A beautiful ruin of a 14th-century Plantagenet castle built by a medieval mercenary.

A small island abbey is the final resting place of many medieval Scottish monarchs, including the real Macbeth.

This astonishingly geometric cave has inspired everyone from Jules Verne to Pink Floyd.

A replica of the decorated wooden pillars Viking sailors threw overboard when finding new places to establish a settlement.

At this museum in Iceland, visitors can sample fermented Greenland shark.

Iceland's largest geothermal mud pool is a little bit haunted and a little bit dangerous.

A giant red chair bolted to a rock on a remote mossy hillside in Iceland.

This beautiful, historic church looks like something out of a simpler past.

The bright red stripes streaking across the rocks are the star feature at this Icelandic waterfall.

These enlarged egg sculptures represent the native birds of eastern Iceland.

Cairns built to bring travelers good luck stretch across the land like miniature stone mountains.

Eerie ruins of an abandoned medieval fishing village crumble atop an unforgiving stretch of earth.

Outlaws, hot springs, and tragedy have all left their mark on this ancient road in the Icelandic highlands.

An isolated, rusty phone booth commemorates Iceland's first international telegraph cable.

A modern Nordic Pompeii on the Icelandic island of Heimaey.

A lonely beacon, precariously perched atop a remote sliver of rock.

A sulfuric martian landscape that looks far better than it smells.

The oldest hall in Iceland was written of in the Sagas and features a centuries-old escape tunnel.

A little-visited waterfall in an otherworldly landscape.

Largest private bird collection in Iceland, formed from a tragic accident.

This tumultuous Icelandic lava field looks so alien European researchers want to use it as a stand-in for Mars.

In Northeastern Iceland lies something of an oxymoron: a steaming desert.

These ominous lava formations were said to be an entrance to the netherworld so of course they inspired a famous metal band.

This black church sits alone among a field of lava rock.