The Eirík the Red Experience

Eiríksstaðir is the only museum in Iceland that aims at recreating the atmosphere of a storytelling evening in a 10th century longhouse, while also offering a visit to the foundation walls of the original farmhouse of Eirík the Red.

You will have the opportunity not only to stand within the same walls that Leif "the Lucky" Eiríksson was born in, but to enter a place that resembles his childhood home as closely as we can possibly bring it.

01. April to 31. October - 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM

TICKETS

Inside the Longhouse

Our reconstructed longhouse is a project of experimental archaeology: In 1999, it was built to scale with the same methods, tools, and materials that would have been available in Iceland a thousand years earlier.

We believe that the way the house has been built creates a special atmosphere that brings you as close to time travel as we can manage.

Here, you will be greeted by one of our passionate and well-versed guides in period adequate getup.

You will have the unique opportunity of sitting down by the fire, where you can listen to the Saga of Eirík the Red, learn everything about the construction of Icelandic Turf Houses, and ask all your questions about life in 10th century Iceland and Scandinavia.You may even try on a chainmail shirt and hold weapons the first settlers in Iceland would have had at hand.

Each of our guides has their own way of telling the stories, we believe that this is more natural than a scripted tour regarding our aim.

The stories are told in English all day - you can join in at any time.

The surrounding Area

The Pithouse

Just outside the reconstructed longhouse, you will find that we now have started reconstructing the pithouse found during the excavations.
While there is not much to see as of yet, we are very much looking forward to bring even more of the past to you in the near future.
We will be moving everything we have on fabric production into this new house and thereby bringing our display another step closer to what we think Eirík's farm has looked like.

The original Farmhouse

Following the tarmac walking path from the reconstructed longhouse, you will pass the statue of Leif "the Lucky" Eiríksson before a woodchip path leads you up to the ruins of the old farm house.

If you have issues moving on the woodchip, you can continue on the tarmac path, it will lead you to the bridge visible in the right of the picture.

There are currently two excavated buildings: The Longhouse, in which the family lived, and the Pithouse, a so-called "Kvennadyngja".

If you want to read more about the archaeology, you can click here.

Scroll down for more information on the area of Eiríksstaðir.

Along the Path

Along the tarmac path, you can see the skeletons of a few burnt gables.
These are remnants of our Experimental Archaeology Festival 2024: Past in Flames.

We teamed up with a group of experts who built a small turf house on the pebble bank in the river, only to burn it down again!

Aim of this was to find out how long a person can survive inside a burning turf house - because these events are quite often described in the sagas.

Furthermore:

We have started to add a few more outside activities for children of all ages:

This year, we added one rope for "Tug of War" and a pole with an attached rope as "Battle Ropes". You will also notice some barrels which will hold stones on which you will be able to try out your strength, and an ominous box in the small clearing to the right of the ruins. This box will become a Children's Archaeology Pit with which we hope to inspire a new generation of scientists to work with us in times to come.

- And even more outside activities will come next season!