Akureyri Industry Museum (Iðnaðarsafnið)

About Akureyri Industry Museum (Iðnaðarsafnið)

The Akureyri Industry Museum (Iðnaðarsafnið á Akureyri) is a small museum at Krókeyri, on the south side of Akureyri in North Iceland, that tells how the town became a manufacturing center in the 20th century. For decades Akureyri made much of what Icelanders ate, wore and used at home, and this industrial museum keeps the machines and products from those factories.

The ground floor is packed with margarine-making machines, printing presses, lathes and sewing machines, along with watchmakers' tools. Many pieces come from the old factories that produced household names such as Flóra margarine, Santos coffee and Saxbauti. Upstairs, an exhibition covers the town's clothing and shoe industry, from nightgowns and jeans to sheepskin jackets and shoes.

The collection began with Jón Arnþórsson, who started gathering industrial artifacts in 1993, and the museum officially opened on June 17, 1998. It moved more than once in its early years before settling at Krókeyri. Today it works closely with the Akureyri Museum, and a ticket for the Akureyri Museum sites is also valid here.

From September through May, the Akureyri Industry Museum is open Thursday to Sunday from 13:00 to 16:00, and in summer it opens daily. The winter adult ticket is 2,000 ISK, seniors pay 1,500 ISK, and visitors under 18 or with disabilities get in free. Groups can book visits on any day of the week.

The museum is about 3 km south of the town center, a short drive or a 40 minute walk along the fjord past the old town. City buses stop at the ice rink a few steps away. Plan on about an hour, and combine it with the Akureyri Museum or the Icelandic Aviation Museum nearby for a rainy-day plan.