Places soimlostagain Wants to Go

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

This black church sits alone among a field of lava rock.

A giant concrete orb in far north Iceland marks the ever-shifting boundary.

The summer tourists on these cliffs are thousands of seabirds.

Two volcanic lakes in an enormous crater formed in a prehistoric eruption.

Three million year old fossils are exposed for all to see on this Icelandic shore.

This fairytale-like structure is the last turf church ever constructed in Iceland.

A formerly glacier-tipped volcano that inspired none other than Jules Verne.

This mountain fissure hides a secret path to a secluded mossy grotto within the rock itself.

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

This tumultuous Icelandic lava field looks so alien European researchers want to use it as a stand-in for Mars.

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

Three columns of volcanic rock shoot out of the ocean.

The oldest (maybe) swimming pool in Iceland is a stunning oasis built into the side of a lush hill.

A little-visited waterfall in an otherworldly landscape.

A trio of hidden hot tubs takes advantage of Iceland's natural geothermal vents.

The oldest church in Iceland is one of the few to feature ornate decoration.

This hobbit-y little hot spring may be the oldest spring used by humans in all of Iceland.

This natural Icelandic fissure allows divers to swim right between two volatile tectonic plates.

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

A stratovolcano located in the south of Iceland, with a long history of charted activity and a rich mythology attached.

These ominous lava formations were said to be an entrance to the netherworld so of course they inspired a famous metal band.

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.