The picturesque birthplace of Icelandic democracy is drenched in the blood of its brutal past.

The oldest steel ship in Iceland has been beached for years and is now a rusting ruin.

Staves, storm-calling, and of course, necropants.

This excellent museum recreates the boom days of the herring rush in the "Atlantic Klondike."

Instead of solid circles, the stoplights in this northern Icelandic town have glowing red hearts.

A sulfuric martian landscape that looks far better than it smells.

This elegant arc of a waterfall marks a religious turning point.

In Northeastern Iceland lies something of an oxymoron: a steaming desert.

The only structure in a remote mountain pass, these colorful cubes are visible from miles away.

Iceland's largest lagoon is home to stunning multi-colored icebergs.

A black sand beach where glacial fragments wash ashore and look like sparkling diamonds.

Twisted girders are all that remain of an Icelandic bridge that was wiped out by a combination of volcanic heat and glacial floods.

Three columns of volcanic rock shoot out of the ocean.

This wrecked airplane has been sitting on a black sand beach since the 1970s.

Along this wire fence, travelers have been leaving a particular memento since 2012.

A modern Nordic Pompeii on the Icelandic island of Heimaey.

Every summer local children form "pysja patrols" to save young birds that have wandered from their nests.

On an island south of Iceland, a large volcanic rock formation resembles an elephant.

This fantastical waterfall is hidden in a cave located in a cracked cliff.

This eye-popping Icelandic crater lake is surrounded by red volcanic rock.

If a glacial river suddenly diving into a sheer chasm via a dramatic, multi-stage waterfall isn't peak Iceland, it's certainly close.

This valley of hot springs and boiling mud pots is home to the record-holding "Geysir," which originated the English word.

A relatively obscure antihero from the Marvel Comics universe adorns a wall inside Iceland's main airport.

One of the oldest family businesses in Reykjavík serves lamb-based hot dogs.