Iceland · MUSEUMS
19 reviewed
Weather calls the shots on this island, so read from the top down until something lands inside your dates. All 15 museum visits below carry prices, hours and whichever small print ends up shaping the day.
Explore Perlan Museum in Reykjavík with a real indoor ice cave, volcano exhibits, 8K northern lights planetarium, and 360 views.
“Seeing about the animals and learning more about Iceland”
Hop on a Reykjavik double-decker bus from Harpa, then visit Perlan’s Wonders of Iceland for 360 views, an ice cave, and volcano shows.
“I highly recommend to take Part on the Guided Tours in Perlan, especially the Vulcano Tour👍👍”
Reykjavik’s Whales of Iceland museum ticket lets you see 23 types of life-size whales, enjoy films in the Fin Whale Theatre.
“My son really enjoyed this museum; he said it was his favorite. We learned so much and were amazed at how big the whales were. Kids get to answer questions about what they are learning and at the end get a certificate.”
Skip the line at Reykjavík’s National Museum of Iceland, with a 10-language audio guide, Wi-Fi, and 2,000 artifacts from Vikings to today.
“Better numbering for each exhibit. It was a little hard to follow along, exhibits seemed spread out and not clearly sequential.”
Learn northern lights myths and science in Reykjavik, then get projections and 360 VR plus aurora photo tips in about 1 hour.
“My solo traveling experience at Reykjavik’s Northern Lights Museum was fantastic. Self tour guide was great. Very informative information provided about northern lights from its history to discovery and how they are formed etc. Virtual reality experience was okay could have been bigger in room space instead of sitting down better to stand up to look around a full 360 VR Experience. Make sure you pick up a copy and purchase your Blu-Ray souvenir disc of Nortthern Lights actually recorded in Iceland for a memorable keepsake! Worth checking out!”
Interactive volcano and earthquake exhibits in Vik, Iceland, with hands-on simulators, a short eruption film, and a rooftop observatory deck.
“The rooftop observatory was a FANTASTIC wrap-up of the overall exhibit to get a clear understanding of the nature of the volcanic activity on Iceland!”
Visit Ægissíða near Vik and explore four ancient man-made caves on an English guided tour, with admission included for about 75 minutes.
“Absolutely amazing experience! To be able to visit and witness history pre-viking Era is incredible. Our tour guide, Stefan, was extremely knowledgeable and threw in humor and story telling throughout the tour. I hope more of the history, and other caves, are eventually explored. But for now, I appreciate that this family has done such an excellent job at keeping the history alive and preserved.”
Skip the line to see 300+ phallus specimens in Reykjavik, then enjoy penis-themed waffles and drinks at Phallus Café.
Whale watching from Reykjavík Old Harbor in Faxaflói Bay, then the Whales of Iceland exhibition with VR and life-size models.
“This experience was incredible. the guides were wonderful. there was lots of information about the area and what we were seeing and we spent 3 hrs with 3 humpbacks playing around the boat and staying quiet shallow. the shared trip photos are such a great idea and we will not hesitate to recommend Special Tours (Via G.Y.G app) and the museum was such a great was of putting what we saw into a real context. don't hesitate, book this one.”
Step into Icelandic sagas at Saga Museum in Reykjavik with a multi-language audio guide, lifelike figures, and Viking dress-up.
“This was a cute museum, lots of life size dioramas that were well done. Good history of old Iceland. This would be really neat modernized and upgrades with virtual and 3D experiences along with more hard artifacts.”
Skip-the-line entry to the National Museum of Iceland in Reykjavik, with a mobile ticket, English access, and included Safnahus admission.
“This was a great way to learn and immerse our family in Icelandic history, lore and culture. An added bonus for us on Christmas Eve morning was a special Christmas show where children participated and sang. We don't know the Icelandic language, but could definitely feel the spirit in the cheer and music!”
Explore the Hellisheiði Geothermal Exhibition near Reykjavík with a self-guided audio tour and a Carbfix stop inside Iceland’s biggest plant.
“The Hellishedi Geothermal Exhibition was well worth the trip to get there and the entry fee. For those ignorant of the process (the vast majority, I expect) to extract thermal power and hot water from the earth, go straight to Exhibit Stop 9, Production Process, and spend sufficient time there to learn how the industrial process works and to fully appreciate the research, engineering, and money needed to succeed. Stop 9 will also better inform you of what you see at other stops. My only disappointment of the Exhibition is that we did not have a guided tour by an employee. I had thought we would have been provided a…”
Lava Centre Iceland south: interactive volcano exhibition, eruption cinema, and observation deck views of Eyjafjallajökull, Katla, Hekla.
See Icelandic sagas through life-like wax scenes, a 35-minute audio tour with 7 languages, and Viking dress-up in Reykjavik. From $33.
“The audio was ok but there was a lot of waiting around for the next step”
Get a self-guided audio-headset tour at the Settlement Center, including the Egils Saga exhibition, in about an hour.
“There are two parts to the tour, with an upstairs and downstairs. There’s a very helpful person at the beginning to give you your headphones and an iPod mini that has the tour in many languages. The upper floor with a history of Iceland was interesting but a little difficult to follow. The tour below with the saga was much more dramatic and entertaining. This is a nice stop if you were visiting the country for the first time.”
