Friendly restaurant – unique saga exhibitions
The Settlement Center in Borgarnes Takes You on a Trip Through Time
Some 1100 years ago, Iceland was a place covered with impenetrable forests and dangerous bogs,
and it took a bunch of bold men to cross the rough North Atlantic sea, to discover the remote island
and determine to settle there, in order to start a new life. They were the first to name rivers,
mountains and places that are world famous today, and still many farms are able to trace their
history back to the days of the settlement. As the most important source for Iceland’s history rates
the saga collection, a ring of exciting stories around these first settlers. Experiencing Iceland
thoroughly means paying tribute to their achievements, which made the country what it is today.
A Warehouse Turns Into Exhibitions
In 2006 an Icelandic couple, actor Kjartan Ragnarsson and news reporter Sigríður Margrét
Guðmundsdóttir, decided to dedicate a project to the settlement’s story. They found a charming old
warehouse in Borgarnes in West Iceland and started building up two exhibitions. One on the
Settlement of Iceland and the other on one of Icelands most important Saga caracter Egill
Skallagrimsson.
Provided with an audio guide available in 15 languages, visitors find themselves in an elaborate
labyrinth that displays history in the most exciting way. Each audio tour takes 30 minutes, returning
the visitor into daylight with the urgent desire to learn more. Step on a moving boat and get a feeling
of how it must have been to cross the ocean in a nutshell! Listen to stories, while bodies preserved in
glass silently watch over you.
The locals favorite restaurant
In adjoining building the restaurant offers a delicious menu but the local favorite is the daily wellness
buffet, featuring freshly prepared soups, salads, pasta courses and homemade bread. Available every
day from 11:30 am to 15 pm. On the menu you find a tempting range of traditional Icelandic dishes,
such as mashed fish, lamb, fresh fish, mussels and lobster tails but also pasta dishes and burgers,
light refreshments, homemade cakes and wonderful Italian coffee. Being only one hour drive from
Reykjavik towards the north The Settlement Center is the ideal stop for the hungry traveller. The
restaurant is open all year from 10 am – 9 pm.
The Settlement Center
Brákarbraut 13-15• 310 Borgarnes
+354 437 1600
[email protected]
www.landnam.is
