As Europe’s most western point, Iceland is by far the continent’s most unique place. Situated off the coast of Scotland and somewhat stuck in the North Atlantic, Iceland offers Europe’s largest waterfalls, glaciers and deserts. Away from the natural beauty and further attractions of volcanoes, Iceland is also proud of the fact that it is one of the richest countries in the world, with the official second highest standard of living. As the island is in some places less than ideal for people to live in, just 300 000 Icelanders enjoy such a high standard of living.
Reykjavik, the island’s capital has been hailed as a city of extremes. Whereas one can indulge in some of the trendiest night clubs on the planet, lava is likely to be dribbling down the side of some volcano just a few meters away. Reykjavik similarly boasts open-air hot baths which are famous for the fact that it usually takes foreigners a little bit of time to get used to them.
It is a general trend at the moment in the travel industry for tourists to be spreading their wings further afield and going to odder places. Few can argue that Iceland belongs to the group of extremely exotic places. The cuisine is even worthy of stretching the imagination. Some of the famous dishes even include stuffed puffin with blueberry sauce and pickled shark, a must for the extremist gastronomic tourist. Outside of Reykjavik, the nature is even more breath-taking with at least one volcano eruption per year, earthquakes being frequently on the weather forecast and amazingly crystal clear surrounding ocean. The biggest danger of wandering around the British countryside is that you may step in a pile of cow excrement. The situation in Iceland is rather different, as amateur tourists tend to get lost in glacial crevices.
