Viking World Museum

Full-scale replica Viking longship and exhibits on Norse settlement of Iceland and North America

Viking World is a museum in Njarðvík, about 4 km from central Keflavik, dedicated to the Norse settlement of Iceland and the broader Viking Age. The highlight is Íslendingur, a full-scale replica of the Gokstad ship that actually crossed the Atlantic in 2000. Seeing it at close quarters — the overlapping clinker planks, the dragon prow, the shallow draft — makes the Atlantic voyages of the Norse settlers feel more real and more audacious than any written account.

The museum also covers the voyages of Leif Eriksson to North America and reconstructs aspects of Viking-age life in Iceland. It is aimed at a general audience and is accessible without specialist knowledge. Allow 90 minutes to see it properly.

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The museum's centrepiece is Íslendingur, a full-scale replica of the Gokstad ship, built by Gunnar Marel Eggertsson, who sailed it across the Atlantic to New York in 2000 to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Leif Eriksson's voyage. The crossing took 44 days. The ship is moored permanently in the museum atrium, where its scale — 23 metres long — is genuinely impressive up close.

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