Vestmannaeyjar Eldheimar Museum Tickets
About this activity
Audioguide: English, German, French, Norwegian
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Experience Highlights
Discover how a volcanic eruption changed the lives of an entire community forever with these tickets to the Eldheimar Museum. The museum is dedicated to the 1973 eruption of the Eldfell volcano, one of the most dramatic natural events in Iceland’s recent history.
During your visit, you’ll learn what happened on that night when the inhabitants of Heimaey had to evacuate the island almost immediately, see before-and-after photographs, and step inside an actual house that remained buried under ash for over 40 years.
The exhibition also devotes space to the eruption of Surtsey, the volcanic island that emerged off Iceland’s southern coast, and to the scientific discoveries made there over time.
- Relive the 1973 Eldfell eruption thanks to the audio guide’s commentary
- Step inside a house that lay buried under ash for decades
- Discover also the volcanic history of Surtsey
What’s included
- Entrance to the Eldheimar Museum
- Access to the permanent exhibition
- Section dedicated to the study and research of Surtsey
- Audio guide
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Step by Step
Eldheimar is not just a museum about volcanoes: it is a place built around a true story of evacuation, loss and reconstruction. In January 1973, an eruption took the inhabitants of Heimaey by surprise in the middle of the night and forced more than 5,000 people to flee the island with almost no warning.
The tour is self-guided with an audio guide, so you can proceed at your own pace whilst learning about the history of the 1973 Eldfell eruption, the evacuation of Heimaey and the restoration of the homes buried by ash.
The exhibition reconstructs those events through photographs, artefacts and testimonies that show what life was like before the eruption and how everything changed when lava and ash began to advance on homes and businesses.
One of the most striking exhibits is a family home that has been restored after lying buried for over four decades. Stepping inside gives you a much more immediate sense of the scale of what happened and helps you connect the volcano’s story with the everyday lives of those who lost almost everything.
The museum also explains how the Eldfell eruption unfolded and how it affected the island. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed or buried, transforming both the landscape and the future of Vestmannaeyjar.
The tour is rounded off with a section dedicated to Surtsey, an island formed by a volcanic eruption that lasted several years. There, you’ll discover why it became a site of immense scientific interest for studying how a new ecosystem emerges and evolves.
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