Location: Borgarnes
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The 10 Best Things to Do in Borgarnes, Iceland
Borgarnes (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈpɔrkarˌnɛs]) is a town located on a peninsula at the shore of Borgarfjörður in Icelandand is the largest town in the Borgarbyggð municipality with a population of about 2,000 residents. It is a main junction in Iceland and the gateway to the Snaefellsnes National Park. Iceland's capital Reykjavik is 69 kilometers from the center of Borgarnes. The second largest bridge in Iceland, the Borgarfjarðarbrú, connects traffic to and from Reykjavik.
Restaurants in Borgarnes
1. The Settlement Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 594 reviews
Offering a wealth of information, the Settlement Center provides a wonderful insight into Iceland’s history. It also gives you the chance to put your visit into the context of the country’s past. It also houses a cozy licensed restaurant, a café and a souvenir shop. The Center consists of three buildings, the warehouse, the merchant house and the reception hall. The Exhibitions recreate the fascinating drama of the sagas and the birth of this island nation. They also bring to life one of Iceland’s most important cultural treasures, Egils Saga. There are two entertaining and educational Exhibitions at the Settlement Center. While one tells the story of the first settlers, the other reveals the story of Iceland’s most important saga – Egils Saga. Egill Skalla-Grimson was a famous Viking and poet, and his saga is closely linked to the settlement period, as his father was one of the first settlers.
Reviewed By JHChicago2014 - Chicago, Illinois
The Settlement Center is well worth the stop if in the area to hear about the Viking sagas, the settlement of Iceland, and the development of medieval Iceland. The little gift shop is full of interesting books and material for any bibliophile. The tour itself...MoreThank you so much for this very generous review. And thank you for pointing out that we are just few minutes off the ring road. Best regards and happy new year. Sigridur Margret
2. Borgarnes Swimming Pool
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 40 reviews
Reviewed By rochestervacationer - Rochester, NY
It's just an amazing and unique experience to be able to go swimming in an outdoor pool while it's freezing out. It's also a beautiful view with the Mountains and the ocean. I can't recommend enough. It's also incredibly cheap for Iceland (900 KR/9USD). It also feels kind of authentic. It's maybe my favorite experience in Iceland so far. If you are driving through Borgarnes, I would highly recommend stopping to do it.
3. Borgarnes Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 40 reviews
Reviewed By Karen186424 - Worcester, United Kingdom
So glad we popped into this museum/library before leaving Borgarnes. There was an exhibition of photos upstairs taken during 2016. A beautiful variety of scenes from the town and a good contrast to what followed.
Downstairs there is a display of photos of Icelandic children since 1900. Fascinating! We were fortunate to have a lovely introduction from the curator about what the artist was trying to achieve and so glad we did. Loved the advent calendar style extras. We were supplied with a translation book but this really wasn't essential as the pictures told their own story.
Two bedrooms also demonstrated the difference between then and now - but to me the modern room also showed the difference between the modern Iceland room and one of ours in the UK.
Finally there was a display of birds and mirrors. Worth seeing!
4. Hafnarfjall mountain
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 23 reviews
The mountain Hafnarfjall near Borgarnes is part of the same extinguished central volcano as Skardsheidi and also about 4 million years old. The mountain is 844 m in height and its sides are rather eroded. Most of the mountain consists of basalt, but on the north side there is a small crag, which is made of granofyr. The name "flatfish" indicates its form. Let the children discover it!
Reviewed By patrickabroard - patrickabroard
The approach from Borganes itself is best from the dirt track; turn off from the main road (near the sign with weather conditions). The path is actually least obvious in its earlier stages, it runs near the electric fence (to stop sheep from going into the water culvert) and has an unpromising sign in Icelandic that suggests no entry.... hidden next to this behind bushes is a stile.
Follow this up, more or less the line of the stream; after a while the path will lead to the right towards the line of the Ridge and slowly panoramic views will appear on the right.
Towards the top the path becomes a little steeper and a little loose underfoot but is still reasonably straightforward.
It's about 2 and a half hours to the top. We walked from Borganes itself with kids aged 12 and 15. The bridge crossing is ok though about 30 meters or so had no pavement so had to walk on hard shoulder which sounds worse than it was as it was reasonably safe.
As a climb it was certainly worth the effort. The views are excellent though the road below sometimes intrudes with traffic noise.
