Þingvellir

Copenhagen

The neo-Gothic St. Alban's Church, with its tall spire, reflected in the water by Kastellet.

Early May, halfway between winter and summer: snow still lies on the mountains and the high plateaus, the rivers are swollen with meltwater, and the nights have grown short. The journey first passes through Copenhagen, past Kastellet, the 17th-century star-shaped fortress with grassy ramparts and water-filled moats, and the neo-Gothic St. Alban's Church, reflected in the water beside it.

Kastellet

The 17th-century star-shaped fortress, with grassy ramparts and a bridge over the moat.

Borgarnes

The calm fjord near Borgarnes and the road toward the still snowy mountains of the west.

Grundarfjörður

Kirkjufell, the 463 m cone-shaped mountain, with the Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall at its foot, and a slender waterfall dropping off a plateau still under snow.

Grundarfoss

A waterfall near Grundarfjörður on the north coast of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.

Hraunfossar

Water emerges from under the lava field and spills into the Hvítá river through dozens of small falls, under an evening sky.

In Iceland the route circles the island clockwise. The first stops are in the west: the fjord near Borgarnes, with snow-capped mountains in the distance, then Kirkjufell, the 463 m cone-shaped mountain near Grundarfjörður with the Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall at its foot, and Hraunfossar, where water seeps out from under a lava field and pours into the Hvítá river through dozens of small falls. In the Westfjords, a broad waterfall tumbles in tiers down a basalt wall above the fjord.

Dynjandi

The largest waterfall in the Westfjords, spreading down a series of broad steps like a veil.

Bíldudalur

In the Westfjords, a broad waterfall cascades in tiers down a basalt wall; around it, quiet fjords below mountains still white with snow.

Reykjafoss

A powerful waterfall in a basalt canyon near Varmahlíð, in the north of the island.

Goðafoss

The "waterfall of the gods" on the Skjálfandafljót, wide and horseshoe-shaped, swollen with snowmelt.

The north brings the big waterfalls. Near Varmahlíð, a river drops in steps into a basalt canyon. Goðafoss, the "waterfall of the gods" on the Skjálfandafljót, is shaped like a horseshoe; tradition holds that the old pagan idols were thrown into it after Iceland adopted Christianity around the year 1000. Dettifoss, on the Jökulsá á Fjöllum, falls about 44 m in a gray torrent of glacial water, its edges still coated in ice. Near Mývatn, at the foot of Námafjall, fumaroles steam out of mineral-stained ground, and in Skjálfandi Bay the back of a whale breaks the surface below snowy mountains.

Dettifoss

On the Jökulsá á Fjöllum, gray glacial water drops about 44 m, its edges still coated in ice.

Námafjall

A geothermal area near Lake Mývatn, with steam vents, boiling mud pools and sulfur-stained ground.

Mývatn

The plain around the lake at sunset and the geothermal area at the foot of Námafjall, with fumaroles and colored ground.

Skjálfandi Bay

Skjálfandi Bay, with snowy mountains on the far shore and the back of a whale breaking the surface.

The Ring Road

Route 1, the road that circles Iceland, here crossing an empty plateau.

In the east, the road crosses a plateau where the snow has not yet melted. Around Egilsstaðir there are waterfalls dropping between layers of basalt, one of them with red bands of clay in its wall, and a canyon of basalt columns with a blue-green river running through it. In the south, the waterfalls pour off the old sea cliffs: a slender one near Hvolsvöllur, and Skógafoss, about 25 m wide and 60 m high, wrapped in its own spray.

Stuðlagil

A canyon in east Iceland with walls of basalt columns and turquoise water below.

Rjúkandi

A tall waterfall on a valley slope in east Iceland, close to the road.

Hengifoss

A waterfall of about 128 m in east Iceland, framed by basalt layers separated by red bands of clay.

Seljalandsfoss

A slender waterfall pours off the old sea cliff above green meadows.

In Reykjavík, the northern lights spread in green bands across the night sky. The last day brings a geothermal valley in Ölfus, with steam rising from the slopes, warm streams and patches of snow, and then Þingvellir: here, in the lava walls of the Almannagjá gorge, the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates is plain to see, and the Alþingi assembly met in the open air from the year 930. The national park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.

Skógafoss

The waterfall on the Skógá river, about 25 m wide and 60 m high, in a cloud of its own spray.

Reykjavik

The northern lights in green and violet bands above a dark horizon.

Þingvellir

The boardwalk through the Almannagjá gorge between lava walls, on the boundary of the tectonic plates, and the Öxarárfoss waterfall.

Reykjadalur

A geothermal valley in the southwestern hills, with steam rising from the slopes, streams and patches of snow.