Akureyri Museum

The collection is everyday life in Eyjafjörður, not its scenery. Maps drawn in the 1500s hang near clothing and kitchen utensils, and thousands of ordinary objects span the whole history of the town. One room is given over to the Second World War: photographs and accounts from townspeople and from the soldiers, and a radio room where the old recordings still play. A turf house stands behind the main building, and the grounds hold Minjasafnskirkjan, a plain wooden church of the 1840s. This is a compact local history museum rather than a national one, and the exhibitions are easy to follow.

• Scale: a compact local history museum, not a national collection. Come with that expectation.
• In the grounds: the turf house behind the main building and Minjasafnskirkjan, the wooden church of the 1840s, are part of the visit.
• Nonnahús: the childhood home of the writer Jón Sveinsson is a separate museum nearby.
• With children: the museum is set up for family visits, and there are toilets on site.

Akureyri Museum stands in the old part of the town, south of the centre. Street parking outside is free, while the town-centre zones are charged. The garden, the turf house and the church share one plot with the main building, so the whole visit happens on a single site and nothing is left to walk to afterwards.

Best: a wet or windy day. The exhibitions, the church and the radio room are all indoors, and the museum can be seen without setting aside a whole day.

Avoid: November to February if the grounds matter to you. Akureyri gets barely any sunshine in those months, and snow lies on the ground from late October into April.