Iceland puts on one of the most dramatic natural spectacles on the planet. Rainbow-arched waterfalls cleave mountains with snowcapped peaks just beyond its happening capital, Reykjavík. You can climb mountains, ford rivers, watch birds, catch fish, and even tend herd at a typical Icelandic farm. Rugged fjords and lush valleys lace the countryside, while fingerlike peninsulas reach toward the Arctic Circle. In the south, a veritable land of fire and ice await, from Iceland’s still-active Hekla Volcano to the chilling splendor of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier.