The picturesque birthplace of Icelandic democracy is drenched in the blood of its brutal past.

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

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

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

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

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

This stunning concert hall has become a symbol of Iceland's national recovery.

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

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

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

A formerly glacier-tipped volcano that inspired none other than Jules Verne.

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

Three columns of volcanic rock shoot out of the ocean.

Travel deep inside of Europe's second largest glacier in the world's largest man-made ice cave.

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

Surrounded by ash fields in Iceland, an impossibly verdant valley looks like something out of a fairytale.

A stratovolcano located in the south of Iceland, with a long history of charted activity and a rich mythology attached.

This fairytale-like structure is the last turf church ever constructed in Iceland.

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

The largest whale museum in Europe allows visitors to walk among life-size giants.

A little-visited waterfall in an otherworldly landscape.

Every summer local children form "pysja patrols" to save young birds that have wandered from their nests.

If a glacial river suddenly diving into a sheer chasm via a dramatic, multi-stage waterfall isn't peak Iceland, it's certainly close.

This valley of hot springs and boiling mud pots is home to the record-holding "Geysir," which originated the English word.