Saga Museum

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Lonely Planet review

The endearingly bloodthirsty Saga Museum, at Perlan, is where Icelandic history is brought to life by eerie silicon models and a soundtrack of thudding axes and hair-raising screams. Don't be surprised if you see some of the characters wandering around town, as moulds were taken from Reykjavík residents (the museum's owner is Ingólfur Arnarson, and his daughters are the Irish princess and the little slave gnawing a fish!).

The hexagonal viewing deck offers a tremendous 360-degree panorama of Reykjavík and the mountains: multilingual recordings explain the scenery.

Two artificial geysers will keep small children absolutely enthralled: the one inside blasts off every few minutes, while the outside geyser comes on in the afternoon. There are numerous walking and cycling trails on the hillside, including a path to Nauthólsvík hot beach.

There's a busy café ( - ) on the same level, so if it's brass-monkey weather, you can admire the same beautiful views over coffee and crêpes. The mirrored dome on top of the tanks contains one of the city's finer restaurants, Perlan.