Eiríksstaðir is an open-air museum in Haukadalur, West Iceland, at the farm where Eiríkr Þorvaldsson — Erik the Red — lived and where his son Leif Eiríksson was probably born. The centrepiece is a full-size turf longhouse, reconstructed from a building excavated on the site and dated by radiocarbon to the 9th–10th centuries. Guides work inside in Viking dress and tell the sagas of the family. The excavated ruins themselves are a protected archaeological site and stand apart from the reconstruction.
Eiríksstaðir Viking Longhouse
Local name: Eiríksstaðir
Leif Eiríksson, the first known European to reach the Americas, was probably born on this farm.
- Entrance
- Admission is charged.
- Accessibility
- Accessible parking and an accessible toilet. The entrance to the longhouse is not wheelchair accessible, and there is no wheelchair-accessible seating inside.
- Parking
- Free car park at the museum; free parking on the road as well.
- Transport
- Self-drive — Haukadalur (Route 586 off Route 60)
- Hours
- Daily, 10:00–17:00.
- Address
- Haukadalsvegur, 371 Búðardalur
What makes it special
The longhouse is one room with a hearth running down the middle. Visitors sit along the walls, which is how the excavators reckon the household sat, and a guide tells the story of Erik the Red at the fire. The guides are not only costumed staff. One is an archaeologist who grew the fibres, wove the cloth and made the Viking clothing he wears. The building itself was raised with driftwood and replica tools, copying the excavated house as closely as the 1997 dig allowed, and the experimental archaeology that produced it still goes on here.
Good to know
- The storytelling is the visit. A guide tells the sagas around the fire pit inside the longhouse; one visitor stayed listening for two hours.
- The building is a reconstruction. The excavated remains of the original farm are protected and are kept apart from the museum.
- The shop is part of the project. It sells wool from the farm's own sheep, dyed with plants grown on the property, alongside local products.
- Toilets on site, and the museum is set up for visits with children.
Getting there
Eiríksstaðir stands on Haukadalsvegur, the valley road through Haukadalur, inland from Búðardalur in West Iceland. There is a car park at the museum. The excavated ruins of the original farm lie about 100 metres from the reconstruction, so seeing both means walking between the two.
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Frequently asked questions
Is the longhouse at Eiríksstaðir original?
No. It is a reconstruction, built in imitation of the building excavated on the site. The museum was created in 1999 and formally opened in 2000, for the thousandth anniversary of the discovery of Vinland.Who lived at Eiríksstaðir?
Eiríkr Þorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red, farmed here with Þjóðhildur Jǫrundardóttir. Their son Leif was probably born on the farm. Eiríkr had to leave the district after killing two men in revenge for the deaths of his thralls.How old is the excavated farm?
Charcoal from undisturbed habitation deposits in front of the ruins gave a radiocarbon date in the 9th–10th centuries. The main building was a longhouse about 14 metres long and roughly 50 square metres in area, with a central hearth and turf walls set on a base of stones.What was found besides the longhouse?
A pit-house in front of the main building, excavated in 2000. Carved stone spindles of Norwegian make were found in its floor, and the excavator read the room as a dyngja, a women's work-room.