If you are the sort of person who believes that a proper vacation should be a soothing balm for the soul, a place of temperate climes and predictable landscapes, then Iceland is a place you should avoid with the sort of haste reserved for a particularly unpleasant and misunderstood skunk. It is a land, you see, that seems to have forgotten its purpose, a place of bewildering contradiction where the earth itself is in a constant state of unsettling negotiation.

This is not a traditional travel guide. It pairs personal observations with practical advice for travelers who would rather see Iceland as it is, with rough edges, loose ends, and all. Despite the tone, this guide contains practical planning advice, safety context, and logistical realities intended to help travelers decide whether Iceland is right for them.

It was, however, the very nature of Iceland’s alarming instability that led a few friends and me to make a detour through this peculiar island nation a few years ago, having secured a flight to Europe that included this stopover – a discovery owed, I might add, to the merciless efficiency of a certain travel deal website. We took the opportunity, naturally, to inspect some of the island’s more unsettling natural spectacles.

First, there is the name. Iceland, a name so deliberately and obviously misleading that it is a clear warning to those who are accustomed to things being as they appear. One might expect a solid, unyielding sheet of ice, but instead, you will find fire – angry, boiling mud pits, spewing geysers, and volcanoes that grumble with a sort of menacing impatience. The ground itself, rather than being firm and reliable, is a treacherous carpet of moss and brittle lava rock, a landscape that looks as if a giant, ill-tempered creature has just finished an argument with the planet.

The water, too, is not to be trusted. While there are vast, shimmering glaciers that creep along with a patient, yet foreboding, solemnity, there are also hot springs so warm that they invite you to soak in them, a feeling which is so dangerously comfortable that you might forget that the ground beneath you is a thin crust over a molten, angry center. The Blue Lagoon, a well-known example, is a place where a person can find themselves submerged in a milky blue liquid, and while it may feel pleasant on the surface, one cannot help but wonder if it is a sort of peculiar, geological stew.

The weather is in a perpetual state of whimsical dread. A day can begin with a sort of pale, watery sunlight, only to be succeeded in moments by a torrential downpour, a howling wind, and a dusting of snow, all before the unwitting traveler has had time to decide whether to wear a coat. The locals, a people so accustomed to this meteorological capriciousness that they treat it with a sort of tired resignation, have a saying which, translated from the Icelandic, means something along the lines of “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” This is not, as some would believe, a charming piece of folk wisdom, but rather a frank acknowledgment of a fundamental and deeply unsettling instability.

Iceland at a Glance

Best Time to Visit 

July and August, a period when the sun refuses to set, causing a delirious condition known as Midnight Sun, which is excellent for sightseeing and terrible for sleeping. 

If you prefer to avoid the swarming masses of tourists, September is slightly less crowded, though it brings the added risk of being pelted by freezing rain while hunting for the Aurora Borealis.

Currency 

The Icelandic Króna (ISK). A word of warning: you will rarely see this currency. In Iceland, people use credit or debit cards (Visa and Mastercard are universal; Amex is less common) for even the most peculiar things, from a public restroom to a remote campsite. Physical cash is as rare as a sunny day in Reykjavík.

Language 

The official language is Icelandic, a tongue so ancient and complex it sounds like the mountains themselves are trying to clear their throats.

To your great convenience, nearly every inhabitant speaks impeccable English. You will have no excuse for misunderstanding the signs that warn you not to step into a boiling mud pit.

Cost Level 

Exorbitant. Iceland is famously expensive. A simple sandwich may cost more than a modest inheritance, and a glass of wine is priced as if it were squeezed from the tears of a unicorn.

More Dire Travel Warnings About Iceland

If you are contemplating a journey to the peculiar and often perilous country of Iceland, you would be wise to heed the warnings issued by various official bodies. They are, of course, a series of dreary and disheartening admonitions – the sort of information one would rather not know, but which it would be a very bad idea indeed to ignore.

The U.S. State Department, the Government of Canada, and the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office have each produced their own dismal pamphlets on the matter, and all of them sound a similar, grim refrain. While the rest of the world frets over petty thieves and boorish behavior, the primary concern in Iceland, according to these documents, is not a bad guy with an evil plan but rather the land itself, which seems to have a few sinister schemes of its own.

