A Nice Museum
Laufás was a little detour on the way from Mývatn to Reykjavik. It is in the north to the east of Mývatn and before you reach Akureyri. We found it simply because we were driving along Route 1 and I wanted to pull over on to the dirt road extending off the highway to take a photo of the fjord. When we slowed down we saw a sign indicating a place of interest on that road a few miles up and decided to investigate since we had no plans other than to drive to Reykjavik that day. The drive was short and picturesque as the fog rolled off the fjord and helped to frame the mountains with glaciers above.
We were a little too stupid to figure out that the parking was directly after the turf houses because the parking lot looked like someone's driveway. It was actually the gift shop and cafe. If you see the country's flag flying over a structure, chances are it is a tourist stop. We were finally figuring it out.
This was one of our favorite turf houses we stopped at. I am not sure if it was the setting or if it was the way it was set up, but this site was worth the stop. There are many little roof peaks coming out of the ground and brightly painted windows. It had rooms set up with museum pieces demonstrating the way of life in the house. There was also a room with clothes from the time that was of particular interest to me.
Next to the turf houses was a church that was not opened when we visited and a Visitor's Center on the other side. The Turf houses were open until September 15th so we just made it within days of its closing for the season. The gift shop and cafe was very nice with the first stop being the restroom and then some browsing for handmade crafts to bring home for family. Out of all the stops, this place had a nicer selection of sweaters in different colors and I found one that was entirely dark red, a wide casual neckline, and really soft. They also had the traditional Icelandic patters and colors as well. We stayed for warm drinks before we had to part to complete our all day drive back to Reykjavik.
Getting There
We are not really sure how to explain how to get to Laufás. On Google Maps it shows it on Route 82, but it is really on the other side of the Fjord.
We reached it driving from Mývatn and found it before we hit Akureyri. We were driving through the mountains and as we dropped in altitude and the road took a dramatic
left hand turn. At that point we found the road that was a sharp almost hairpin turn off to the right and followed the east side of the fjord.
If you watch on the left, you will see the Icelandic Flag right after you see the houses on the left. Parking is at the house that has the flag.
A little further up is a horse farm on the right where you can go horseback riding. Both the riding and the turf houses are an easy visit from Akureyri and not too far from Mývatn.