If it's cold outside (which occasionally happens in North Iceland) or you are in the mood for visiting exciting exhibitions you can visit several museums in and around Húsavík. Let's discover some of them.
Everyday ephemera jutted up next to squiffy-looking stuffed rodents, this is a great place to delve deeper into Iceland´s history and learn how-on-earth people survived in such challenging conditions all those years ago. One of the most prized possessions here is a stuffed Polar Bear which floated to Iceland on an iceberg in 1969.
One of the most interesting pieces of architecture in Húsavík, the museum building was built in the ’60s to house a range of smaller collections within the region. The largest are the anthropological and maritime sections, but there is also a photographic collection and district archive. As well as this, on the first floor is a gallery and in the basement you can find the local library. Apparently, if you ask, there’s even a secret beer label collection somewhere. As if this isn’t enough, they also tend to several of the Northeast’s turf house museums – in Grenjaðarstaður and Snartarstaðir.
Stórigarður 17
640 Húsavík
Tel: +354 464 1860
Webpage: www.husmus.is
Húsavík Whale Museum
The Húsavík Whale Museum is one of the few museums in the world solely dedicated to whales. Inside lies a fantastic cross-section of the marine mammals that inhabit the Icelandic coastlines. There are 11 different whale skeletons to admire, a range of documentaries to watch and a special area for kids. Highlights at the museum include the Narwhal with its rare unicorn-like horn, a Sperm Whale jaw bone the size of a car and a cabinet exposing the intricate details of whale ear bones.
The museum is one of few museums in the world exhibiting a life-size Blue whale skeleton. The skeleton has now the length of impressive 22m and was 25m before the spinal disks were removed during the preparation process.
To the side is a cosy library room with a wide selection of books and a complimentary coffee. Temporary exhibitions and annual conferences complete the collection.
Exploration Museum
The Exploration Museum is dedicated to the history of human exploration, from the early explorers to the exploration of space.
The main exhibition room features photographs and artifacts from the Apollo Astronaut Training near Húsavík in 1965 and 1967. Other exhibition rooms features the history of Viking Exploration, Arctic explorers and a timeline of exploration history.