Laufas

Laufas is a turf farm on the eastern side of Eyjafjordur whose buildings mostly date from the middle of the nineteenth century, standing as a row of gables facing the fjord with connected rooms behind. It was a parsonage and a prosperous one, its income coming partly from eider down collected on the shore and islands - a valuable trade that supported households far better than farming alone. A minister lived here until 1936. The buildings are now a museum with rooms furnished to the period, and a nineteenth century church stands beside them. The setting on the fjord, with the sea in front and hills behind, does a lot of the work.

What you actually see

• A row of turf gables - facing the fjord, rooms connected behind.
• Wealth from eider down - the trade that supported the parsonage.
• Occupied until 1936 - a working parsonage into the twentieth century.
• A church beside it - nineteenth century, still standing.

When to go

June to August, while the museum is open. Two hours.

Honest expectations

It is a summer museum and closed for much of the year. Interiors are dark, low and small. The site is half an hour from Akureyri on a fjord road. There is a cafe in season and little else.

Nearby

Akureyri is south along the fjord; Godafoss is east.