15 Cool Facts About Iceland That Most People Never Heard
Iceland is one of those countries where everyone thinks they already know the key facts. Geysers. Glaciers. Northern lights. No McDonald's. The Blue Lagoon. And yes, all of that is true.
But the facts that actually make Iceland strange and worth understanding go deeper than the postcard version. An app that tells you whether your date is your cousin. A hot dog stand that outcompetes every chain restaurant that tried to open here. NASA astronauts using Icelandic lava fields as a dress rehearsal for the moon. A parliament older than most European nations that took a 45-year break and then simply resumed.
These 15 facts are the ones that reward paying attention — and the kind of context a good local guide brings on a private Iceland tour.
Geology and landscape
1. You can descend into a volcano by elevator
Thríhnukagígur is a dormant volcano about an hour from Reykjavík with a magma chamber the size of Notre-Dame cathedral. The lava drained away roughly 4,000 years ago, leaving a hollow space 213 metres deep and wide enough to fit a 10-storey building inside. A small cable-mounted platform — essentially an open elevator — lowers visitors into the chamber, past walls striped in red, orange, purple, and black from mineral deposits. It is the only volcano in the world where this is possible. Our Iceland volcanoes and glaciers tour includes the surrounding lava fields; the underground descent is a separate summer-only add-on.
2. NASA trained astronauts here before the moon landing
In the 1960s, NASA sent Apollo crews to Iceland's interior to prepare for the lunar surface. The lava fields around the central highlands — treeless, dark, broken by craters and volcanic ridges — matched the moon's terrain closely enough to use as a geological training ground. The astronauts studied rock formation, practised sampling techniques, and learned to navigate a landscape designed to disorient. Neil Armstrong walked across Icelandic lava before he walked on the moon.
3. The international airport sits in the middle of a lava field
Keflavik International Airport, Iceland's main gateway, was built directly on top of a hardened lava field. The landscape around it is flat, dark, and almost entirely devoid of vegetation — which means that the first thing most visitors see when they land is something that looks genuinely alien. This is not an accident of location. It is simply where the lava stopped.
4. Bread baked underground using geothermal heat
Hverabrað is a traditional rye bread baked by burying the dough in the ground near a hot spring. The pot sits underground for 24 hours while the earth — heated by geothermal activity — does the work. The result is dense, moist, and slightly sweet. The method is still used in a handful of places across Iceland, including near Mývatn in the north, where visitors can watch the pot being dug up. It is not a tourist gimmick; it has been done this way for generations.
5. Iceland once had the largest banana plantation in Europe
In a country where outdoor temperatures regularly drop below freezing, Iceland ran the biggest banana greenhouse operation on the continent — powered entirely by geothermal heat. The tradition of growing subtropical crops under glass continues today: Icelandic greenhouses produce tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and flowers year-round without burning a single litre of fossil fuel. The heating system that keeps these greenhouses running is the same one that warms most Icelandic homes.
Culture and society
6. There is an app to check if your date is your cousin
Íslendingabók, the Book of Icelanders, is a national genealogy database that traces every Icelander's lineage back to the original Viking settlers. From it came a smartphone app with a feature locals call the "incest prevention button." Bump two phones together and the app tells you whether the two users share a recent common ancestor. In a country of 400,000 people where most families have been here for over a thousand years, the question is rarely whether you are related to someone — it is how closely.
7. Babies sleep outside in winter
It is normal across the Nordic countries, but Iceland takes it seriously: infants sleep their afternoon nap outdoors in prams, even in temperatures well below freezing. The belief — backed by some research — is that cold, fresh air improves sleep quality and builds resilience. Visitors who notice an apparently abandoned pushchair outside a café or shop are not witnessing neglect. The parent is inside, watching through the window, following a practice that has been common here for decades.
8. Television went dark every Thursday — and the entire month of July
Until 1987, Iceland had one television channel, and it did not broadcast on Thursdays. The logic, when the decision was made in the 1960s, was that a weekly break would push people toward books, conversation, and outdoor activity. July was blacked out entirely for the same reason. Midsummer broadcasts only began in 1983. Thursday programmes only returned in 1987. The country legislated its own screen-free time a generation before anyone was discussing digital detox.
9. The government decides what you can name your child
Iceland has a formal naming committee, the Þskurnefnandórar, that approves or rejects new given names. A name must fit Icelandic grammar, work correctly in all cases and genders, and cause no embarrassment to the child. Names that fail on linguistic or cultural grounds are rejected. The system exists partly to preserve the patronymic naming tradition — where a child's surname is formed from the parent's first name, meaning surnames change every generation. There are no family names in the traditional sense. The prime minister goes by first name.
10. The police have no guns — and run one of Iceland's most popular Instagram accounts
Icelandic police officers do not carry firearms on duty. Guns are kept in locked compartments in patrol cars and only issued in specific, pre-approved threat scenarios. The special armed unit, called the Víkingasverð, has been deployed a handful of times in the country's history. The unarmed everyday police, meanwhile, run @logreglan on Instagram — a feed of cats, coffee, community events, and good-natured local humour. Iceland has topped the Global Peace Index for 15 consecutive years. The two facts may be connected.
