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Old Harbour
Largely a service harbour until recently, the Old Harbour has blossomed into a hot spot for tourists, with several museums, volcano and Northern Lights films and worthwhile restaurants. Whale-watching and puffin-viewing trips depart from the pier. Photo ops abound with views of fis
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Reykjavík Art Museum
The excellent Reykjavík Art Museum is split over three well-done sites: the large, modern downtown Hafnarhús focusing on contemporary art; Kjarvalsstaðir , in a park just east of Snorrabraut, and displaying rotating exhibits of modern art; and Ásmundarsafn , a peaceful haven near L
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Tjörnin
This placid lake at the centre of the city is sometimes locally called the Pond. It echoes with the honks and squawks of over 40 species of visiting birds, including swans, geese and Arctic terns; feeding the ducks is a popular pastime for the under-fives. Pretty sculpture-dotted p
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Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús
Reykjavík Art Museums Hafnarhús is a marvelously restored warehouse converted into a soaring steel-and-concrete exhibition space. Though the well-curated exhibitions of cutting-edge contemporary Icelandic art change frequently (think installations, videos, paintings and sculpture),
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National Gallery of Iceland
This pretty stack of marble atriums and spacious galleries overlooking Tjörnin offers ever-changing exhibits drawn from the 10,000-piece collection. The museum can only exhibit a small sample at any time; shows range from 19th- and 20th-century paintings by Iceland’s favourite sons
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Búrfell Hydroelectric Power Station
On Rte 32, before it crosses the Þjórsá, the high-tech and hands-on Búrfell hydroelectric plant, decorated by one of Sigurjón Ólafsson’s largest sculptures, allows visitors to its really engrossing multimedia centre, complete with games for generating hydroelectric power and exhibi
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Breiðafjörður
Stykkishólmur’s jagged peninsula pushes north into stunning Breiðafjörður, a broad waterway separating the Snæfellsnes from the looming cliffs of the distant Westfjords. According to local legend, there are only two things in the world that cannot be counted: the stars in the night
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Borg á Mýrum
The farm, Borg á Mýrum, just northwest of Borgarnes on Rte 54, is the site where Skallagrímur Kveldúlfsson, Egils father, made his farm at Settlement. Named for the large rock (borg ) behind the farmstead (private property), you can walk up to the cairn for views all around. You ca
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Sólheimajökull
One of the easiest glacial tongues to reach is Sólheimajökull. This icy tongue unfurls from the main Mýrdalsjökull ice cap and is a favourite spot for glacial walks and ice climbing. A 4.2km rutted dirt track (Rte 221) leads off the Ring Road to a small car park and Cafe Solheimajö
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Norska Húsið
Stykkishólmur’s quaint maritime charm comes from the cluster of wooden warehouses, shops and homes orbiting the town’s harbour. Most date back about 150 years. One of the most interesting (and oldest) is the Norska Húsið, now the regional museum. Built by trader and amateur astrono
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Steinasafn Petru
The wondrous assemblage at Petras Stone Collection was Petra Sveinsdóttir’s lifelong labour of love. Inside her house, stones and minerals are piled from floor to ceiling – 70% of them are from the local area. They include beautiful cubes of jasper, polished agate, purple amethyst,
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Reynisfjara
On the west side of Reynisfjall , the high ridge above Vík, Rte 215 leads 5km down to the black-sand beach at Reynisfjara. The raw beach is backed by an incredible stack of basalt columns that look like a magical church organ and there are outstanding views west to Dyrhólaey. The s
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Víkingaheimar
At the eastern end of Njarðvíks waterfront, the spectacular Víkingaheimar is a Norse exhibition centre built in one beautiful, sweeping architectural gesture. The centrepiece is 23m-long Íslendingur, an exact reconstruction of the Viking Age Gokstad longship. It was built almost si
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Westfjords Heritage Museum
Part of a cluster of historic wooden buildings by the harbour, the Westfjords Heritage Museum is in the Turnhús (1784) which was originally a warehouse. It is crammed with fishing and nautical exhibits, tools from the whaling days, fascinating old photos depicting town life over th
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Laugardalur
Laugardalur encompasses a verdant stretch of land 4km east of the centre. It was once the main source of Reykjavík’s hot-water supply: it translates as ‘Hot-Springs Valley, and in the parks centre youll find relics from the old wash house. The park is a favourite with locals for it
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Reykjavík Art Museum – Ásmundarsafn
There’s something immensely playful about Ásmundur Sveinsson’s (1893–1982) vast collection of sculptures housed in the studio and museum he designed: the rounded, white Ásmundarsafn. Monumental concrete creations fill the garden outside, while the peaceful haven of the interlocking
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Eldheimar
More than 400 buildings lie buried under lava from the 1973 eruption, and on the edge of the flow ‘Pompei of the North’ is a new musuem revolving around one house excavated from 50m of pumice, along what was formerly Suðurvegur. The modern volcanic-stone building allows a glimpse i
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Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft
The award-winning Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft is by the central harbour. Unlike the witches of the infamous Salem trials in New England, almost all of Iceland’s convicted witches were men. Most of their occult practices were simply old Viking traditions or supersti
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The Alþingi
Near the dramatic Almannagjá fault and fronted by a boardwalk is the Lögberg (Law Rock), where the Alþing convened annually. This was where the lögsögumaður (law speaker) recited the existing laws to the assembled parliament (one third each year). After Iceland’s conversion to Chri
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Samúel Jónssons Art Museum
At the tip of the Arnarfjörður, local artist Samúel Jónsson lived out his remaining years at a remote farm in Selárdalur, and filled his days by creating a series of ‘naive’, cartoonlike sculptures. Visitors can peruse the surreal remains. Called Samúel Jónssons Art Museum, theres
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