Travel Guide Akranes

Akranes with its 6,600 inhabitants is located on a small peninsula opposite Reykjavík. It is the largest fishing port in Iceland. It offers all the tourist facilities, but is not very original. Its proximity to Reykjavík and the difficulties that followed the decision to suspend whaling have plunged it into an identity crisis. Many people left for the capital, and today Akranes is one of the few towns in Iceland where the population remains stable. The first settlers in Akranes were Irish who arrived in Iceland before the Vikings, around 880, hence the Irish days.Walking on the beach of Langisandur and watching the ballet of the trawlers is the best Akranes has to offer. But don't forget the museums either. In front of the Museum Centre, a granite monument, with an inscription in Gaelic and Icelandic, was donated by the Irish people to the town of Akranes in 1974 on the occasion of the 1,100th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland. This symbolic work recalls that the site was settled around 880 by two Irish brothers, Þormóður and Ketill Breason, before the arrival of the Viking settlers, as suggested by the Landnámábók or Book of Settlement.