• Natural Hazards and Environmental Risks: The ground itself is unstable, prone to fits of volcanic fury that can suddenly erupt in a cloud of ash and molten rock. It is, you see, a place where the earth is not so much a solid foundation as it is a ticking time bomb. One might also encounter a sudden landslide, a particularly rude and inconsiderate event that can, without warning, ruin your entire day, not to mention the road you were hoping to travel on.
• Extreme and Unpredictable Weather: The weather is, apparently, unpredictable and malevolent, a tempestuous force that can turn a sunny afternoon into a blizzard of ill repute in a moment’s notice. The official advice is to “monitor local conditions,” which, in this case, seems to mean “expect the worst.”
• Petty and Violent Crime: While one might not expect to be accosted by an evil secret society, you might find yourself a victim of a more mundane sort of bad guy: the petty thief. It seems that even in this remote land, someone may attempt to part you from your wallet, especially in the more crowded dens of iniquity in Reykjavík. The reports also mention rare acts of violence, suggesting that even the quietest corners of the world have their share of bad eggs.
• Driving and Transportation: The roads are often a treacherous undertaking, subject to the whims of the weather and the earth. One must not, under any circumstances, venture off the designated paths, as this is strictly forbidden and results in a most unfortunate fine. It seems even the act of driving requires a level of caution and prudence that most people would rather not bother with.

These are just some of the misfortunes that await you in Iceland. And although current as I write this, these travel advisories are ever-shifting documents, meaning that you, as a traveler, are in a constant state of uncertainty. You must check these advisories again and again, like an astronaut inspecting their suit before a spacewalk. But even then, you will not have peace of mind, for a disaster can strike at any time, in any place, and in any form. To travel is to accept that you are living in a state of suspended dread. 

Here are links to the most current travel advisories from these governments. 

• Government of Canada Travel Advice and Advisories for Iceland
• U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory for Iceland
• United Kingdom Foreign Travel Advice about Iceland

So, as you can see, even the most sober and formal of sources agree that Iceland is not a place for the faint of heart. It is a country of layered sorrows, each one more complex and bewildering than the last. Do not say you were not warned, for the warnings are, I am afraid, everywhere.

Practical Realities

Public Transport

In Reykjavik, buses operate with a punctuality that is almost suspicious. The Strætó (national bus system) connects larger towns, but the schedules are sparse, leaving you almost entirely on your own. There are no trains in this country, leaving you to steer a car through the mist or join a tour group of shivering strangers.

Rental Car Reality

Renting a car is a high-stakes gamble involving exorbitant fees and mandatory insurance for things like flying gravel and volcanic ash.

You must grip your car door with both hands when opening it. If you do not, the wind will simply rip the door off its hinges and leave you with a very expensive hole in your vehicle.

Restaurant Timing

The service is relaxed, which is a polite way of saying no one is coming to help you. In small towns, kitchens close with a grim finality by 9:00 PM. If you desire the bill, you must trek to the counter yourself; waiting for a server will only result in a very long, hungry night.

Bureaucracy 

Digital life is deceptively frictionless, and SIM cards activate with an ease that suggests a trap. While paperwork is minimal, the gas pumps demand a physical credit card with a PIN. Without one, you will find yourself stranded in a lava field with nothing but your regrets.

Pace of Life

The local motto is “Þetta reddast,” or “it will all work out.” This philosophy manifests as a total lack of urgency. Do not mistake slow service for rudeness; it is simply the Icelandic way of reminding you that you are on an island, and the island is in no hurry to see you leave.

Popular Destinations (and Why They May Disappoint)

Iceland is a country that seems to have been designed by a particularly morose and theatrical person, where every natural wonder is merely a reminder of the universe’s great, unfeeling power. To visit is to subject oneself to an encyclopedia of grand and utterly chilling spectacles.

• Reykjavík is the capital, and by all accounts, the only true city in this desolate land. It is a place of brightly painted houses, which I suspect is a desperate attempt to cheer up the populace, who are accustomed to living in a state of near-perpetual darkness for half of the year. You will find yourself drawn to its strange, modern architecture, such as a church that resembles a rocket ship, as if the local citizens are always preparing for a hasty escape. The nightlife, I am told, is something to be endured rather than enjoyed, a frantic and expensive attempt to escape the relentless cold.