5. America 2 Iceland - Day Trips
Overall Ratings
5 based on 15 reviews
America2Iceland LLC is a company dedicated to planning and providing educational equine related trips in the Icelandic Horse’s native land Iceland.
Reviewed By BakeShop1 - Alaska
Very well organized, super friendly and first grade professional - from first contact to after-trip follow up! Thank you Rebecca!
The cozy and clean accommodations at Stadarhus, the delicious food, the large riding facility, the amazing friendliness of staff, the incomparable riding instructions by Gudmar, the exciting trail rides and unforgettable beach ride......All this deserves 10 STARS!
We learned so much and created life-long memories - priceless!
We will be back!
Thank you!
6. Hestaland
Overall Ratings
5 based on 10 reviews
Farm visit to Hestaland. We offer groups to come to our barn to meet the Icelandic horse in person. TRAIL RIDES We offer riding lessons and trail rides. Half-day tour includes a light lunch. Multi-day tours (Treks) read more about our treks on our website
Reviewed By revett2016 - Santa Rosa, California
Amazingly gentle and nice horses! You know that these horses are well cared for....started with us brushing and getting acquainted with each assigned horse, then some ring time with basic instructions. We had a person who had never ridden before so this was especially helpful....MoreThank you so much for kind words it was really nice to meet you all ? Linda
7. Borgarnes Regional Information Centre
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 17 reviews
Reviewed By agustsmari - Borgarnes, Iceland
The staff here are very good at pointing out interesting places, even those that are not on the typical tourist map. I was thrilled even as a local with the information I got as I wanted to see a certain waterfall not on the map and they found out promptly how to get there by car and short hiking.
8. Blomasetrid
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 13 reviews
In the old town of Borgarnes is a hidden gem. In the house of Skulagata 13 you will find a guesthouse that is located inside of the home of the family that runs the place. You will also find the beautiful and cosy cafe/bar Cafe Kyrrd which offers quality coffee, delicious cakes, light meals and Wi-Fi. In all the house warmth and serenity are key features.
Reviewed By Elephanttrapper
I stumbled upon this wonderful B&B when I was caught in a raging gale wind/rain storm and had plans to camp further north on Snaefellnes. Instead, I spent the two most wonderful nights at Blomasetrid and ate the most delicious chicken pie and chocolate cake. The family who runs Blomasetrid made me feel so welcome that it felt like my Icelandic home away from home.
Katrin was very knowledgeable about the surrounding region and gave me great tips on where to go on my trip to Snaefellnes. It was very easy to see many of the sights around the peninsula in a day driving tour and return to Blomasetrid for dinner.
If you are looking for a very cozy and friendly place to spend the night in Bourganes or just want a relaxed place to have a cup of coffee and eat cake after visiting the Settlement Center, Blomasetrid is truly a special spot.
9. Ljomalind Farmers Market
Overall Ratings
4 based on 28 reviews
Ljomalind Local Market is a regional market that offers great variation of handcrafted products and delicatessen from West Iceland. The market is a co-op and run by fifteen women that take turns volunteering at the market and in addition all produce products and sell at Ljomalind. Other sellers sell are local individuals that produce foods or handcrafted products and sell in commission. The Local Market aims to provide a local store that only regional products can be found. All products are seasonal and few are made of each idem so the market changes week from week. Most producers only sell at Ljomalind Local Market so items are unique and special for West Iceland region. Open daily year-round. From May - October from 10-18 and winter opening from October - may is every day from 12-17.
Reviewed By HidesKitchen
Even though I've read other reviews about how small this "market" is, I was still surprised how small it was! There are very nice arts & craft selections. Not many food selections. Nice bathroom! Maybe consider renaming to "local farmer's gift shop"!
If you drive most likely you will stop here anyway. there's gas station, food, super market, tourist center, pharmacy
10. Hvita Travel
Overall Ratings
5 based on 4 reviews
Reviewed By mustelid - Northants
We founnd Þorleifur and Hvita travel through the internet as our scheduled Saga Trail tour was cancelled. After visiting the Settlement Museum, Þorleifur picked us up for his Egils Saga tour. This enriched the museum experience as well as showing us other aspects of Borgarnes and a typical Icelandic town. H e could not have been more helpful and willing to please, even taking and subsequently sending some photographs of us at different locations. He is very flexible and an excellent independent operator. Highly recommended!
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