Iceland
Dimmuborgir
A collapsed citadel of twisted lava arches where folklore says child-eating trolls dwell.
The lava arches twist overhead like the ribs of a collapsed cathedral, and somewhere in the maze water drips into darkness. Dimmuborgir, beside Lake Mývatn, is a labyrinth of volcanic rock so strange that Icelandic folklore housed its most feared creatures here — the child-snatching Yule Lads.
Dimmuborgir — 'Dark Castles' — formed around 2,300 years ago when a lava lake drained through its own floor, leaving a forest of pillars, arches and caves where the crust cooled standing. The formations feel architectural rather than geological: enclosed passages, open chambers, and at the centre Kirkjan, 'The Church', a vaulted lava cave that could pass for a Gothic chapel. Icelandic Christmas lore settles the thirteen Yule Lads here with their mother, the child-eating ogress Grýla. Marked loops of varying length wind the lava field, and a longer signed route links Dimmuborgir to Hverfjall crater and the fissures of the wider Mývatn volcanic landscape.
Family
The Yule Lad folklore turns a geology walk into a treasure hunt — children peer into every cave looking for trolls, and the marked loops suit all ages.
Friends
A collapsed lava citadel with dark folklore attached: geology lesson, mythology tour and atmospheric adventure in one, with the longer link to Hverfjall for legs that want more.
- A drained lava lake left a labyrinth of arches, pillars and caves 2,300 years ago.
- Folklore houses the thirteen Yule Lads — and their child-eating mother Grýla — in these rocks.
- Kirkjan, a lava cave with a cathedral dome, anchors the maze.
- A signed route links the Dark Castles to Hverfjall crater and Mývatn's volcanic shore.
Kaffi Borgir’s soup buffet comes with bread, coffee and the Mývatn speciality of geothermally baked rye bread.
For a more specific local plate, choose grilled trout or Geysir bread topped with smoked trout.
Togakushi
Japan
A ninja village hidden behind a tunnel of 400-year-old cedars on a sacred mountain.
Monument Valley
United States
Sandstone mittens casting shadows across a rust-coloured desert frozen mid-creation.
Drumheller
Canada
Hoodoos, coulees and the world's dinosaur museum share a badlands valley cut through wheat country.
Bhedaghat
India
Rowboats drift silently down a green river walled by hundred-foot cliffs of pure white marble.
Heimaey
Iceland
An island where houses remain half-buried in volcanic ash beside a million nesting puffins.
Hljóðaklettar
Iceland
The 'Echo Rocks' — a surreal labyrinth of basalt columns twisted into honeycomb and acoustic spirals.
Ísafjörður
Iceland
The Westfjords capital clinging to a spit of land between mountains so steep roads spiral.
Grímsey Island
Iceland
A wind-battered island where you step across the Arctic Circle among a million nesting seabirds.