Those looking for a general introduction to Iceland’s history and culture should plan on an hour’s visit to this museum (you won’t need more), within walking distance of Reykjavík’s shopping streets. Don’t miss the boutique, which has a fine selection of books in English, including Independent People and World Light, written in the 1930s by Icelandic Nobel Prize–winner Halldór Laxness.

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Too often, folk museums in remote locations disappoint with dusty, incomplete collections and disgruntled staffers, but the Skogár Museum is a glowing exception. It’s the labor of love of Thordur Tómasson, the museum’s main curator, who began collecting artifacts when he was fourteen (currently, there are more than 12,000 pieces in the collection and about 8,000 on display). Tour guides, including the energetic Martina Pötzssch who missed her calling as an actress, lead visitors through the rooms where the items are lovingly displayed, vividly making past centuries come to life. For instance, we learned that 19th-century Icelanders predicted weather patterns by hanging a cow bladder in front of their doors: if it expanded, a high was approaching; if it deflated, bad weather was coming. There’s also an entire room dedicated to fishing, still Iceland’s largest industry, including a one-mast wooden boat built in 1855.

Tomasson also restored the so-called turf farmhouses behind the museum: single-room homes with an adjoining barn that were used by Icelandic farmers in the 1800s and call to mind The Hobbit. Visitors can also tour a larger restored wooden house that was in use until 1949 and Skógar Church, where, if you’re lucky, you’ll find Tómasson playing the small organ and singing Icelandic hymns (if he discovers you’re from the U.S., he may even launch into “America the Beautiful”). Opening hours vary throughout the year; contact the museum before you visit.