A cultural travel guide to the world

Home / Islands & Polar Regions / Iceland

Country guide · IS

Iceland

5 destinations & festivals · 2 etiquette rules

Photo: Austin Matherne · CC BY 2.0

Before you go

Read before you go

Red lineDriving

Iceland: headlights on all year when driving

  • Keep dipped headlights on all year, fit suitable tyres in winter and keep to the speed limit
  • Drink-driving (Iceland's limit is stricter than the UK's)

Breaking traffic rules brings heavy fines.

Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Iceland travel advice

Red lineSafety

Iceland: keep away from waves, cliff edges and hot-spring vents

  • Stay behind warning lines and tell your hotel your plans or register them with Safe Travel Iceland
  • Going near waves, cliff edges and geothermal vents

These are the most common causes of accidents in Iceland.

Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Iceland travel advice

Places & local life

Landmarks, hidden gems & local life

Fermented shark

FoodReykjavík, Iceland

Icelandic fermented shark

Poisonous Greenland shark, fermented and air-dried, has become Iceland's most hard-core national dish.

Dyrhólaey seen from the black sand beach

Classic landmarkSouth Iceland (near Vík)

Black Sand Beach (Reynisfjara)

A black beach with basalt cliffs and the 'petrified troll' sea stacks.

Wild harbour seals in the glacier lagoon

Classic landmarkSoutheast Iceland

Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon

A lagoon of floating ice calved from Vatnajökull, with 'diamond ice' on the black beach

Almannagjá gorge, Þingvellir National Park

Classic landmarkSouthwest Iceland (Golden Circle)

Þingvellir National Park

The site where Icelanders founded their parliament, the Althing, in 930 — one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world.

Hallgrímskirkja, the city landmark inspired by basalt columns

Classic landmarkReykjavík, Iceland

Reykjavík

The Arctic capital of the Vikings' descendants, where a basalt-inspired church and elf legends coexist.