Spending a Day in Vestmannaeyjar

We are taking the ferry to Vestmannaeyjar today.  We will be leaving from Landeyjarhöfn harbor. Vestmannaeyjar is a town and group of islands off the coast of mainland Iceland.  The town became known when the Eldfell Volcano erupted in 1973. Around 1/5 of the town was destroyed, and it took months to evacuate the entire town to mainland Iceland.

Having Skyr, an Icelandic treat kind of similar to yogurt, before we leave

I really enjoyed Skyr.  I have tried a version that is making its' way to United States stores, but I do not like this version.

Getting in line to put our car on the ferry

Onboard the ferry

Inside the ferry.  They have a restaurant you can order from.

Snack Bar

This TV keeps you up-to-date on ferry times.

On our way!

Leaving the ferry in Vestmannaeyjar

Scenes around the island

Arriving at Eldheimar Museum

Eldheimar Museum is fascinating!  The museum has been built around an excavated home that was buried by the volcano in 1973.  Yes!  They seriously excavated a home and built a museum around it.  The entire museum is focused on exhibits detailing the events that happened before, during, and after the eruption.

My audio guide

The excavated house

The excavated house with the museum built around it.

Taken from a balcony at the museum

Another excavated house outside of the museum

Back to exploring the island

A Cemetery

Driving around the island

This church was built by Norway in 2000 as a gift to the Iceland people for the 100th anniversary of Iceland's conversion to Christianity. 

The harbor pictured below is where Keiko (Free Willy) was kept when he was returned to Iceland.

Inside the church

Evidence from the 1973 volcano eruption

A bookstore

Post Office

The roadsigns have Puffins on them!

Inside of the Post Office

We booked a tour of the island.  More about the tour below.

The van we rode inside for the tour.

Our tour guide explained to us and demonstrated how children use these ropes to collect Puffin eggs.

This crater area is where a famous music festival is held each year.

Sæheimar Aquarium is a small aquarium in Vestmannaeyjar.  It has live and stuffed birds and fish.  They also have a live Puffin that you can see.  His name is Toti.  Toti was found abandoned in a Puffin colony near the end of the season.

Next on the tour, we were taken to Eldfell Volcano.

If you look at the house below, you can see where the lava slide stopped just before consuming this house.  Incredible!

After the tour was complete, we went to Subway for lunch.

EyjaTours is the name of the company that took us on a tour of Vestmannaeyjar.  I so enjoyed this tour and highly recommend going if you visit Vestmannaeyjar.  Our tour guide was friendly and extremely insightful.  I learned so many things about this fascinating and beautiful island that I otherwise would not have.

Exploring more of the island

Icelandic horses

 Church

Back on the ferry

After getting off the ferry, we made a stop at Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.  It's one of Iceland's most famous waterfalls.

Vestmannaeyjar was beautiful.  I can't imagine having visited Iceland without having gone to this island.  It was breathtakingly beautiful and full of so many amazing stories and landmarks.  I would not recommend a visit to Iceland without going.