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May 19, 2024

　　Known as Eldfellshraun, the Mars-like land created by the 1973 lava flow is now criss-crossed with a maze of otherworldly hiking tracks that run down to the Skansinn fort and the area where the lava meets the town's houses, and all around the bulge of the raw, red eastern coast. Here you’ll find small black-stone beaches, the Gaujulundur lava garden and a lighthouse.

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Must-see attractions

　　The 221m-high volcanic cone Eldfell appeared from nowhere in the early hours of 23 January 1973. Once the fireworks finished, heat from the volcano provided Heimaey with geothermal energy from 1976 to 1985. Today the ground is still hot enough in places to bake bread or char wood. Eldfell is...

　　Known as Eldfellshraun, the Mars-like land created by the 1973 lava flow is now criss-crossed with a maze of otherworldly hiking tracks that run down to the Skansinn fort and the area where the lava meets the town's houses, and all around the bulge of the raw, red eastern coast....

　　More than 400 buildings lie buried under lava from the 1973 eruption, and on the edge of the flow ‘Pompeii of the North’ is a museum revolving around one house excavated from 50m of pumice. It was once home to Gerður Sigurðardóttir and Guðni Ólafsson, their two children and baby....

　　This lovely green area by the sea has several unique historical sights. The oldest structure on the island, Skansinn was a 15th-century fort built to defend the harbour (not too successfully, however – when Algerian pirates arrived in 1627 they simply landed on the other side of the island). Its...

Sagnheimar Byggðasafn

　　Housed in the city library, this interactive folk museum tells the story of Heimaey from the era of marauding pirates up to the 1973 eruption and beyond. Displays also shed light on local sports heroes, religion, volcanic activity and native bird life. ...

　　The Aquarium & Natural History Museum has an interesting collection of stuffed birds and animals, videos on puffins and catfish, and fish tanks of Icelandic fish. It’s great fun for the family, and there’s often a puffin wobbling about. The museum is an informal bird hospital as well. ...

　　Shockingly, three out of four of Heimaey’s babies once died of tetanus, due to water deficiency and contaminated soil. In the 1840s an island woman, Sólveig, was sent abroad to be trained as a midwife. The tiny wooden house Landlyst was Sólveig’s maternity hospital (and is the second-oldest building on...

Stóraklif & Heimaklettur

　　The top of the craggy precipice Stóraklif is a treacherous 30-minute climb from behind the N1 petrol station at the harbour. The trail starts on the obvious 4WD track; as it gets steeper you’re ‘assisted’ by ropes and chains (but don’t trust them completely). If you can bear the terror,...

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