f nature t
DESTINATIONS ICELAND | NORDICS
Iceland offers winter adventures on an epic scale, discovers Andrew McQuarrie
our guide Kristján E Karlsson points out of the minibus window at Tindfjöll, a series of peaks north of the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano
that erupted in 2010. “Give these mountains 200 million years and they
will flatten out,” he says. “They’re still upright because Iceland is very young.” When something that is 16 million years old is described as youthful, you can almost feel your brain having to stretch to adjust to these new dimensions. For anyone who spends a week travelling along Iceland’s south and west coasts, taking in its vast array of geological marvels, life ends up being split into two categories: ‘before Iceland’ and ‘after Iceland’. The immense power of the natural world, the insignificance of humans in the face of it and the relativity of time and space are suddenly as crystal-clear as the ice floating in the sparkling glacier lagoon of Vatnajökull National Park. As we approach the Geysir Geothermal Area on the popular Golden Circle route, Kristján offers a note of caution to our small group, brought together
to explore the country on Intrepid Travel’s Premium Iceland in Winter tour. “Don’t do what Ed Sheeran did when he came here,” he says. “He went off the path and burnt his foot severely. So don’t do that.”
JET STREAM
Sticking strictly to the path while bubbling hot springs belch out pungent steam around us, we reach a crowd gathered around a cordoned-off pool. We wait and wait and then it happens: whoosh! The Strokkur geyser shoots a stream of water skywards, triggering gasps from the huddled spectators as well as the ‘click, click, click’ of camera shutters. Any scepticism I had about the Golden Circle landmarks vanishes in an instant. Yes, the sites are busy with tourists, but they remain worth seeing. By 2pm on our first full day in Iceland, we have ticked off the three points of the Golden Circle – the others being Thingvellir National Park and Gullfoss waterfall – and begin our journey towards the south coast. En route, we stop at The Secret Lagoon, the oldest swimming pool in Iceland, which has developed
²
travelweekly.co.uk 4 SEPTEMBER 2025 55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
