Iceland

Riding in 4x4s over raging rivers and up near vertical trails, our travellers enjoyed hiking in Þórsmörk Valley, through the wild thyme (indeed) at Lake Mývatn, behind the spectacular 200ft waterfall at Seljalandsfoss (Icelandic for “mental carwash”) and across glacial moraine to what geologists call pseudo-craters (they looked convincing to us).

Energized by nearly 24 hours of daylight during the Icelandic summer, our travellers made the most of every day away from the boardrooms of Asia. They snorkelled in Lake Þingvellir, where you can look down through crystal waters into the Silfra Crack, a fissure between the shifting American and Eurasian tectonic plates that seems to lead straight to the centre of the Earth. On the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, our group tried the fishermen’s secret test of strength, and in Stykkishólmur they visited the Library of Water (where no volume is ever overdue). Then there was Vatnajökull Glacier by snowmobile, white-water rafting down a remote river, horseback riding over the barrens, whale watching from jet boats and relaxing in geothermal pools. Plus a chartered flight to enjoy world-class salmon fishing, followed by golf under the midnight sun at Grimsey, home of the Arctic Open.

We handpicked several of Iceland’s finest hotels: Ranga in the south, Kea in Akureyri, Budir in Snaefellsnes and the famed 101 in Reykjavik. We also went beyond the usual with a stay at an ice palace hotel and another festive night in fishermen’s cottages on an island inhabited by puffins.

Of course, your Iceland adventure could be something else all together. You may want to travel by helicopter or dogsled – or join a team of volcanologists journeying by Icelandic pony to Eyjafjallajökull (they’ll teach you how to pronounce it). We’ll introduce you to the filmmakers who worked on Die Another Day and Tomb Raider, or the top music producers and club promoters who make Reykjavik one of Europe’s coolest capitals. We’ll even get you into the Westman Islands Music Festival, where locals celebrate their 1874 semi-independence from Denmark by donning bizarre dress and running from bar to volcanic hot pool to freezing sea and back to bar again. Which pretty well sums up the Icelandic travel ethos: With one main road circling the country, you never get lost. Or too lost. You just end up in that most comforting of destinations – back at the beginning.