Aug 7, 2024
Well-crafted exhibits - Well thought-out exhibit spaces that, when viewed using the easy-to-use audio guide (which offers narration in about a dozen languages) were really informative in providing the history of Iceland's settlement, and in illustrating the life of Egil and his family who lived nearby, based on the old sagas. The reception area includes a nice gift shop with a cool architectural feature -- it has been built against a rock-face which juts right into the shop space itself. Rock in all its volcanic forms is so present in the Icelandic landscape and would have been a key part (hurdle) of the settlement experience 1200 years ago, so we appreciated it as an appropriate yet unexpected touch to the building. The toilets on site were free, and they were clean and bright but could benefit from a bit of refreshing (the stall in one would not lock and the seat was defective in another). There is a cafe attached to the museum which looked nice and smelled very good but we didn't stay to eat. On one side of the Settlement Centre is the sea and on the other is convenient parking. Recommend and would return again.
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Jul 24, 2024
Lovely Gem of A Museum - Lovely little gem of a museum. The audio tour was interesting and informative. One tour about the settlement of Iceland was upstairs and then the second audio tour was downstairs and explained one of the Sagas. The main floor had a cute gift shop and books and a free restrooms. The staff were genuinely invested in the museum. We learned a lot and it created a desire to learn more about the history of Iceland and the Sagas.Don’t forget to go to the restaurant after the tour for free samples of whey.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 1, 2024
Interesting exhibits and good food - The museum has 2 exhibits: one about the settlement of iceland and one about Egil's saga. Both are very interesting and well done. The settlement exhibit in particular is very interactive. We also had lunch in the restaurant and it was excellent.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 12, 2023
The saga exhibition is great - The settlement part of the exhibition was okay but the Saga exhibition was really interesting and enjoyable. I’d like to learn more about the sagas. Take the headphones for the self guided tour or you’ll have no idea what you’re walking around, you especially need them for the saga. The young man on the reception desk who sold us our tickets was fantastic, great sense of humour and a lot of fun…wish we’d got his name, he’s a big asset to the place. It’s not cheap, I think it was overpriced but to be fair everything in Iceland is expensive and I think this place needs the money to keep going. Gift shop and restaurant on site.
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Jul 2, 2023
very informative about the Viking settlement of Iceland - two parts museun, first part abpoyt the Viking settlement of Iceland, the second part about the Viking families and sagas less interesting to me
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Sep 10, 2024
Not worth it - Honestly not a very impressive display, tedious detail… a few interesting points but the names and places all start to run together. Not for young children. Gift shop crazy expensive- even for Iceland!
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Sep 5, 2024
Quirky and Amateurish - I don’t know this is recommended in guidebooks and has great reviews on TripAdvisor. Some of it is interesting and creative, but overall I would describe it as more “quirky” and bit amateurish. Definitely not going out of your way for. And I don’t know if it can be qualified to be called a museum - there’s no actual exhibits! I did find a cool book at the gift shop though!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 31, 2024
Maybe good for grown ups - Not great for young kids. 4 and 6 year old thought the audio guides were boring and the sculptures (especially the saga) were too scary. There’s really nothing else other than the gift shop they can participate in. They liked the moving ship in the settlement exhibit and jammed on a bunch of buttons for a while in some of the other exhibits. Mostly a bust for them, and my wife and I didn’t really get to listen to the stories since we were dealing with the kids.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 14, 2024
Decent experience if lousy weather - We enjoyed the first 30 minute tour which was mostly the history of the settling of Iceland. The second 30 minute tour is more on folklore. We did not enjoy the second half as much. The gift shop and staff are lovely. They offer the Audio tour in 16 languages. I recommend this place on a lousy weather day only as it’s an expensive hour for two people.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 23, 2024
Very highly priced - This was a stop on our way to the peninsula. First, we couldn’t find it. This was because it was small and poorly signed. Like many others we went to a large red building with the word “museum” written on it. We were redirected by a sign on that building’s door. Finally we found it. We were going to enter this attraction until we were told the entry fee is 3500 isk, about $30US which is extremely expensive for what it is (read the reviews). An unnamed, world renowned museum in NYC is priced the same! Don’t go.
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