Iceland

Welcome to the world’s most northerly capital city. Reykjavik is the hub of Iceland, a small nation two hours north by air from my home in Manchester, UK.

Wrapped up warm, I spent a day exploring it by foot before seeing some of the country’s amazing landscapes and quickly realised it wasn’t your regular city.

It feels quite small and parochial in some respects, yet has some bold, landmark architecture including the elegant Hallgrimskirkja and ultra modern Harpa concert hall.

A bus ride to Perlan’s beautiful viewpoint makes you realise the rugged Icelandic landscape almost closes in on Reykjavik – a unique capital city for what is no ordinary country.

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Spectacular, awe-inspiring, amazing. Just a few of the superlatives that are given to Iceland and its magical landscapes.

This relatively small volcanic island close to the Arctic is packed with snow-capped mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, spurting geysers and a fantastic coastline scattered with glacial chunks and black sand.

I was lucky enough to visit some of these wonders on a tour of the country’s south in May and was even treated to a blanket of snow. If you enjoy landscape photography, Iceland is up there with the best of them.

But a note of caution. It’s now a popular destination and is organised to cope with many visitors. Some attractions are very busy and you may have to go further to experience real wilderness. Even so it’s hard to deny this country’s awesomeness.