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Lakagígar Crater Row
The crater row is fascinating to explore, riddled with black sand dunes and lava tubes, many of which contain tiny stalactites. At the foot of Laki, marked walking paths lead you in and out of the two nearest craters, including an interesting lava tunnel.
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Tannery Visitor Centre
At 10am and 2pm weekdays you can tour Iceland’s only tannery (Ikr500), or stop by the visitor centre anytime to admire (and purchase) the products: gorgeous sheepskins, colourful leather goods, and unique products made from fish skin processed at the tannery.
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White
The White-Tailed Eagle Centre highlights the attempts to increase the population of the struggling species, which peaked in 2011 at 66 nests. It also has a handicraft and flea market. The centre is just west of the causeway on Rte 60 that crosses Gilsfjörður.
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Sjómannagarður
This small maritime museum houses Bliki, the oldest fishing boat in Iceland, and a cool replica of a fishers turf house, plus loads of old photos and memorabilia. Look for the set of lifting stones once used to test the strength of prospective fishermen.
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Reykhólar Tourist Office Museum
The well-managed tourist office has a little museum with antique boats, stuffed birds and a movie of local life in the 1950s and 60s. Theres a small onsite cafe (snacks Ikr400-1000) with wi-fi and an internet terminal, plus lots of Westfjords information.
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Byggðasafnið Hvoll
Dalvík’s quality folk museum is high on oddball factor. Skip the usual taxidermic characters (yes, another polar bear!) and find the rooms dedicated to the poignant story of local giant Jóhan Pétursson. At 2.34m (almost 7ft 7in), Jóhan was Iceland’s tallest man.
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Earthquake Centre
On 13 January 1976 Kópasker suffered a severe earthquake that destroyed several buildings and cracked the harbour wall. Today, there’s a small earthquake museum , which investigates the quake and other tectonics in Iceland on a series of amateur storyboard posters.
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Ráðhús
Reykjavík’s waterside Ráðhús is a beautifully positioned postmodern construction of concrete stilts, tinted windows and mossy walls rising from Tjörnin. Inside there’s one of the citys top cafe-restaurants, Við Tjörnina , and an interesting 3D map of Iceland.
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Art Gallery Complex
This quaint new complex on the old town waterfront has an upper storey filled with local artists studio-galleries: Gallerý Júlí, Gló and Sóla. Browse crafts made from lava and bones, glassware, jewellery, paintings and more. The complex is also home to Edduveröld .
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Saga Centre
The Saga Centre is a tourist information centre, cafe , library, internet point and small museum rolled into one. The museum displays an old fishing boat and gear, plus a childrens toy collection. Wifi costs Ikr500 per device per hour. They sell national park maps.
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Fólksvangur Neskaupstaðar
At the eastern end of town, where the road runs out, is this lovely nature reserve perfect for short strolls. Various paths run over tiny wooden bridges and past boulders, peat pits, cliffs and the sea, with a soundtrack of crying seabirds. You may see whales offshore.
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Brydebúð
In town, the tin-clad house Brydebúð was built in Vestmannaeyjar in 1831 and moved to Vík in 1895. Today it houses the tourist office, Halldórskaffi and a small museum with displays on local fishing, and explanations of what it’s like to live under the volcano Katla.
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Akureyri Museum
This sweet, well-curated museum houses art and historical items relating to town life, including maps, photos and recreations of early Icelandic homes. The museum garden became the first place in Iceland to cultivate trees when a nursery was established here in 1899.
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Sun
Reykjavík is littered with fascinating sculptures, but it’s Jón Gunnar Árnason’s ship-like Sun-Craft sculpture that seems to catch visitors’ imaginations. Scooping in a skeletal arc along the seaside, it offers a photo shoot with snowcapped mountains in the distance.
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Icelandic Folk & Outsider Art Museum
The eclectic Icelandic Folk & Outsider Art Museum, 12km from Akureyri on Rte 1 (look for the sculpture of a blue man), is a beautiful space filled with sunlight, plantlife and an intriguing array of art (in Icelandic, its name literally means ‘the museum museum’).
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Nonsense Museum
There is little of interest to tourists in Flateyri besides the beautiful scenery and the Nonsense Museum, which contains the private collections of several locals. You’ll find hundreds of pens, matchboxes and model ships showcased in pathologically organised displays.
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Álfaborg
Álfaborg (Elf Rock), the small mound and nature reserve near the campground, is the ‘borg’ that gave Borgarfjörður Eystri its name. Some locals believe that the queen of Icelandic elves lives here. From the ‘view disc’ on top there’s a fabulous vista of the surrounding fields.
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Tækniminjasafn Austurlands
For insight into the town’s fishing and telecommunications history, stop by this worthwhile technical museum. It’s housed in two buildings on Hafnargata: the impressive 1894 home of Norwegian shipowner Otto Wathne (the old telegraph station), and a mechanical workshop from 1907.
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Grettislaug
At Tindastóll’s northern end is a geothermal area, Reykir, that was mentioned in Grettir’s Saga. Grettir supposedly swam ashore from the island of Drangey and soothed his aching bones in an inviting spring. Today, Grettislaug is a popular bathing hole, alongside a second hot-pot.
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Lindarbakki
You can’t miss the village’s hairiest house: bright-red Lindarbakki (1899) is completely cocooned by whiskery green grass, with only a few windows and a giant pair of antlers sticking out. It’s a private home (not open to the public); an information board outside outlines its histo
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