Reykjanes Peninsula

Most visitors land here first: Keflavík International Airport sits on the Reykjanes peninsula, a lava-covered strip on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the ground itself is still moving. The Blue Lagoon's milky geothermal water, run off from the Svartsengi power plant, is minutes from Grindavík, where the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system broke roughly 800 years of dormancy in 2021 and has erupted repeatedly since — most recently through the Sundhnúkagígar craters, close enough to have forced the town's evacuation. Reykjanesviti, Iceland's oldest lighthouse site, overlooks black cliffs near Gunnuhver, one of the country's largest mud-pool fields. Nearby, a short footbridge crosses a fissure between the North American and Eurasian plates — you can walk between continents in a few steps.