A Short Drive From Húsavík - Museums
Despite being a small town Húsavík has its share of museums, such as the Whale Museum and Húsavík Museum. However, this blog, will try to cover and unveil the museums on the outskirts of Húsavík.
Mánarbakki Folk Museum
Mánarbakki, 641 Húsavík
22 min drive from Húsavík
Twenty five kilometers to the north of Húsavík, set in an idyllic looking series of black and white turf houses, sits a folk museum showcasing relics of a bygone Iceland era. Focusing a little more on the 20th century than other museums of this type, once you pass the wood carving of the limbless nude at the gate, expect diverse arrays of confectionery wrappers, porcelain dogs and brightly colored Icelandic folk art.
Sigurgeir’s Bird Museum
Ytri-Neslöndum, 660 Mývatn
42 min drive from Húsavík
Lake Mývatn is famed for it's bird-life, with the only breeding colony of Barrow's Goldeneye in Europe, the beautiful Harlequin Duck and many other rare waterbirds. As such, this is the perfect location for a bird museum, and with 330 stuffed specimens, an extensive egg collection, an aviary, and more, Sigurgeir’s Bird Museum does not disappoint.
The Mývatn Bird Museum was opened in 2008, sadly created in the wake of the collector, Sigurgeir Stefansson's death. Sigurgeir had been amassing the collection his entire life, gathering eggs when he was a young boy and buying his first taxidermied bird at the age of fourteen. Tragically, in 1999, he died, capsizing his boat in a storm on the lake whilst trying to repair an underwater telephone cable.
In the years preceding this, he had been renovating a small shack to house some of the museum, but ultimately, he was yearning for something bigger. After his death, his family fulfilled his dream and created Sigurgeir’s Bird Museum in his honor.
Inspired by the traditional Icelandic turf houses, Sigurgeir's Bird Museum is also renowned for its unique architecture. Designed by one of Iceland’s most respected architects, the entrance features a glass floor, where you can view the fish swimming in the lake beneath.
Bird-watching Facilities
Outside, there is a telescope and hides from which to view the locale. Inside, there is a logbook detailing recent observations, a camera showing live birds and of course, a host of bird identification books readily available for your perusal.
Skjálftasetrið Earthquake Center
Akurgerði 6, 670 Kópasker
74 min drive from Húsavík
At The Earthquake Centre in Kópasker one can find installations and photographs on seismic activity around the world, aswell as in depth information about the region’s unusual geography. Emphasis is set on the tectonic activity in the ’70s and ’80s which resulted in an earthquake in Kópasker but also the volcanic eruptions at Lake Mývatn.
In 1976 there was an earthquake 12km off the coast of Kópasker in Northeastern Iceland. The earthquake caused large-scale damage to buildings in the village and part of the land nearby gave way to create two new lakes.
This was one of many events in the following decade which were symptomatic of heightened seismicity in the region. Most famously, in nearby Lake Mývatn there were a series of volcanic eruptions along a fissure, now commonly known as the Krafla Fires.
Snartarstaðir
Snartastöðum, 671 Kópasker
70 min drive from Húsavík
Snartarstaðir is part of the Northern Þingeyjarsýsla Heritage Museum and located about two kilometers south of Kópasker. The museum presents a unique collection of everyday items showing daily life in the area in the 19th and 20th century.
For many years the museum has been lead by women of the area what reflects in the wide array of handmade items that are on display. Embroidery, knitted clothing and traditional costumes. The most stunning piece is the traditional wedding dress – an item rarely to be found elsewhere in Iceland.
Ystafell Transportation Museum
Ystafelli 3, 641 Húsavík
27 min drive from Húsavík
From weird, repurposed tanks used to deliver milk, to giant snowmobile buses that look straight off the set of Dune, the Transport Museum at Ystafell has collected and preserved half a century’s worth of vehicles, and set it on display in a wonderfully remote location. Covering an array of automobilia, along with the cars themselves, there’s photographs and information to read about Iceland’s transportation history.
