Saga Museum

The figures are the reason to come. They are life-sized, modelled in fine detail, and some of them are built to breathe. Each one stages a scene from Iceland's history, and an audio guide with headphones takes you through them in order, so nobody is herded round in a group. The route ends in a dress-up area: real chainmail, helmets, swords and axes, and clothing you can put on for a photograph. Staff let visitors take their time. The museum is small, and it works as a fast way into Icelandic history rather than a thorough one.

• Size: the museum is small. One visitor thought it small for the ticket price and marked it down for that.
• Audio guide: the visit is self-guided with headphones, and the audio carries the explanation of every scene.
• Dressing up: at the end of the route there is real chainmail, helmets, swords, axes and clothing to try on for photos.
• With children: the place is set up for families, and there are toilets on site.
• Weather: everything is indoors, so the visit holds up in rain or snow.

The museum sits by the old harbour in Reykjavík, west of the city centre, among the working quays and warehouses on that side of the bay. There is a car park at the museum itself, and the way from it to the entrance is level ground with no steps. Once you are through the door, the whole visit is indoors.

Best: rain, wind or snow. The museum is entirely indoors, and it holds up as a plan for a day when the weather closes in.

Avoid: building a whole afternoon around it. The museum is small, and the route runs from the figures to the dress-up area at the end.