Destinations Menu
Iceland
DestinationsIceland is the second-largest island in Europe, out-ranked only by Great Britain. Some 4,603 square miles, or 11% of the island=s total area, is covered by glaciers. Another 1,065 square miles are covered with lakes, while 3% is covered with lava. A mere 1% of the land is used for growing crops.
Measuring 185 miles from north to south and 305 miles from east to west, the country has 3,700 miles of rugged coastline. It straddles a submarine ridge that connects Scotland and Greenland, as well as the Mid-Atlantic Rift, one of the planet's major geological faults.
Roughly half of the island belongs in Europe and the other half in North America. The tiny island of Grimsey, off the north coast, sits directly atop the Arctic Circle.
Iceland rises to an average height of 1,640 feet, but its highest point, Hvannadalshnjukur, is a 6,925-foot mountain. Beneath the mountain is Vatnajokull, the largest glacier in all of Europe.
Geologically, Iceland is one of the youngest bodies of land in the world... and it's still changing.
Iceland
What's New?
New and Updated Travel Guides
-
Cuzco is the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, and the epicenter of the Andean Quechua culture. It has a monumental... Read More
-
Thimphu is the seat of the last of the Himalayan kingdoms. It sits in splendid isolation in a long, high valley in the... Read More
-
Mostar is where Christians converted to Islam, and where moussaka – consisting of sliced eggplants sautéed in... Read More
-
Santiago is Chile's capital of cool. It's mostly a modern metropolis, but with more than 500 years of history and relics... Read More
-
Tampere is a city of rock. In fact, Tampere, Finland, like Manchester, England, evolved from a market town into a major... Read More
Trending Themes:
Guides to Popular Ski Resorts
-
Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More
-
Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More
-
Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More
-
Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More
-
Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More
-
St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More
-
Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More
-
St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More
-
Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More
