Selfoss

An assembly met in the open here from 930 onward, in a valley where two plates pull apart. Clear water fills a rift between the cliffs and divers come for it.

Strokkur throws water 20 metres up every five to ten minutes. A blue dome swelling on the pool gives the warning a moment before it goes.

The river turns through two steps and drops into a gorge 32 metres deep. A farmer's daughter blocked a scheme to put a power station here a century ago.

Water lies at the bottom of a crater ringed by walls of red volcanic ash. A path circles the rim and a separate stair drops to the water.

The oldest swimming pool in the country, built in 1891, is still in use. A small geyser next to it sends up water every few minutes.

The water splits into many threads that gather into one narrow slot, running an intense blue. The walk in is 3.5 kilometres and the path turns muddy.

Glass houses warmed by geothermal heat grow tomato and cucumber all year. Hives are brought in to pollinate and the bees are shown to visitors as well.

The horses of this country have an extra gait that no other breed carries. Once a horse leaves the island it is never allowed back in.

The first suspension bridge in the country crossed this river in 1891. What stands now was rebuilt later, and the old piers remain beside it.

An hour of walking up the valley reaches a stream running with hot water. The upper part scalds and it cools further down, so a spot is chosen by temperature.

A waterfall on the Thjorsa river, ten minutes' drive from Selfoss, carrying the greatest volume of any in Iceland. It is low, but the whole width of the river tips over at once and roars. It sits just off Route 1, yet few people stop.

Chess world champion Bobby Fischer was buried in 2008 in the churchyard at Laugardaelir, just outside town. The 1972 world championship in Reykjavik tied him to this country. Some visitors leave a chess piece at the headstone.

A 551-metre mountain rising like a wall west of town, where legend says the first settler Ingolfur Arnarson lies buried. A steep two-hour climb opens up the southern plain and the river mouth. Locals hike it regularly for exercise.

Fifteen minutes south of town on the coast lies an old trading port lined with 19th-century wooden houses. Husid, a merchant's home built in 1765, survives as a museum. A path runs on the crest of the sea wall that holds back the heavy surf.

A lava tube 1360 metres long, hollowed out by flowing lava. Light falls through holes where the roof has collapsed, showing red and yellow streaks on the walls. Guides lead every group, and because the rock floor is slippery you are given a helmet and lamp.

Seat of the southern bishops from 1056 to 1785, now marked by a white church built in 1963. A 13th-century bishop's stone coffin unearthed in 1954 rests in the crypt. Part of the old tunnel from the church to the school has been restored, and you can walk it.

Geothermal baths built around the steaming ground beside Lake Laugarvatn. Many bathers dash out for a plunge in the cold lake and come back. Staff demonstrate digging up rye bread that has been baked buried in the hot sand by the water.

The Tungufljot river spreads wide as it drops here, worth a brief pause en route to Gullfoss. A fish ladder beside it lets salmon climb, and in summer you watch them leap. Crowds are much thinner than at the big falls.

In the Thjorsardalur valley two streams drop as a pair between basalt columns. The name means waterfall of help, said to come from travellers resting their horses on the grass here after crossing the highlands. From the car it takes mere minutes on foot.

A full-size medieval turf farmhouse rebuilt from the remains of the Stong farm, buried by Hekla's ash in 1104. The long hall has its central hearth and sleeping benches along both sides. The real ruins lie further up the valley under a protective roof.