Þingvellir, Iceland

Þingvellir is a place in Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, near the peninsula of Reykjanes and the Hengill volcanic area. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. It is the site of a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is also home to Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

Mýrdalsjökull, Iceland

Mýrdalsjökull is a glacier in the south of Iceland. It is situated to the north of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller glacier Eyjafjallajökull. The icecap of the glacier covers an active volcano called Katla. The caldera of the volcano has a diameter of 10 km and the volcano erupts usually every 40–80 years. As the last eruption took place in 1918, scientists are monitoring the volcano very carefully as they believe an eruption of Katla is on the cards, particularly after the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull began in April 2010.

Hekla, Iceland

Hekla is a stratovolcano located in the south of Iceland with a height of 1,491 metres. Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since 874. During the Middle Ages, Icelanders called the volcano the "Gateway to Hell."

Whale Watching - Grindavik, Iceland

Blue Whales are the biggest animals on earth. So we headed out from Grindavik with cold crisp air and some wind. We first saw Harbour Porpoises, the smallest cetaceans around Iceland and they were fast swimming, then we headed further out in hope to find the Blue Whales which were seen the day before. Then we saw it, the blowwe were all waiting for and as we got closer we noticed some White-beaked Dolphins jumping and breaching around the whale. They looked to be annoying it but maybe they were feeding on the fish that were eating the krill the Blues were feeding on. We watched these guys for a while until the dolphins left and the whale rolled just 5 meters from our boat. Absolutely incredible!!
Blue Whale facts and figures:
Length 20-33 metres
Weight 110-190 tons
Life Span about 90 years
Diet of krill and plankton

Gullfoss, Iceland

The Gullfoss Gorge was forced by flash flood waters that forced their way through cracks in the basalt lava layers. The average water flow in Gullfoss is 109 cubic metres per second. Gullfoss consists of two waterfalls. The height of the upper waterfall is 11 metres and the lower one is 20 metres. The Gullfoss Gorge is approximately 2.5km in length and up to 70 metres in depth.

Geysir, Iceland

Geysir's hot springs bubble out over a grassy slope at the foot of Bjarnfell. the area has been active for thousands of years, but the spring's positions have periodically shifted as geological seams crack open and close. Strokkur fires off a thirty metre high spout every few minutes. A split second before Strokkur explodes it forms a district dome through which the rising waters tear.

Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland

Eyjafjallajökull (E15) is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of 1,666 metres. The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the last glacial period, most recently in 2010 and put international Air Traffic at a standstill for days.

Reykjavik by night

Harpa - Reykjavik's new concert hall and conference centre.

Designed by Henning Larsen Architects of Copenhagen and artist Olafur Eliasson, it’s made of more than 10,000 glass windows that reference the columnar basalt common in Iceland’s terrain. The south facade is a double wall of glass pieces that catches the sunlight and acts like a prism, creating colorful blocks of light on Harpa’s floor and walls. The interior is intentionally spare, suggesting to visitors that they look out at the surrounding sea, mountains, and city—an especially pleasant activity from the multi tiered bar descending along the south facade.

 

The Sun Voyager is a stainless steel Viking Ship sculpture Jón Gunnar Árnason (1931 - 1989). The Sun Voyager is located on the waterfront north of Reykjavík's city centre.

Street Art - Reykjavik

Reykjavik by day

The Sun Voyager - Reykjavik. a sleek contemporary portrayal of a viking ship, made of stainless steel by Jón Gunnar Arnason.

Harpa - Reykjavik's new concert hall. Designed by Henning Larsen Architects of Copenhagen and artist Olafur Eliasson, it’s made of more than 10,000 glass windows that reference the columnar basalt common in Iceland’s terrain. The south façade is a double wall of glass pieces that catches the sunlight and acts like a prism, creating colorful blocks of light on Harpa’s floor and walls. The interior is intentionally spare, suggesting to visitors that they look out at the surrounding sea, mountains, and city—an especially pleasant activity from the multitiered bar descending along the south façade.

3d map of Iceland in the basement of the City Hall, Reykjavik.

City Hall.

Perlan (The Pearl) is a landmark building in Reykjavík. It was originally designed by Ingimundur Sveinsson. Perlan is situated on the hill Öskjuhlíð where there had been hot water storage tanks for decades. In 1991 the tanks were updated and a hemispherical structure placed on top. Perlan has 10,000 cubic meters of exhibition space on the ground floor, known as the Winter Garden. There is a viewing deck on the fourth floor. On the top glass domed part of Perlan there is a revolving restaurant and cocktail bar. The revolving floor does a complete turn in two hours. It offers a good view of Reykjavik and the nearby areas.

The Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres, it is the largest church in Iceland and the sixth tallest architectural structure in Iceland. The church is named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson. State Architect Guðjón Samúelsson's design of the church was commissioned in 1937. He is said to have designed it to resemble the basalt lava flows of Iceland's landscape. It took 38 years to build the church. Construction work began in 1945 and ended in 1986.