Eiríksstaðir - Viking Longhouse
About This Museum
Honestly, the coolest thing about Eiríksstaðir isn't just that it's a museum, but that you're walking right into a reconstructed Viking longhouse, the very same spot where Erik the Red himself was supposedly born. Stepping over the threshold feels like crossing into another world, leaving the 21st century completely behind. The air inside is smoky and smells of earth and old wood, and your eyes take a minute to adjust to the dim light filtering through the smoke hole. It’s not a place you just look at; it’s a place you feel.
Collection Highlights
The main 'exhibit' is the longhouse itself, but what brings it to life are the everyday items you can actually handle—lift a heavy replica Viking sword, feel the coarse texture of a woven wool tunic, or help grind barley on a quern stone. There are no glass cases here; instead, costumed guides who are full of stories about Norse gods and sagas make the history feel immediate and real.
Visitor Information
It's a bit off the beaten path down a gravel road in the Dalir region, so having your own car is pretty much essential. Wrap up warm even in summer because it can get chilly inside the longhouse, adding to that authentic Viking-age atmosphere!
Architecture & Building
It's a turf-walled longhouse, built exactly as they were over a thousand years ago—a long, low-slung building with a steeply pitched roof that's literally covered in grass, making it look like it grew right out of the hillside.
