Reykjavík boasts all the trappings of a modern European city, dusted over with eccentric Icelandic spirit. Thriving cafes, high-energy pubs and clubs, and a brightly coloured old town with rows of wood-and-corrugated-tin houses cluster together in the compact city centre.

The barren lava fields that surround Iceland's international airport are an eye-grabbing introduction to this near-Arctic island, belched out of the mouths of volcanoes (some still active), awash in midnight sun from May to August, glistening with glaciers, geysers, hot springs and waterfalls.