Museums

Exhibition on fisheries and nature by the Glacier -  coffee and cakes  In the Fishermen’s Garden you will find a collection of items reminding one of the local community’s connection to the ocean and how its inhabitants dealt with a life that revolved around fishing in days gone by.

Akranes Library was founded on the 6th of November 1864, originally as a book club. The library has wonderful facilities at Dalbraut 1 and shares its space with Akranes' district archives and the photograph archive. The library has a wide range of books, magazines, CDs, videos and other media.

The unique and remarkable history of the occupation period in Iceland 1940-45 unfolds at the War and Peace Museum. Our exhibition tells the story of how a peaceful countryside was transformed, in the context of world events and its importance to the victory of the Allies in World War 2. Here you can explore our high-quality collection of artifacts and feel the memories from this fateful time of upheaval. During your stop you can relax in our cozy café "The White Falcon", which serves light meals and Icelandic delicacies and check out our collection of souvenirs in the gift shop. Open 1st June - 26th August: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 13:00 to 17:00, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 to 17:00. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Large camping ground for tents and campers. Electric outlets are available and the camping ground has two large charcoal grills, a playground for the children and good restroom facilities. Showers are available and dishwashing facilities as well. The area also offers a dumping station for portable toilets. The camping site is open from June 1st - August 26th.

At Bjarnarhöfn Shark-museum visitors get to experience a unique Icelandic culture. This family owned museum offers you a peak into their history. This family has been involved with sharks for the past four centuries with the only change being they don ‘t fish for sharks anymore, now it‘s only bycatch. At the museum everyone gets a guided tour that explains the six months processing of the shark meet, the sharks biology, the history behind it all and more. Visitors have the opportunity to try the fermented shark and have first hand experience of this traditional Icelandic delicacy. Visitors also have the opportunity to visit the drying house where the shark meat it being processed.

At the Akranes Folk Museum, you can learn about the history of Akranes and its surroundings. The museum was founded and opened in the year 1959 and can be found at Garðaholt 3. Opening hours: Summer: May 15th - September 14th: every day from 11:00-17:00Winter: September 15th - May 14th: Saturdays 13:00-17:00, or upon request Hægt er að leigja stúkuhúsið undir fundarhöld. 

Vatnasafn / Library of water is a long-term project conceived by Roni Horn for a former library in the coastal town of Stykkishólmur in Iceland. The building stands on a promontory overlooking the ocean and the town, and houses an exhibition which reflect Roni Horn’s intimate involvement with the singular geography, geology, climate and culture of Iceland... Water, Selected is a constellation of 24 glass columns containing water collected from ice from some of the major glaciers around Iceland. The glass columns refract and reflect the light onto a rubber floor embedded with a field of words in Icelandic and English which relate to the weather – inside or outside. The sculpture installation offers a space for private reflection whilst accommodating a wide variety of community uses. In a small side room, visitors can look at Roni Horn’s ongoing series of books made in Iceland, To Place and listen to a selection of people talking about the weather. Through 2005 and 2006, at the instigation of Horn, writer Oddny Eir Ævarsdóttir, her brother archaeologist Uggi Ævarsson and their father, radio broadcaster Ævar Kjartansson interviewed around a hundred individuals from Stykkishólmur and the surrounding area about the weather. Weather Reports You presents these spoken testimonies as a collective self-portrait of a country where the weather is strongly present in everyday life. The lower floor of Vatnasafn / Library of Water is a private writers’ studio where each year writers are invited to spend a number of months living and working. The residencies alternate between Iceland-based and overseas writers, and have so far included Guðrún Eva Mínervudóttir, Rebecca Solnit, Anne Carson, Oskar Arni Oskarsson and Oddny Eir Ævarsdóttir. Commissioned and produced in 2007 by Artangel with The Town of Stykkishólmur, The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, The Ministry of Communications and the Icelandic Parliament. Opening hours: June 1st -August 31st: 11:00-17:00 Tickets for the Library of Water are sold at the Norwegian House. Admission 2022: Adults ISK 830,- Students, senior citizens and groups ISK 675,- Free for under 18 Stykkishólmur Museum Pass - all museums: Adults ISK 2.080,-

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.

Soffia´s Toy Museum consists of Óskar Elínar Jóhannesdóttur toy collection and the toy collection formerly found at Iðnó, in addition to toys donated by patriots. The museum is open to everyone who enjoys old toys but we ask guests not to touch the pieces found in the museum. Donations to further the museum are greatly appreciated.

Borgarnes Museum - Community Center, Archives and Library, Borgarnes, Iceland. Summer opening hours (June, July, August):Mondays - Fridays from 10:00 - 17:00Saturdays: 11:00 - 14:00Sundays: closed

The Agricultural Museum of Iceland presents the agricultural heritage and seeks to explain the history of Icelandic agriculture. The museum has an extensive collection of farm artifacts. For example, the first horse-driven equipment and the first tractors imported to Iceland, as well as the more modern artifacts of current times. The museum has Iceland´s largest collection of farm machinery which goes back to 1880. The visitor center for birdlife in Andakill is part of the museum. The museum offers guidance to the history of Hvanneyri, agricultural education and information on agriculture in Iceland today, beside visit to Hvanneyri church, one of the beautiful old churches in the countryside. Opening hours: Open daily 15th May - 15th September from 11-17 During wintertime (16th of September - 14th of May) opening hours are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 13-17 and upon request.

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 May to October.