Famous film locations in Iceland

A 3,4-kilometre looping trail in South Iceland leads to Hjörleifur’s burial mound, surrounded by wildflowers and epic views of the Mýrdalssandur black sand coastline. The 221-metre (725-foot)-high inselberg Hjörleifshöfði is named after the brother of the island’s first settler, Ingólfur Arnarsson. The area was used as a shooting location for the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, posing as planet Lah’ mu in the film’s opening scenes. Coincidentally, a nearby attraction, Gýgagjá, has been nicknamed ‘Yoda Cave’ because seaside erosion has carved out the cavern’s entrance into this strange alien’s shape, ears and all.

Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon provides much nostalgia for those with a keen memory of action cinema, not mentioning 90s kids in general. For not only was Pierce Brosnan’s suave take on 007 pursued across this glittering ice lake in 2002’s Die Another Day, but Jökulsárlón also backdropped for Siberia in the opening three minutes of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). It’s easy to see why Hollywood sought to immortalise Jökulsárlón in celluloid when standing on the banks of this aquamarine lagoon.

Fans of Ben Stiller films will recognise Stykkishólmur town from the fantasy-drama, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). The town stood in for Greenland, and features in a famous scene where co-star Kristen Wiig sings a cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. Her rendition of this timeless classic motivates Walter into boarding a helicopter piloted by a drunken sailor – played by the Icelandic icon, Ólafur Darri – with the two of them flying over the islands of Breiðafjörður. Other locations in Iceland were used to stand in for Afghanistan and the Himalayas, thus proving the versatility of Iceland’s landscape.

Ridley Scott returned to his successful Alien franchise with Prometheus (2012), an epic science-fiction movie about a group of explorers who discover a clue as to mankind’s origins, only to reveal themselves to terrifying interstellar entities. In the film’s iconic opening scene, a humanoid alien drinks a mysterious liquid before dissolving into a nearby waterfall. This scene was shot at Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall and Northeast Iceland’s most beloved natural feature. The attraction is part of the Diamond Circle sightseeing route, alongside Húsavík town and the horseshoe-shaped Ásbyrgi canyon.

HBO’s vision of George R.R Martin’s Game of Thrones used Iceland as a shooting location throughout its eight-season run, with the country substituting for the northernmost region in Westeros, ‘Beyond The Wall’. This is a dangerous place, with Wildlings, White Walkers and vicious storms all vying to keep an adventurer down, be they Lannister, Stark or Targaryen. Visitors to Mývatn will recognise the rock formations Dimmuborgir as Mance Rayder’s Wildling camp from Season 3. Also found in the area is Grjótagjá cave, where Jon Snow’s intimate encounter with Ygritte took place.