An exciting capital that packs far more of a punch than cities many times its size. Incredibly beautiful and rugged countryside. Geysers, bubbling hot springs, thundering waterfalls, and the odd volcanic eruption. Long showers without worries that the hot water will run out. Oh, and one of the nicest Indian restaurants I've ever been to. Iceland was love at first visit for me.
Icelandic has retained the Old Norse case system, and has changed little enough that everyday people can still read historic texts from centuries ago. So, a pretty cool language - though likely some fun to learn (I've yet to try :-)). Thankfully, everyone I ran to spoke English, and often they spoke it extremely well. Thus it's very easy to get by in Iceland speaking English. :-)
The nature is beautiful, but take it seriously. The population density is low in the countryside; even within a popular national park I've been able to hike on marked trails for hours without seeing anyone. That's makes for wonderful tranquility, but would suck if you got injured or lost. I'm told people die every now and then from not being prepared or bad decisions (like leaving a car that provided shelter behind to try and hike it through the freezing cold weather and snow after a breakdown). Enjoy it, but let folks know where you're going and be suitably prepared and equipped.
