eldheimar

This is an excellent museum commemorating the massive eruptions that nearly wiped out Heimar in 1973. There is a physical reminder (the museum is built on a destroyed residential area) and great audio/visual memories as you walk round. A good, captivating, modern museum. Go if you're on the Island.

Very well set up and good to look at plenty of space and for all ages! Enjoy. A good place to take groups or the whole family. good parking and easy access!

This museum is a must visit should you cross to the Westman Islands. The eruption of Eldfell in 1973 almost destroyed the small town of Heimaey and also nearly cut off the harbour upon which the whole existence of the town depended.This new museum records the events of the first half of 1973 through a mixture of media. The centrepiece of the museum is a house excavated from the lava flow that engulfed the eastern part of the town. It has been left in its damaged state, a powerful example of how the islanders were affected. The audioguide explains carefully what happened, including testimony from the residents of the time. The rest of the museum covers the chronology of the eruption, the efforts to evacuate the residents and to prevent the lava destroying the whole town and closing the mouth of the harbour.It is a fascinating combination of the power of the planet, social history and the resourcefulness of a small and remote community. Allied with the windy walk up to the summit of Eldfell this makes an excellent day.

The island of Heimaey is about a 40 minute ferry journey over potentially heavy seas but the trip is wonderful if you have sea legs as you pass other islands and rocky outcrops. The island was almost rendered unviable by the 1973 eruption and the story of that event is what this museum offers and it is fascinating. You can climb the volcano itself and walk around to the base of the crater. We were there in October and there was only a ferry out at 9.30 and one back at 5.30 - this was too long to spend on the island but in the summer ferries are - `i am told - more regular.

It was beyond my expectations. Evething is vividly shown, in a way that you can put yourself in the situation of those who had to be evacuated in the middle of the night, that winter night of 1973. It left a very deep impact in me, and I learned lots of things that I didn't know of.Highly recommeded!

..Nice setup but hade some technical issues with the head set gear.. Gives a good feeling for this remarkable encounter..

Educational, interactive and fun. Family of 5 from the ages of 33 to 2 and everyone enjoyed them self.

This museum is small. At the door, they give you a recorded guide device, which takes you around the building. Most of the stuff in the museum are photos and text. The museum hosts one semi-burried house. For the cost (4900 isk for a family), it is expensive and not good value - unless you are somehow personally connected to the tragedy. Outside the museum building, there are two more semi-burried houses, which are free to see.

This museum was great. Upon entering you are given a audio guide that tracks you through the seven sections of the museum. The stories on the audio add much to the presentation. Be careful, however, not to step outside the zone or the audio automatically switches to the new zone. There are several interactive activities in the museum. My favorite were big block puzzles where you could recreate scenes from the town. In another exhibit you could spin a wheel and watch the progression of the lava flow. Some kids were spinning the wheel as fast as they could which took away from the power of the exhibit. This place is new and well worth a visit. An added bonus was a coat rack and lockers for your belongings.

Love the museum! The exhibition was very fun and I especially love the sand where you can "dig up" the old houses. The architecture of the building is amazing - absolutely love it!

For five months beginning in January 1973, the Eldfell Volcano erupted, the lava destroying many homes in Heimaey and otherwise covering the town with heaps of volcanic ash. The museum contains the ruined remains of a home, and offers several very dynamic videos of the event.

This museum contains an original house dug out from under the lava, as well as various displays describing the devastating outbreak that destroyed much of the town in 1973. Everything is very well done and gives you a vivid impression of what the evnt must have been like. Don't miss the "lava cake" in the cafeteria upstairs!

We came upon this museum by accident as we were walking around the island. I knew about the volcanic eruption but this brought it very much to life. Everything was in English and you had an excellent audio guide to take you around the various exhibits. Whilst I was there, it was clear that an islander was talking to a group of people about his experience at the time - shame I couldn't speak Icelandic. Inside is a house - dug out from the ash. the time wheel, showing the eruption in days was most effective.

Really strange to view a house in the middle of this museum in the place where it was covered by the 1973 volcano. Great pictures, movie and a display that shows how the island changed as you turn it to represent time changing.

The history of Vestmannjyar and the eruption in 1974 were reasons we spent two days on Heimaey during our trip to Iceland. Oh...puffins too.This museum has just opened....actually it is still being finished off, so it wasn't really on my radar when we arrived. It turned out to be the perfect starting point for our rainy two days here.The displays are centred on an excavated home which was buried by ash during the eruption. Audio guides take you through 8 zones starting with home and continuing around it to describe the history and events; before, during and after the eruption. The guide is informative and some of the hands on displays are really excellent.The museum is close to the start of the walking trail to the top of the new cinder cone....it is quite the climb!I recommend starting your visit here...especially on windy or rainy days when the puffins stay inside.