ICELAND’S AESTHETICS ARE BEAUTIFUL IN THEIR PARADOX: POWERFUL AND CHAOTIC, YET SERENE AND SIMPLE. THE LANDSCAPES ARE REMARKABLE, BUT WHAT’S BELOW THE SURFACE IS OFTEN MORE INCREDIBLE.

— Matthew Woolsey

Despite being known as the Land of Fire and Ice, Iceland and its people have quite a welcoming presence—outfitted in cozy wool sweaters and blanketed in endless summer sunlight. With breathtaking landscapes, folkloric tales, plentiful hot springs, and contemporary Icelandic music, Iceland is primed for the cultural connoisseur looking for adventure. The Golden Circle is a great place to start, a route that passes Þingvellir National Park, Gullfoss waterfall, and the Geysir Geothermal Area—just a taste of the many wonders scattered across the nation. Whether it’s a helicopter ride over glaciers or a stay in a glass-walled villa beneath the northern lights, a trip to Iceland in Europe is unforgettable.

In Reykjavík, Nordic design meets a vibrant creative scene in the form of cutting-edge restaurants such as Dill and experimental-music festivals like Airwaves, all beneath the towering silhouette of Hallgrímskirkja, the city’s largest house of worship. This land shaped artists like Björk and Ásmundur Sveinsson, whose avant-garde creations echo the country’s untamed beauty and otherworldly pulse. Out in the countryside, turf-roofed houses and steaming geothermal pools speak to a life lived in harmony with nature. Unlike any previous titles in Assouline’s Travel Series, Iceland Epic is a journey to a new world.

Erika Owen is a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and artist. She has written for Architectural Digest, Condé Nast Traveler, Domino, GQ, Travel + Leisure, Bon Appétit, Tripadvisor, and many other publications—usually about Iceland. When she isn’t writing, she’s making a (beautiful) mess with watercolors and clay, which form a body of work that’s also inspired by the Land of Fire and Ice.