The Things Worth Carrying Home from Iceland

The Icelandic Nature collection by Circolo is a line of handcrafted chocolates created in collaboration with photographer Gunnar Gunnarsson. Each piece features a photograph of an Icelandic landscape on the packaging — yours to keep, frame, or hold onto. Four flavours, each inspired by its image: the volcano, the glacier, the waterfall, the aurora.

The chocolate is made by hand with natural ingredients. The dark chocolate with raspberry dates, dried raspberry and black pepper is a personal favourite — the combination is unexpected and it works.

A word of caution first: many of the lopapeysa sweaters you will see in Reykjavík's tourist shops are not made in Iceland. They are manufactured in China, in the same factories as every other souvenir on the street. They might look like the real thing, but they definitely do not feel it.

Sweaters, hats, gloves, mittens — the quality is immediately apparent when you hold it. This is a gift worth giving, and worth receiving. It carries something a manufactured equivalent never will: the knowledge that a specific person made it, by hand, in Iceland.

LopiHome by Ístex — the farmer-owned cooperative that processes nearly all of Iceland's wool — produces some of the most quietly beautiful blankets I have encountered. We came across one during one of our stays, and liked it so much the one we bought has not left the sofa since.

The blankets are woven from 100% Icelandic wool: lightweight, warm, and durable in a way that synthetic alternatives simply are not. The natural double-layered fleece — soft and insulating on the inside, water-resistant on the outside — is the same material Icelanders have relied on for survival for over a thousand years.

Angan was an unexpected discovery. I used their hair and body care products during my stay and was struck immediately by the scent — botanical, grounded, distinctly Icelandic. The feel on skin and hair was equally impressive: the kind of quality you notice without being able to immediately explain.

What appeals beyond the products themselves is their packaging commitment: glass bottles, recyclable materials, and a stated long-term goal of achieving 100% recyclable and biodegradable packaging across their entire skincare line. 

Friðheimar is the geothermal tomato farm on the Golden Circle — a family operation run by Knútur and Helena, who have been growing tomatoes year-round using Iceland's natural heat since the early 2000s. 

Their Little Tomato Shop produces a range of products from their own harvest: tomato jam, salsa, sauces, cucumber chutney, and more unusual finds like a dessert sauce with green tomatoes and vanilla. Everything is developed by their in-house chef, and the sourcing is completely transparent — you can see the greenhouse the tomatoes came from, from the shop door.