Iceland's Volcanic Island: A Self-Guided Walking Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Begin your tour at the Vestmannaeyjar harbour, where the modern town's story starts with the arrival of motorised fishing boats in 1906. Discover how this small Icelandic archipelago built a thriving fishing community that has endured for over a thousand years.

   Passes by

2. Walk past Skansinn fort, built in the 1500s to protect crown property from English merchants and marauders. Learn how this historic stronghold has stood watch over the harbour for centuries, weathering the island's turbulent history.

   Passes by

3. Visit Landlyst, Iceland's first maternity hospital, built in 1848 to tackle high infant mortality. Discover how this modest building played an outsized role in improving health outcomes for the island's earliest generations.

   Passes by

4. Spot the Blátindur memorial wall, a poignant reminder of homes lost beneath the lava. Reflect on the more than 400 houses buried during the 1973 eruption as you take in this quiet tribute to what the island endured.

   Passes by

5. Explore Landakirkja, the historic church that stood defiantly above the volcanic ash during the 1973 eruption. Read the message on its cemetery gate, "I live and thou shalt live," a fitting symbol of the island's resilience.

   Passes by

6. Pass the historic lighthouse guiding fishing boats safely into Vestmannaeyjar's harbour. Its light has watched over generations of local fishermen navigating the waters that have sustained this island community for over a thousand years.

   Passes by

7. Explore Stafkirkjan, the striking black wooden stave church built as a gift from Norway in 2000. Discover how it marks the 1,000th anniversary of Iceland's conversion to Christianity, replicating Norway's medieval Haltdalen stave church using timber, tar, and iron shipped over from different regions of Norway.

   Passes by

8. Step into Sagnheimar, the island's folk museum, where interactive exhibits bring Vestmannaeyjar's history to life. Discover stories of the 1627 Turkish pirate raid, the annual Þjóðhátíð festival, and the island's deep ties to fishing and cliff hunting.

   Passes by

9. Stop by The Brothers Brewery, a local craft brewpub known for its handcrafted beers celebrating island life. Try the flagship Eldfell/Volcano Red Ale, named for the very eruption that reshaped this island in 1973.

   Passes by

Cancellation

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.

Know before you go

How it compares in Heimaey

• Its from-price is 93% below the median of the 14 experiences we list in Heimaey.
• Its length is typical for the group.

About Heimaey

Heimaey is the only inhabited island of Iceland's Westman Islands, a volcanic outcrop of puffin cliffs and lava, with a harbour town rebuilt after 1973.

Heimaey, the largest of the Westman Islands off Iceland's south coast, lies about 10 km from the mainland and holds a fishing town of more than four thousand people. In January 1973 an eruption split the ground beside the town, burying houses under ash and lava, and the islanders were evacuated almost overnight, mostly by fishing boat. The new volcano, Eldfell, now rises behind the harbour and can be climbed, and the Eldheimar museum shows a house dug out of the ash.

Top-ranked sights in Heimaey: Eldfell, Herjólfsdalur.

See all 14 experiences in Heimaey