Reykjavik

Reykjavík sits on a peninsula of lava rock between Faxaflói bay and the Bláfjöll ridge, which makes it one of the few capital cities where the geography syllabus is visible from the pavement. For groups departing Dubai, the contrast could hardly be sharper: students move from a desert megacity to a low-rise northern capital heated almost entirely by water drawn from beneath its own suburbs.

Perlan, built on the hot-water tanks atop Öskjuhlíð hill, houses the Wonders of Iceland exhibition with its walk-through ice cave and volcano displays, while the Settlement Exhibition at Aðalstræti 16 preserves a tenth-century longhouse wall in situ beneath the modern street. The ON Power Geothermal Exhibition at Hellisheiði, under an hour from the city, shows the turbine hall and Carbfix carbon mineralisation project that supply Reykjavík's electricity and hot water. Closer in, the National Museum of Iceland, the Old Harbour and Grandi district, Tjörnin pond and the Grótta lighthouse and tidal causeway at Seltjarnarnes all sit within a compact teaching radius.