Natural History Museum

The Westfjords


Features a comprehensive collection of minerals (lignite from when Iceland was covered in forests) and taxidermied animals – including a giant blue whalebone more than 100 years old and a polar bear shot by local fishers while swimming off the Hornstrandir coast.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Westfjords attractions

1. Ósvör Maritime Museum

1.05 MILES

The old turf-and-stone fishing shacks of the Ósvör Maritime Museum powerfully evoke a past age. A guide in a typical lambskin fisher’s outfit shows you…

2. Whalebone Arch

6.57 MILES

Of minor interest is the whalebone arch made from a whale’s jawbone in the central town park.

3. Culture House

6.59 MILES

The intensely close-knit nature of Westfjords life is evoked in the 2nd-floor displays in what was once the town hospital. Look out for vintage scales for…

4. Seamen's Monument

6.62 MILES

Ísafjörður's big bronze Seaman's Monument depicts two fishermen with their nets and commemorates those who've lost their lives at sea.

5. Ísafjarðarkirkja

6.67 MILES

More than 740 clay birds, arranged in flight soar above the altarpiece of this modernist church.They were made by locals during a group art project. Look…

6. Museum of Everyday Life

6.85 MILES

Celebrating the magic of the mundane is the aim of the powerful, creative displays here, where shoes, books and mini-movies each come with personal…

7. Old Town

6.94 MILES

Ísafjörður's historic quarter borders it's eastern edges. Start explorations in Tangagata to see gabled, tin-clad homes, often brightly painted in…

8. Westfjords Heritage Museum

7.09 MILES

Part of a cluster of historic wooden buildings by the harbour, this museum is in the Turnhús (1784), which was originally a warehouse. It's crammed with…

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