History
11. The last McDonald's burger sold here is on display in a museum
McDonald's operated in Reykjavík for a few years in the early 2000s. The 2008 financial crash hit Iceland hard and pushed import costs so high that the franchise became unworkable. The last cheeseburger sold, on 31 October 2009, was purchased by a man who immediately donated it to a hostel as an exhibit. It is still there, still visible via a live webcam stream, still apparently intact. Over 15 years old, it has become a small monument to the limits of globalisation in a country that simply makes better food.
12. Reykjavík hosted the meeting that helped end the Cold War
In October 1986, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in a small house called Hofdi in Reykjavík for a two-day summit. It was the first serious negotiation over nuclear disarmament between the two superpowers and is widely credited as the moment that shifted the trajectory of the Cold War toward its conclusion. Iceland was chosen partly for its neutrality, partly for its geography. The Hofdi House is still standing and open to visitors.
13. The biggest chess match in history also happened here
Six years before the Cold War summit, Iceland hosted a different kind of geopolitical contest. The 1972 World Chess Championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky was held in Reykjavík and broadcast globally as a proxy battle between American individualism and Soviet collectivism. Fischer's erratic demands, last-minute appearances, and eventual victory made the match one of the most-watched sporting events of the decade. A small country of 200,000 people found itself at the centre of the world's attention for two months.
14. Before the Vikings, Irish monks may have already been living here
Icelandic sagas mention a group called the Pápar — Irish or Scottish monks who had sailed to the island in search of solitude and are said to have left when the Norse settlers arrived, reportedly because they disliked the company. No settlement remains have been conclusively identified, but a handful of artefacts with possible Irish origins have been found at early sites. The received history of Iceland begins with Ingólfur Arnarson in 874 AD. What happened before that remains genuinely open.
Natural phenomena
15. Iceland is one of the few places on Earth where you can see red northern lights
The aurora borealis is usually green, occasionally purple or white. Red aurora — caused by oxygen molecules at very high altitudes during intense geomagnetic storms — is rare almost everywhere. Iceland's combination of latitude, minimal light pollution outside the capital, and frequent auroral activity makes it one of the most reliable places to see red displays when conditions are right. Most aurora tourists come expecting green; some leave having seen something that most people never see in a lifetime of aurora-chasing.
The window for northern lights runs from late August through April. Our Iceland winter tours include dedicated aurora evenings in locations chosen for minimal light interference.
Planning a visit
Most of what is above is within reach of a standard Iceland itinerary. The volcano descent at Thríhnukagígur runs in summer only; the ice caves and aurora are winter exclusives. The rest — lava fields, geothermal bread, volcanic landscape — is accessible year-round.
Iceland rewards travellers who go slightly off the obvious route. The Golden Circle and the south coast are outstanding; so are the Westfjords, the north coast around Mývatn, and the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, all of which see a fraction of the visitor numbers. Our Iceland self-drive holidays include routing that covers both the well-known sights and the places most people drive past.
For first-time visitors unsure where to start, the full range of options is on our Iceland tours page — self-drive, small group, and private itineraries across all seasons.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most surprising fact about Iceland?
Depends on what surprises you. For most visitors, the scale of what the country packs into a small area is the first shock: active volcanoes, glaciers, geysers, and northern lights are all within a few hours of each other. For people who dig deeper, the cultural details tend to land harder — the genealogy app, the naming committee, the no-guns police with 15 years at the top of the Global Peace Index.
Is Iceland really that unusual compared to other Nordic countries?
Iceland shares some Nordic traits — high trust, gender equality, outdoors culture — but its geology and isolation have pushed the culture in directions the mainland countries did not go. The patronymic naming system, the elf beliefs, the geothermal bread, the no-army-no-McDonald's combination: these are specifically Icelandic. Norway and Sweden have mountains and fjords. Iceland also has active volcanoes, a visible tectonic rift, and an ancestry database built to prevent accidental family dates.
Can you actually go inside a volcano?
Yes, at one specific volcano: Thríhnukagígur, about an hour from Reykjavík. The descent runs from May to October and requires advance booking. The magma chamber is 213 metres deep, dry, and stable — the volcano has been dormant for around 4,000 years. It is the only accessible magma chamber in the world.
What is the Icelandic naming system?
Iceland uses a patronymic system: a child's last name is formed from their father's (or, less commonly, mother's) first name. A son of Jón becomes Jónsson; a daughter becomes Jónsdóttir. This means last names change every generation and cannot be used to track family lineage. The Naming Committee ensures any new given names fit grammatically into the Icelandic language.
Does Iceland have any mosquitoes?
No. Iceland is one of a very small number of countries where mosquitoes genuinely cannot survive — the combination of cold temperatures, rapidly changing weather conditions, and the absence of suitable standing water for breeding makes the island inhospitable to them. This is not a minor detail if you are planning a summer hike or camping trip.
Is Iceland good for self-drive travel?
It is one of the best countries in the world for it. The Ring Road circles the entire island and is paved and well-maintained. Highland F-roads, which open in summer, require a 4x4 and give access to the remote interior. Most of the country's main attractions are roadside or within a short walk of a parking area. Driving is both the cheapest and most flexible way to see the country.