Monday, June 3, 2013

Enjoy Travel To Iceland And Be Rewarded With Magical Beauties

By Michelle Howe


Iceland is a country of strange beauties and otherworldly landscapes; of seemingly endless summer nights and active volcanoes. Travel to Iceland can mean taking your swimming costume during winter time, and hiking along mountain ridges which are literally only a few decades old. It is a land of adventure and mystery, the setting for some of the famous Viking sagas.

There are cultural highlights to be found as well, and many people will be familiar with Icelandic musicians such as Sigur Ros and Bjork. Reykavjik, the capital city, has a very hip club scene, and there has been a rich seam of alternative music from the country for the last couple of decades at least. But it is in the rural areas, with their wild and strange beauty, that the heart of Iceland can be found.

The country basically consists of a large island, located in the North Atlantic Ocean, which was formed largely as a result of volcanic activity. Volcanoes here still erupt from time to time, and there is plenty of geothermal activity too, there being many natural features which can be explored in the countryside as a result, such as geysers, hot springs and pools of boiling mud. Taking a bathing costume is always a good idea, as many of the hot springs are very warm and pleasant to bathe in.

Much of the landscape of the island is covered by glaciers, which continue to play an important role in shaping the landscape. Here, visitors can find Europe's largest glacier, with over a tenth of the country's landmass actually being covered by glaciers too. The south west is where visitors will find most of the country's population, with the majority of people living along the coast, or in Reykavjik and its surrounding area.

The presence of so many glaciers also means that there really are some amazing vistas and views to be seen, especially from the higher parts of the country. The lack of people mean that much of the island is genuinely wild, and very sparsely populated indeed, which means that there is very little pollution and no meaningful development. This creates a haven for wildlife, and visitors can find some genuine peace.

There is also the weather to enjoy, though that might seem unlikely when looking at the location of this beautiful country in the North Atlantic. The summers here are actually surprisingly warm, and the landscape takes on a lush, green beauty which only grows as the days stretch out from spring onwards. Anyone who enjoys photography or painting will find plenty to inspire them here, with the mountains, ridges and petrified streams of lava offering some alien looking landscapes which could not exist anywhere else on earth.

Even winter has its amazing sights and sounds to enjoy here, in this isolated part of northern Europe. The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis undulates in the night sky at this time of year, its blue, yellow, green and pink lights spreading an otherworldly pattern overhead. The island's reserves of geothermal and hydroelectric power mean that you can stay warm in a very environmentally friendly way too.

Travel to Iceland is something anyone who is keen on experiencing new things should contemplate. Whether you enjoy being outdoors, spotting wildlife, learning about different cultures or taking photographs, you can find something to enjoy here. It is also much warmer and greener than you might think, and you can even wear your swimsuit in the middle of winter, if you know the right places to go.




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