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Arctic Henge
There are ambitious long-term plans underway to build a massive stone circle on the hill just north of town. When completed, the Arctic Henge will be 50m in diameter with four gates (to represent the seasons) up to 7m in height. The plan is to use the stone henge as a finely tuned
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Arctic Fox Center
Just east of Ísafjörður, the small fishing community of Súðavík has the Arctic Fox Center. The exhibition centre has interesting exhibits detailing the life of the local fox and its relationship with humans and its habitat. The centre sits inside the renovated farmstead of Eyrardal
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Reykjahlíð Church
During the Krafla eruption of 1727, the Leirhnjúkur crater, 11km northeast of Reykjahlíð, kicked off a two-year period of volcanic activity, sending streams of lava along old glacial moraines towards the lakeshore. On 27 August 1729 the flow ploughed through the village, destroying
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Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum
Sculptor Sigurjón Ólafsson (1908–82) used this peaceful seafront building as a studio. Now it showcases his varied, powerful work: portrait busts, driftwood totem poles and abstract pillars. A salty ocean breeze blows through the modern rooms, and the area is interlaced with waterf
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Iðavellir
This is one of the nearest things Iceland has to a tourist trap, with a large shop selling postcards and woollen goods, and a canteen. The new Well of the Norns exhibition is a mazelike area stuffed full of cartoony cut-outs of the Norse gods. A headphone commentary (in English, Ge
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Búðir
Straddling both sides of the Öxará river, you’ll find the ruins of various temporary camps called búðir, (literally booths). These stone foundations were covered during sessions and were where parliament-goers camped. They also acted like stalls at today’s music festivals, selling
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Einar Jónsson Museum
Einar Jónsson (1874–1954) is one of Iceland’s foremost sculptors, famous for intense symbolist works. Chiselled representations of Hope, Earth and Death burst from basalt cliffs, weep over naked women and slay dragons. Jónsson designed the building, which was built between 1916 and
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Snorrastofa
The interesting medieval study centre Snorrastofa is devoted to celebrated medieval poet, historian and statesman Snorri Sturluson, and is built on his old farm, where he was brutally slain. The centre houses displays explaining Snorris life and accomplishments, including a 1599 ed
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Aðalból
Rte F923 (off Rte 910, but for 4WDs only) leads you to the valley of Hrafnkelsdalur, full of sites relating to Hrafnkell’s Saga . The remote farm Aðalból was the home of the saga’s hero, Hrafnkell Freysgoði, and his burial mound is here. There’s a marked saga trail, threading toget
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Safnahúsið
Three collections are clustered together in one bright-red harbourfront warehouse, known as ‘Museum House’. Tryggvasafn showcases a collection of striking paintings by prominent modern artist Tryggvi Ólafsson, born in Neskaupstaður in 1940. Upstairs, the Maritime Museum is one man’
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Gamlabúð
The 1864 warehouse that once served as the regional folk museum has been moved from the outskirts of town to a prime position on the Höfn harbourfront. Its been refurbished to serve as the towns visitor centre, with good exhibits explaining the marvels of the region’s flagship nati
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Íslenska Stríðsárasafnið
During WWII around 3000 Allied soldiers (10 times the local population) were based in Reyðarfjörður. At the top end of Heiðarvegur you’ll find the excellent Icelandic WWII Museum, which details these strange few years. The building is surrounded by mines, Jeeps and aeroplane propel
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Sænautasel
The reconstructed turf farmhouse Sænautasel , dating from 1843, really brings the past to life…plus it sells pancakes and coffee. This is one of several old farms on Jökuldalsheiði that were originally abandoned when Askja erupted in 1875. The building is beside the lake Sænautavat
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Eiríksstaðir Reconstruction
The farm Eiríksstaðir was home to Eiríkur Rauðe (Erik the Red), father of Leifur Eiríksson, the first European to visit America. Although only a faint outline of the original farm remains, a reconstruction turf house was built using only the tools and materials available at the tim
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Gjástykki
This remote rift zone at the northernmost end of the Krafla fissure swarm was the source of the first eruptions in 1724, and was activated when Leirhnjúkur went off again in the 1975 eruptions. Between 1981 and 1984 the area was the main hotspot of activity in the Krafla central vo
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Menningarmiðstoð Kópavogs
The cultural complex Menningarmiðstoð Kópavogs contains Kópavogur’s Natural History Museum , which has an orca skeleton, a good collection of taxidermied animals and geological specimens, and some of Mývatn lake’s odd Marimo balls.You’ll also find Iceland’s first specially designed
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Perlan
The mirrored dome of Perlan covers huge geothermal-water tanks on Öskjuhlíð hill, about 2km from the city centre. The wrap-around viewing deck offers a tremendous 360-degree panorama of Reykjavík and the mountains. There’s a cafe (often busy with tour groups), so in a downpour you
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Waterfront
There are a couple of short waterside paths where you can amble and gape at the views – one by Hótel Höfn, and another round the marshes and lagoons at the end of the promontory Ósland (about 1km beyond the harbour – head for the seamen’s monument on the rise). The latter path is g
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Saga Museum
The endearingly bloodthirsty Saga Museum is where Icelandic history is brought to life by eerie silicon models and a multi-language soundtrack with thudding axes and hair-raising screams. Don’t be surprised if you see some of the characters wandering around town, as moulds were tak
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Cathedral
Completed in 1763, Hólar’s red-sandstone cathedral is the oldest stone church in Iceland and brimming with historical works of art, including a 1674 baptismal font carved from a piece of soapstone that washed in from Greenland on an ice floe. The extraordinary carved altarpiece was
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