You can walk through the nearby new lava fields, a remnant of the last eruption, which took place in the 1970s. For older rocks, there's Dimmuborgir, where the lava's about 2,000 years old. Take your imagination with you as you stroll down among the pillars — some more than 60 feet tall — and you might see the petrified shapes of trolls, lions and ghosts.

Save time for a dip in the geothermal spa. The warm, silky water eases your cares away.

Of course, for geothermal bathing, there's nothing quite like the Blue Lagoon, near Keflavik, on the other side of the island. The basin is a natural rock formation, but the lagoon itself is a man-made creation, a by-product of energy use at a nearby power plant. The lagoon is the runoff water, rich in silica, salt and other minerals. You can slather yourself in mud and then wash off in a showery waterfall, or you can simply sit and soak in the yummy-feeling water.

Iceland also gave the world the name for geysers, and you can see the original namesake at Geysir (that's how they spell it). This spouting hot spring started erupting in 1294 and sent columns of water more than 260 feet in the air. In recent years, however, Geysir has been erratic. Considered to have been "retired" for the past several decades, it surprised people by erupting in 2001 and periodically ever since. But Old Faithful it isn't. For that, you need nearby Stokkur ("the churn"), which erupts every three to five minutes.

More evidence of geologic activity can be found at places such as the Eldhraun lava fields near Skaftafell National Park. Laid down in 1783 in a tremendous explosion that sent up a cloud of noxious gas responsible for the "haze famine," it killed about a fifth of Iceland's population and half of its livestock. At the time, plans were even made to evacuate the entire island.

Today these fields are covered with green moss, which softens the edges and creates a fantasy world.

The fantasy feeling is also present at Reynisfjara Beach, where the black sand leads to caves with lava formations and basalt columns of all shapes and sizes. In the nearby ocean are the Reynisdrangar, towering fingers of basalt that look at bit like Gothic castles.

Dark, basalt columns take on the appearance of a pipe organ at Svartifoss Waterfall, playing out a rhapsody in black and white.

Ice

Snow-covered mountains are a common backdrop throughout Iceland, but nowhere are they more pretty than at Husavik, a small fishing village on the eastern shores of Skjalfandi Bay. In addition to its picturesque scenery, Husavik is known as the whale-watching capital of Europe. Humpback, minke, sei and fin whales regularly pass through these waters.