Why travel to a frozen landscape, rather than bask in a tropical paradise?
Why travel to a frozen landscape, rather than bask in a tropical paradise? For the uplifting feeling of being at the northernmost extremity of the globe, of having reached somewhere otherworldly. For the scale, the emptiness, the invigorating cold, the staggering natural beauty, the well-adapted wildlife, and even the astounding colours (honestly). Ask anyone who has watched rays of copper light streaming low across the skies of Greenland, glinting off icebergs tinged with turquoise and emerald. Or those who have travelled to Spitsbergen, and seen the cliffs of deep blue ice and black ravines, draped with waterfalls in shocking shades of russet and yellow. Even above the Arctic Circle, in summer, you will find vast stretches of green where the mossy earth and birch trees have sprung into life. So where should I start? Iceland is a good bet, even though it lies just south of the Arctic Circle – those dotted lines on the map at 66.5° north indicate the limits of the area that receives 2
