders galore. From glaciers to thermal areas and waterfalls to volcanoes, the beauty of the country can take one's breath away.

Fuel your wanderlust with photos
​from the land of fire and ice.

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Reykjavik, Iceland

1. Reykjavik

Mountains, water, and colorful homes offer beautiful views of the city of Reykjavik. 

Colorful Houses in Downtown Reykjavik

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Gullfoss Waterfall

2. Waterfalls

Iceland features a number of waterfalls. We visited the Gullfoss Waterfall on the Golden Circle, easily accessible by car or through a number of tour companies.

Tip: If we had it to do over again, we would have rented a car in Iceland and traveled the Golden Circle and other places ourselves. Though tours can be helpful, in this case we had several couples who couldn't adhere to timelines, so we lost valuable time at each location just sitting on the bus waiting for late-comers. We would have spent more time at the waterfall, as well as several other stops had we driven ourselves.

Gullfoss Waterfall

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Minke Whale

3. Whales

During our whale-watching tour, we were super fortunate to see a couple harbor porpoises, several minke whales, AND a couple humpbacks. The minke shown above swam quite close to the boat and circled around a couple times, allowing me to take several pictures of it as it came up for air. The humpback below also put on a show, surfacing and diving, surfacing and diving. What an experience!

Humpback Whale

Whale Tail

Humpback Whale Tail

Goodbye!

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Geothermal Area at Geysir

4. Geothermal areas

Geothermal areas and hot springs abound in Iceland. We visited Geysir, watched a geyser erupt, and saw others bubbling and smoking. It reminded us a great deal of Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. The mountains in the background added to the charm, and we very much enjoyed the views.

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Atlantic Puffin

5. Puffins

These little guys and gals are just the most adorable little creatures ever! I was expecting them to be much larger, roughly the size of penguins, but they really only reach ten inches long and just over a pound. Like many penguins, however, puffins typically mate for life!

Puffin with Capelin in Its Mouth

Running Across the Water to Take Off

Airborne!

​Nicknamed "sea parrots" and "clowns of the sea," puffins' beaks change from dull gray in the winter to vivid orange in the spring during their mating season. Puffins' bones are dense, so, although they can fly, it takes some work for them to get started. They run along the water quite a ways before getting airborne. They also do not have great eyesight, sometimes flying dangerously close to boats before realizing their folly. Puffins are, however, great swimmers, diving down to nearly 200 feet to catch small fish. The photos above show a little puffin who has found himself a tasty capelin and is taking it back to his nest on the island.

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Kittywake

6. Other Birds

Home to many other seabirds, Iceland is the perfect place for bird-watching, some more common than others. From common seagulls and guillemots to gannets, kittywakes, and razorbills, feathered creatures flourish in Iceland.

Common Murre (Guillemot)

Gannet

Razorbill (with a capelin in his mouth)

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Kerið Crater, on the Golden Circle

7. Craters

Iceland's landscape also features a number of craters, many of them filled with turquoise blue lakes. One of the most popular is Kerið, which lies along the Golden Circle and is accessible by foot. With enough time, visitors can walk all the way around the top, as well as below near the water. 

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Alaskan Lupine

8. Flowers

The first thing we noticed upon landing at Keflavik were these brilliant purple flowers. The Alaskan Lupine is native to North America, but was brought to Iceland to fight erosion and otherwise help the land. Though not the only flowers in Iceland, the Lupine certainly seems to be the most prolific, adding gorgeous pops of color to a mostly pale green and ruddy brown landscape.

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We hope these photos have inspired you to add Iceland to your bucket list. We missed the Northern Lights, since we visited the island country during the summer, when the sun is up 24 hours a day. But we do plan to return to see both the lights and more of the stunning landscape.

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