Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Tours, Car hire, Internal flights
Page 3: Whale watching, skiing and the North Coast
Page 4: Volcanoes, craters, hot springs and lava fields
Page 5: Skidoos and glacial lagoons
Page 6: Icecaps and hiking
Page 7: Reykjavic

Iceland: land of fire and ice! It's an overused description, but one that's fairly accurate, so long as you add that it's also the land of hot springs, boiling mud, geysers, active volcanoes, craters, lava flows and Europe's largest glacier. It's additionally good to mention that it's surrounded by some of the best whale watching around, and is home to one of the most vibrant and exciting capital cities in the world.

So why is it then that most people look at you with utter surprise when you say you're visiting this amazing country? Maybe it's because of it's legendarily high prices, and indeed pints of lager do weigh in at a hefty £4 each. Then again, it could be the lack of fresh food, with fruit and veggie fanatics regularly going cold turkey (or should that be puffin).

It's also not called Iceland for nothing. A large portion of the country is covered by glaciers and even in the height of Summer, temperatures are unlikely to rise much above 15 degrees centigrade. Perhaps more importantly for Winter visitors, the temperature can drop well below zero and in some instances continue beyond minus 20 degrees. It can also make Scotland look like a rain and mist-free destination, but then, a trip to Iceland was never going to be a beach holiday.

Why am I telling you this? Because during the last week of August 2001, my girlfriend and I spent a fantastic seven days in this remarkable country and I would recommend it without hesitation to anybody. Over the following pages I'll describe what we got up to along with our invaluable travel tips!