Byggðasafnið í Skógum

About the museum

The Skógar local heritage museum opened on 1 December 1949 in the former building of the Skógar regional school, on the initiative of Þórður Tómasson. He collected objects and led the museum until 2013, when he retired at the age of 92. The first building erected specifically for the museum opened in 1955, and an extension in 1990 made it possible to divide the collection into separate departments.

The museum holds around 18,000 objects from Rangárvalla County and West Skaftafell County. It has exhibitions on seafaring and farming, household items and handicrafts by men and women, natural history specimens from the collection of Andrés H. Valberg, and documents from both counties. Among its best-known objects is the eight-oared boat Pétursey, built in 1855 and used until 1946.

In the open-air area stand houses that were moved from across the two counties and rebuilt in Skógar, for example a turf farmhouse with a baðstofa, kitchen and pantry, a schoolhouse, a church, a power station and the timber house from Holt in Síða from 1898. The transport museum opened on 20 July 2002 in a new exhibition building and tells the story of transport, communications and technology in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Highlights

• About 18,000 objects from Rangárvalla and West Skaftafell counties
• The eight-oared boat Pétursey from 1855
• Open-air museum with a turf farmhouse, a schoolhouse and a church
• Transport museum on roads, post, telephones, electricity and rescue
• Exhibition on seafaring, farming and handicrafts

Permanent exhibitions

• Byggðasafnið – An exhibition on seafaring at the sandy coast, farming, household items and handicrafts, together with natural history specimens and the county documents.
• Útisafnið – Houses from the two counties that show the building history of the country, including a turf farmhouse with a baðstofa, a schoolhouse, a church and a power station.
• Samgöngusafnið – The history of transport, post, communications, electricity and rescue work in the 19th and 20th centuries, from horse-drawn carriages to digital communication.

Founded

1949

Admission & discounts

Admission covers the whole museum site, and a brochure is included. The prices date from 2026.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Children under 12 enter free when accompanied by an adult, and a family ticket is available.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on the Ring Road (Route 1), about 30 km west of Vík and 150 km east of Reykjavík, about a minute's walk from Skógafoss.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Freya Café is in the transport museum and offers home-baked cakes, breakfast and lunch dishes (including hamburgers, fish and chips, and vegan dishes). The museum also runs a souvenir shop.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit