We were in Iceland for a couple weeks. We rented a dodgy old Vauxhall Astra (online reviews discussed the trials and tribulations of an exhaust falling off, but that didn't happen to us), and drove around the island. We camped, which worked out well. We saw tons of wildlife, geology, and scenery. We ate fantastic doughnuts. Nowhere in the world does better doughnuts.

We arrived in Reykjavík, and wandered around the city. One thing I noticed was that the city didn't look like it had been hit by the crash as much as Dublin or Madrid. We saw Harpa Concert Hall, the Cathedral and the National Museum. Its not a normal European capital with grand buildings. It felt much more like a fishing port with a side business, which I guess it is.

First stops were the Blue Lagoon and Þingvellir National Park. The Blue Lagoon is perhaps the best flight stopover idea invented. Its a thermal spa not far from Keflavik airport, the water is aqua blue and warm and lovely. We didn't spend much time at Þingvellir, but its fantastic to look at the North American and Eurasian plates coming apart.

Camping worked out really well. Tons of places to camp, cheap camp sites. We had worried that it would be too cold to camp, but it was nice and mild. The big problem was the sun heating up the tent in the morning.

We headed up to Húsavík in a fantastic drive past miles of snowy mountains. We jumped out of the car to peer at a museum in Reykholt about a saga author. We then went to see Hraunfossar and Barnafoss. Hraunfossar is a series of waterfalls which fall into the river from it's bank. At Deildartunguhver water bubbles furiously out of the ground at 97 degrees C and it stinks of sulphur. We visited one of the northernmost Indian takeaways in the world in Akureyri. Oddly, Akureyri also has branches of investment banks - possibly its their punishment spot.

There's tons of bird life. Golden Plovers were a feature of each campsite and we were being woken up by drumming Snipe. There's an abundance of Waders, Geese and Eiders.

Húsavík is a fantastic place only about 25 miles away from the Arctic Circle. We went to the whale museum which was very interesting and then went whale watching in the afternoon. This was a major highlight of the holiday. We went out in traditional wooden boats and saw thousands of puffins and 5 or 6 humpback whales. They are absolutely huge, and can be up to 33m long with a heart the size of a VW. Whales feed in Iceland in the summer and breed in the south towards Panama. Whales are extremely intriguing with some species never having been seen in the wild.

We headed down to Lake Mývatn via Goðafoss. Lake Mývatn is quite a touristy spot, but well worth it. Walked up Hverfell - a massive volcano crater. We went for a walk in Höfði nature park, and saw red-necked phalaropes!! Around Skútustaðir, we saw pseudo craters, horned grebes, whooper swans, arctic terns and many others. We wandered around Hverir mud pots - bubbling mud, steam, fumaroles and very colourful ground. We saw the geothermal power plant at Kofla and walked around the crater at the top of the hill - massive hole, and firmly frozen at the bottom. We swam in the hot pools while looking out of the lake. We didn't go to sleep until midnight - when it was still light.

We hung around Mývatn for as long as we could, but in the end we had to get moving. The weather had been better in the north than the south, but we wanted to get around the island before having to go home. We pressed on, stopping at Dettifoss on the way. Europe's most powerful waterfall is indescribable.

East Iceland is very wild. We saw reindeer by the road. At this point, the only road around the Island is paved with gravel. We spent one evening crawling along at 30mph waiting for the sun to set. However, it was a wonderfully scenic drive, with the sun setting on snowy mountains. We spent one night in a free campsite in Breidalsvik, which is very much the end of the world. We pressed on around the fjords into south Iceland and Skaftafell National Park. Here the landscape has been blasted by volcano and glacier - we drove for miles across glacier and volcano runoff, clouds above us, never seeing a soul. All in all, fantastic stuff. The one tourist spot was the black basalt columns of Svartifoss.

Closer to Reykjavík, we started seeing signs of civilization again. As we came close enough to Reykjavík, bus loads of tourists appeared. Popular spots included Geysir, Seljalandsfoss and Gullfoss.

All in all, a fantastic drive, at the edge of Europe. More photos

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