Gljufrasteinn

Halldor Laxness built Gljufrasteinn in Mosfellsdalur in 1945 and lived and wrote there for the rest of his life; he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955, the only Icelander to do so. The house opened as a museum in 2004 and the decision was to change nothing: the furniture, the library, the paintings collected over decades, the piano and the writing desk are where they were, and an audio guide takes visitors round room by room with the family's voices. His Jaguar stands in the drive. The valley outside is the landscape of several of his novels, and walking routes run from the house up into it.

What you actually see

• The house left as it was - furniture, library and paintings unchanged.
• A Nobel laureate's desk - Laxness won the prize in 1955.
• His car in the drive - the Jaguar he bought after the prize.
• The valley of the novels - Mosfellsdalur outside the windows.

When to go

Year round, with shorter winter hours. Two hours.

Honest expectations

It is a house, not a large museum - an hour inside covers it, and the audio guide is most of the content. Visitor numbers are capped by the size of the rooms. Winter opening is limited. There is a small cafe area and little else.

Nearby

Thingvellir is up the road; Reykjavik is twenty five minutes back.