Akranes Folk Museum opened the doors to a new and renovated exhibition in the spring of 2021 and was the exhibition nominated for the Icelandic Museum Awards 2022. The exhibition discovers everyday life in Akranes and Hvalfjarðarsveit and the development from a farmers and fishing village in the 17th century to a modern day society in the 21st century. The exhibition …
Akranes Lighthouse
The Akranes lighthouse (50 km north from Reykjavik) is a delightful place to visit, any time of the year. Away from bright lights, tourists and residents flock to the site in winter to catch a glimpse of the northern lights dancing and flickering in the sky. In the summer, you can see locals having a picnic outside the lighthouse, and …
War and Peace Museum
The War & Peace Museum in Hvalfjörður (Whale Fjord) opened in 2012. It traces a unique and remarkable history of occupation from 1940 to 1945, a story that transformed a more peaceful countryside into a setting for world events and was crucial to the Allies’ victory during World War II. Here you can see an elaborate collection of monuments and …
The Fishermen’s Garden
Hellissandur is one of the oldest fishing villages in Iceland. In the olden times, there was a big fishing centre there, with some 60 seasonal fishermen’s huts back in the year 1700. The Fishermen’s Garden was established by local fishermen in 1977-78 and depicts the way fishermen lived and worked. There is both a Maritime Museum and a Fishermen’s Garden …
Storytellers of Snæfellsnes
Sagnaseiður on Snæfellsnes peninsula is an association interested in the historical heritage and storytelling traditions in Snæfellsnes. The aim of the association is to collect, preserve and communicate the historical heritage of the area in various ways. Some members of the association have developed a unique service in the form of storytelling. They welcome visitors and offer a chat about …
Visit West Iceland
In West Iceland, there’s history at every footstep. Tour the Saga Trail in West Iceland and visit the sites of the Icelandic sagas and folk stories and notable historical events. Most of the Icelandic sagas were written in West Iceland, including Egil’s saga, Sturlunga saga, Laxdæla saga and Eyrbyggja saga, so “Sagaland” is an apt description for the region. In …
Agricultural Museum of Iceland
In Hvanneyri, the heart of the Borgarfjörður countryside, you’ll find the Agricultural Museum of Iceland. This is the perfect place to learn about the Icelandic agriculture’s significant history, observe old tools and equipment, and think about farming’s future developments. The museum puts particular emphasis on the early technological era. Among its most notable objects are tools used in Iceland’s first …
The Settlement Center
The Settlement Center in Borgarnes takes visitors on a magical journey through Egil’s saga and the story of Iceland’s settlement; two interesting exhibitions. The Egil´s exhibition is dedicated to Egill Skallagrímsson, poet, warrior, and one of the Icelandic sagas’ most colorful characters in the 10th century. The exhibition takes visitors through the magical and mythical storyline of Egil’s saga. Scenes …
Eiríksstaðir
Warm yourself up by the long fire in the reconstructed longhouse in Eiríksstaðir and listen to a storyteller in Viking clothing tell about the inhabitants. The place can be called the „cradle of new worlds“ because it was here that Eirik The Red built a farm and started a family with his wife Þjóðhildur. Eirik was later the first Norseman to settle …
The Leif Eiriksson Center
The Leif Eiriksson Center in Búðardalur in Dalir is edicated to explorer Leif the Lucky and his father Eric the Red. The exhibiton traces the Saga of the Greenlanders and the Saga of Erik the Red, documenting their discoveries of parts of Greenland and North America. According to the tale, Leif arrived in America in the year 1000 AD, about …
Snorrastofa í Reykholti
Snorrastofa er menningar og miðaldasetur í Reykholti, reist sagnaritaranum, fræðimanninum og höfðingjanum Snorra Sturlusyni (1179–1241) og verkum hans. Snorrastofa veitir ferðamönnum þjónustu og fræðslu í Gestastofu. Hún er á jarðhæð Reykholtskirkju – Snorrastofu, en þar er sýning um Snorra Sturluson, auk þess sem boðið er upp á styttri og lengri kynningar um miðaldir, Snorra og Reykholt. Þar er einnig rekin …