Area : 103,000 SQ KM
Population : 304,370
Capital city : Reykjavik
Time : GMT - 6
Currency : Krona
Electricity : 220-240V
Iceland has to be one of the most exciting countries on earth! Not only is it geologically young – some of it is positively pre-natal! Here lava fields bear witness to long gone volcanic eruptions while geysirs and mud holes blow and bubble and you can see where the plates have moved again to produce cracks in the earth's crust as the island continues to grow. Even if you start with no knowledge and little interest in geology, you're hooked by the end of a couple of weeks in this land of ice and fire.
This might sound a rugged and barren land but it is by no means so. The scenery is dramatic, the summer flowers prolific and the island simply teems with birds from the rare Gyr Falcon to the abundant Red-necked Phalarope. The surrounding seas of the North Atlantic are rich in nutrients, sustaining not only impressive seabird colonies but also several species of whale and dolphin including the rare Blue Whale.
Explore a new area for Island Holidays clients – the far North West. Here the scenery is characterized by long narrow fjords flanked by dramatic mountains and precipitous cliffs. The famous Latrabjarg headland hosts the largest seabird colony in the northern hemisphere and you can scan the towering tenements of breeding seabirds for that high-Arctic species, Brunnich's Guillemot.