Read more: Reykjavik: A Misguided Traveler’s Guide.

• The Golden Circle is a name so cheerful and inviting that it should immediately be viewed with the deepest suspicion. This so-called circle is a tourist trap of the most devious sort, a single, predictable loop of sights that promises wonder but delivers only a crowded procession of buses. You will witness a geyser named Strokkur that erupts with a great, theatrical spout of scalding water, an event which is less a natural marvel and more a cruel, watery joke. You will stand beside the great Gullfoss waterfall, a roaring torrent of glacial water that serves as a loud and wet testament to the fact that water, like grief, will always find a way to descend.

• The Blue Lagoon is not a natural wonder, but a luxurious and deeply unsettling man-made spa. It is a milky-blue pond, warmed by the very same geothermal activity that keeps the country in such an unnerving state of geological flux. People pay a great deal of money to float in this strange, milky substance, covering their faces with a white paste in a ritual that seems less like relaxation and more like an unpleasant, ceremonial disguise. To be here is to be an unwitting participant in a grand and watery performance, a sort of sad, expensive bath with a great many strangers.

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• Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon is a cold and sorrowful place where great, blue icebergs break off from a glacier and drift in a murky lagoon before being washed ashore on a black, volcanic beach. The icebergs, looking like a collection of discarded, crystalline teeth, sit upon the black sand in a most unsettling fashion. This “Diamond Beach” is a photographer’s delight, but to a person with a sense of dread, it is a graveyard of frozen water, a poignant reminder that even the most beautiful things are in a constant state of collapse.

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• The Black Sand Beaches on the shores of Iceland are not what you might expect. They are not warm and golden, but dark and foreboding, a testament to the volcanic nature of the land. Reynisfjara beach, for instance, is famous for its dramatic basalt columns and the rather ominous reputation of its sneaker waves – great, unpredictable walls of water that will, without a moment’s notice, attempt to drag an unprepared tourist out to sea. This, I believe, is a fitting metaphor for the entire country: it looks lovely and peaceful, but is secretly harboring a great and watery disaster just waiting to happen.

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Who Iceland Is (and Isn’t) For

✔️Good for: 

• The Digitally-Inclined: Those who enjoy a frictionless, cashless experience where even a public restroom or remote campsite can be paid for with a tap of a card.
• Insomniacs and Summer Sightseers: People who thrive under the Midnight Sun of July and August, where the sun refuses to set and the daylight for sightseeing is endless.
• Fans of Geological Chaos: Travelers who find beauty in unstable landscapes, angry mud pits, and crystalline teeth icebergs.
• The Linguistically Lazy: Since nearly every inhabitant speaks impeccable English, there is no pressure to master the ancient and complex local tongue.
• Patient Travelers: Those who can embrace the philosophy of “Þetta reddast” (it will all work out) and don’t mind a total lack of urgency in service.

❌ Not ideal for: 

• Budget-Conscious Travelers: Anyone who would be offended by a sandwich costing a modest inheritance or wine priced like unicorn tears.
• Anxious Drivers: People who aren’t prepared to grip their car door with both hands to keep the wind from ripping it off, or those who lack a credit card with a physical PIN.
• Seekers of Stability: Those who prefer temperate climes and predictable landscapes rather than a place where the earth is a ticking time bomb.
• The Comfort-Obsessed: Travelers who expect prompt table service or kitchens to stay open past 9:00 PM in regional areas.
• Unprepared Explorers: Anyone who thinks a black sand beach is for sunbathing; the sneaker waves are actively trying to drag you to a watery demise.

In short, Iceland is a place that does not offer a gentle, predictable escape. It offers a kind of beautiful, geological chaos, where the land is alive with a sort of seething energy, and where the sky is a canvas for the sort of strange and ethereal light shows known as the Aurora Borealis – a phenomenon so otherworldly that it may convince you that the world is a far more bizarre and troubling place than you had ever suspected. It is a travel destination for those who are prepared to be unsettled, to be befuddled, and to walk upon a ground that, at any moment, may remind you of its fiery, inner secrets. You have been warned.