Iceland

Iceland looks like the planet showing off. Waterfalls you can walk behind. Black sand beaches strewn with diamonds of glacial ice. Geysers, lava fields, glacier lagoons where seals weave between icebergs. And all of it within a day's drive of a capital full of coffee, design and unreasonably good food. We plan Iceland in two moods. Summer is the midnight sun: highland super-jeep days, puffin cliffs, hot rivers you hike to and then soak in. Winter is the aurora: ice caves glowing blue, snowmobiles across glaciers, and nights watching green fire move across the sky from your own outdoor hot tub. Distances are short, lodges are superb, and self-drive or private guide both work brilliantly. Iceland is the easiest bucket-list country there is.