From beer baths to whale-watching to the Northern Lights, Iceland has it all

ICELAND was formed by volcanic fire and founded by Vikings. It is home to the Northern Lights, lava fields, hot springs, waterfalls . . .  and, of course, ice.

The last place I expected to end up was in a bath full of beer.

But after flying for two and a half hours from Liverpool to the toy-sized Akureyri airport on the lesser-known north of the island, before a 30-minute drive to Árskógssandur, here I was.

And it was great.

Beer was banned in Iceland until 1989 but they have made up for lost time. Part-owned by footballer Aron Gunnarsson — who captained his side to a 2-1 win over England at the 2016 Euros — The Beer Spa is one of many new micro-breweries.

Its 25-minute beer therapy gives you a tub and unlimited craft suds on tap. I’m not sure I buy the health benefits of basting yourself in hops. But it’s recommended you don’t shower for five hours afterwards.

Snaking fjords

That was the first in a series of left-field surprises sprung on me — including spotting my first whale.

With a wonderful list of offerings from short-trip specialist Super Break, there is much more to Iceland than the Northern Lights . . . though Super Break does that too.

If you take a self-drive trip with Superbreak you can add all sorts of extra activities including the chance to spot whales, dolphins and more on a trip from Husavik the whale watching capital of Europe.

There’s also a whale museum in the town and you can base yourself at the Fosshotel Husavik to be close the action.

Working with local travel firms Visit North Iceland and Geo Travel, Super Break is the only firm that can get you direct flights from any of ten regional UK airports to Akureyri.

From there you can discover the island’s untapped north — a rural, more authentic experience than the better-known south.

The basic three-day package, at £499pp, includes a night searching for the Northern Lights and the Land Of Fire & Ice tour.

The latter takes you to Lake Myvatn, a serene volcanic lake frozen over in winter, as well as the Godafoss Waterfall, boiling mud pools in Namafjall and a farm in Vogafjos.

Add-ons include brewery and food tours, outdoor excursions and trips to where Game Of Thrones is filmed.

For £26, bathe in the Myvatn Nature Baths, geothermal pools where you can recline with a drink.

Treats from £50 to £100 include whale-watching, snowshoe-walking and skiing. Dogsledding is £199 or take a £140 tour of Dettifoss Water- falls — Europe’s most powerful falls.

At £128.50, snowmobiling to Lake Myvatn is mind-boggling. Whoosh over icy hills where a volcanic peaks stretch into dark-red sky.

After a thrilling half-hour, we arrived at a frozen lake, where our guide — a friendly 6ft 7in Viking called Ásgeir — told us to kill the engine and tune into the silence of this beautiful wilderness.

One moment you are driving past bubbling fields of mud and sulphur. The next you can gawk at ice lakes and frozen waterfalls, then descend snow-caked mountains beside snaking fjords.

At Dimmuborgir, there is a sea of giant lava rocks which folklore says are trolls tricked into staying in the sunlight by elves who stole control of the Northern Lights from them.

The choice of hotels in Iceland is fabulous, from 5H luxury in quaint fishing towns to more rugged escapes in the mountains.