Saga & Heritage

Offering a wealth of information, the Settlement Center provides a wonderful insight into Iceland’s history. It also gives you the chance to put your visit into the context of the country’s past. The exhibitions recreate the fascinating drama of the sagas and the birth of this island nation. They also bring to life one of Iceland’s most important cultural treasures, Egils Saga.  

Norwegian house: The regional museum  of Snæfellsnes The Norwegian house, built in 1832, was the first wood-frame residence with two full-sized storeys in Iceland. The wood was imported from Norway hence the name. It was the home of Árni Ó. Thorlacius (1802–1891) and Anna M. Steenback (1807–1894) and has been renovated partially back to its original style. The Norwegian house serves as the regional museum for the Snæfellsnes area with an open storage on the top floor and 
rotating exhibitions on the lower level as well as a museum shop with handicraft, sweets and products from the area.  Opening hours: June 1st - August 31st: Every day from 11-17. May: Every day from 13-16. Stykkishólmur Museum Pass - Norwegian House and Water Library: Adults ISK 2.080,- Tickets for the Library of Water are sold at the Norwegian House.

The Leif Eiriksson center is an exciting destination for all ages, where stories of the voyages of Erik the Red and his son Leif the Lucky (also called Leifur Eiríksson), discovering parts of Greenland, Canada and the US, are presented in a new exhibition, consisting of works from ten renowned Icelandic visual artists. An audio guide will lead you through the history as you view the magical world of the exhibition. Afterwards you can enjoy a quick bite to eat or some good coffee on the ground floor.  Open daily from 10-16. 

Ólafsdalur by Gilsfjörður, history of 1000 years Ólafsdalur is a small valley, surrounded by high mountains, where the first acriculture school in Iceland was established in 1880. The beautiful school-building is from 1896. Remains of many other buildings and man made remains from 1880-1900. Recently found remains of a Viking longhouse from 9-10th century.  Opening hours: 12:00-17:00 from July 25th - August 15th. Ólafsdalur family festival will be held August 14th.   

Location

Discover the charm of Icelandic folks songs with Travel Tunes Iceland in Akranes. Would you like to meet local musicians and have a fun, unique experience?Travel Tunes Iceland offer you their wonderful music program introducing Icelandic folk songs. We are a family of three, musicians Vala (Valgerður) and Doddy (Þórður) and our daughter Sylvía. We live in a small fishing town called Akranes in Icelands West region, only a 40 minutes drive from Reykjavík. Small groups can visit us in our own home for a living room concert. For larger groups we can invite you to a concert in an old, charming house in the beautiful Akranes Folk museum area, in Akranes lighthouse or in our brand new activity center, called Smiðjuloftið. Please contact us for information on prices, locations and booking.

Come and join us in the 10th century. Let's sit by the fire and meet storytellers, telling renowned tales of the 10th century Iceland. You can try real Viking tools and get to know the craftsmanship, architecture and Viking clothing, all made by hand with original tools and methods.  Our storytellers are well versed in the history of the farm, its inhabitants and the Viking age. Tours are on-going throughout the day, you can pop in at any time.  Open every day 10am to 5pm, from the 1st of May to the 15th of October.