Viti Crater

Víti — “Hell” in Icelandic — is one of two famous Icelandic craters by that name. This one belongs to Krafla, above Lake Mývatn: a 300-metre bowl torn open by a steam eruption in 1724, now holding a still turquoise-to-jade lake. A path rings the unfenced rim in 20 to 30 minutes, looking down on the water and out over the steaming Leirhnjúkur lava fields. The soil is still warm and the air smells of sulphur — the magma below is not far away.