Iceland

Iceland is a landscape that seems to dictate its own architecture. Volcanoes, lava fields, glaciers, black-sand beaches and geothermal landscapes leave little room for unnecessary decoration, and the country’s best buildings respond with similar restraint. Traditional turf houses and colourful corrugated-iron buildings coexist with stark Nordic Modernism and increasingly ambitious contemporary architecture. Reykjavík provides the creative centre, but beyond the capital, remote structures built from timber, concrete, glass and local stone often feel almost absorbed by the landscape.

Food and drink are more interesting than Iceland’s remote geography might suggest. Exceptional seafood, lamb, dairy and ingredients grown with geothermal energy form the foundations of contemporary Icelandic cooking, while chefs increasingly explore wild herbs, seaweed and traditional preservation techniques. Reykjavík combines ambitious restaurants with bakeries, specialty coffee, craft breweries and a lively bar culture, while outside the city some of the most memorable meals are found in remarkably isolated settings.

Iceland’s most compelling hotels make the country’s extraordinary landscape part of the architecture. Remote lodges, converted farmhouses, contemporary retreats and design-led city hotels offer places to slow down between waterfalls, hot springs and seemingly endless roads. At DNA Hotels, we curate the places where architecture, food and nature become inseparable—hotels that understand the greatest luxury in Iceland is not excess, but the feeling of being completely immersed in one of the world’s most elemental landscapes.