Akranes is a port on the west coast of Iceland, located at the foot of Mount Akrafjall. There is an interesting open-air museum showing the life of the former inhabitants of Iceland and a lighthouse.
The town was founded in the 9th century by Irish monks. It is concentrated around the port, and there is also an aluminum smelter and a cement plant in the area. The port of Akranes was of great importance as early as the 17th century. The surrounding coast is heavily branched and full of coves. For this reason, one of the peninsulas has the old Akranes lighthouse that can be visited. Currently, a more modern building with better lighting is used.
Akranes's biggest attraction is the Folklore Museum. It consists of several fully equipped wooden houses and shows what life was like for Icelanders at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. One of them is the Glymur waterfall, which descends in a few streams from a high rock straight into a precipitous gorge.
