Akureyri Industry Museum Travel Guide

The Akureyri Industry Museum (Icelandic: Iðnaðarsafnið á Akureyri) is a small volunteer-run museum at Krókeyri on the southern edge of Akureyri, North Iceland, next to the town's airport.

It tells the story of how a small fjord town became one of Iceland's main manufacturing centres in the 20th century, through the machines, products and photographs of the factories that once employed many of Akureyri's people.

Key Takeaways About Iðnaðarsafnið á Akureyri

• Around 400 objects from Akureyri's 20th-century factories: textiles, shoes, margarine, coffee, printing, metalwork
• Open year-round 13:00–16:00; the museum says daily, Visit Akureyri says Thursday–Sunday, so check before going
• Adults 2,000 ISK; the ticket is also valid at six other Akureyri museums
• About 2.5 km south of the town centre along Drottningarbraut (20–30 minute walk), or the free town bus to the skating rink
• Next door to the Motorcycle Museum of Iceland and a few minutes from the Aviation Museum

Why visit the Akureyri Industry Museum

For most of the 20th century Akureyri was one of Iceland's main industrial towns.

Cooperative and private factories here made wool cloth and knitwear (Gefjun), clothing (Hekla), shoes (Iðunn), margarine (Flóra), coffee (Santos), soap and paint (Sjöfn) and sweets (Linda), and the town also had fish-processing plants and a shipyard.

At their peak the cooperative factories on Gleráreyrar alone employed about 800 people. The museum's own account is that in the 1960s and 1970s the town was close to self-sufficient in food, clothing, building materials and fishing gear.

The industry on Gleráreyrar went into decline from the early 1980s and most of it had closed by the 1990s; the Industry Museum exists to keep its physical memory.

The collection runs to around 400 registered items and is laid out as a series of small workshops and shop displays.

You will find margarine-making machinery, printing presses, lathes, watchmakers' tools and shoemakers' lasts; packaging and products from brands such as Flóra margarine, Santos coffee and Saxbauti; textile and clothing displays from the Gefjun and Hekla factories; herring barrels, vintage footwear and toys; and photographs of people at their work.

One section shows final-exam pieces by local apprentices, a reminder that the museum is also about the trades themselves. Displays change, so repeat visitors see new objects.

The museum is the life's work of Jón Arnþórsson, who began collecting industrial artefacts systematically in 1993 and opened the museum on 17 June 1998 in the former Hekla clothing factory on Gleráreyrar.

It moved to the Sjöfn factory building (Sjafnarhúsið) on Austursíða in 2000 and, on 1 May 2004, to its current home in a former municipal tool store at Krókeyri.

Jón and his wife Gisela Rabe-Stephan ran it on grants and goodwill for years; a friends' association was founded in February 2005, and the museum has had to ask the town for emergency funding more than once since, most recently in early 2023.

That history is part of its character: it describes itself as small and homely, and it is largely run by volunteers.

How to get to the Akureyri Industry Museum

• The museum is at Krókeyri (number 6), 600 Akureyri, on the shore road south of the town centre, between the Motorcycle Museum of Iceland and Akureyri Airport.
• From the town centre it is about 2.5 km, a 20 to 30 minute walk south along Drottningarbraut, the road that follows the fjord past the Akureyri Museum and Nonnahús (Visit Akureyri gives 15 to 20 minutes). Akureyri's town buses are free; Visit Akureyri says to take bus 1 or 3 to the skating rink (Skautahöllin), about 5 minutes' walk from the museum.
• By car, follow Drottningarbraut south from the centre or turn off the Ring Road (Route 1) at the airport junction. There is space to park outside the museum.
• From Reykjavík, Akureyri is about 390 km by Route 1, roughly 5.5 to 6 hours' driving without stops, or a domestic flight of under an hour into Akureyri Airport, whose terminal is about 500 m from the museum.

Best time to visit

The museum is open year-round, which makes it a good option for a wet or wintry day in Akureyri.

The museum's own website gives opening hours of 13:00 to 16:00 every day, while Visit Akureyri lists Thursday to Sunday only, so check idnadarsafnid.is before you go; groups can be received outside normal hours by arrangement.

Pair it with the Motorcycle Museum next door and the Aviation Museum at the airport for a half-day of Akureyri's mechanical history.

Safety and practical tips

• Address: Krókeyri, 600 Akureyri; contact details are on idnadarsafnid.is.
• Opening: 13:00 to 16:00 daily according to the museum, Thursday to Sunday according to Visit Akureyri; confirm before visiting.
• Admission: 2,000 ISK for adults (18 and over); the ticket is also valid at the Akureyri Museum, Nonnahús, Davíðshús, the Toy Museum, Laufás and Smámunasafnið. Pensioners and disabled visitors are free, groups of 10 or more pay 1,700 ISK per person, and school visits are free. Guided tours and treasure-hunt activities for groups can be booked at least two days ahead.
• Allow 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
• There is no café, but there is a garden with tables and benches where you can eat a packed lunch; the nearest food is in the town centre, a 20 to 30 minute walk away.
• Winter pavements along Drottningarbraut can be icy; wear shoes with grip if walking from town.