Due to road closures our travels redirected us to Borgarnes. The Settlement Center was a big stop for our day of driving. There is a lot of history here, which is shared in the echo offered at this location. We were focused on food, as we had beef driving a lot. The buffet looked ok, but we opted for the soup special for 4 of us. We were all happy, especially because it was sever with the best bread ever. Park here, have a meal with them and walk around to enjoy the scenery. Very affordable and a warm genuine service experience. There’s also a nice shop downstairs to check out. Very positive visit.

Great place to learn more about the history of Iceland as well as some of the folklore and characters of the island. Two audio self guided tours are available in a number of languages so you can learn more about the country and it's rich history. There's a gift shop and cafe as well as toilets.

We ate dinner here at the restaurant. There isn't a lot online to even know there's a restaurant here but it was very good. My wife had the cod that was cooked perfect and delicious. I had the horse and that was very good too. If you haven't had horse before it taste very similar to beef but I'd recommend trying it. Our friend had the special burger and he said it was good. It comes with a sauce on it which the menu doest say. Overall a good unique place to eat with delicious food.

Good combination of a restaurant and audio tour. Went to the restaurant for dinner, had the 'Ovenbaked fresh cod', which tasted great. It was a big piece of cod with a nice soft sauce, with some roasted vegetables as well. Had the warm chocolate cake as dessert, came with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Did the audio tour about the settlement at Iceland, the upstairs part of ~ half an hour was nice with 3D maps, interactive pieces like buttons that light up things and more. I was less impressed by the downstairs audio tour (also ~ half an hour), it was basically just telling a story and viewing some static/rough wood sculptures that were slightly related to it. The restaurant and gift shop have a natural stone wall, which looks impressive.

Nice, small family friendly restaurant in Borgarnes. Tasty Icelandic food. You must try Icelandic mashed fish, tasty and original dish. Thank you for tasty food and perfect service.

A nice exhibition visualizing the first settlers in Iceland, as well as telling one of the sagas of the area. Recommended if you are in the area. Even if you have to do a small detour.

Fantastic overview of Icelandic history including Egil's saga. Audio tours available in Icelandic, German and English (possibly other languages also). Toilets were spacious and clean. We really enjoyed it :-)

This museum was made with lots of love and many details. The story is well told and interesting. It has been a long time I was in such small and cute museum. 100% recommend.

A very interesting place with two different exhibitions. One about the regular settlement based on historical information and another one about Egils Saga which tells a part of the settlement story based on semi-fictional writings. I absolutely recommend going there if you want to learn more about Iceland.

Very informative exhibit on the settlers in iceland, and the Egil Saga exhibit was made with a lot of love and care. Would love to see other Sagas executed similarly!

This little gem was really worth the visit, especially as the weather outside was really quite unfriendly the day we went! The exhibitions are well done and very informative. Even just going to the first half would be worth it in my opinion. The guy at the desk was so jolly it was contagious and we stocked up on veggies at the delicious vegetarian buffet afterwards which was incredibly tasty and wholesome! Definitely pass through especially on a rainy day.

Mixed Experience: Great Service, Average Food, High Prices Our visit to the Settlement Center for dinner left us with mixed feelings. The service was excellent, from the moment we walked in, we were greeted with warmth and friendliness. The attentive and accommodating nature of the staff added a special touch to our evening, creating a welcoming ambiance that enhanced our dining experience. However, we found the food to be average and the prices to be high considering the quality. While the service and atmosphere were great, the food and pricing fell short of expectations.

Beautiful museum located right on the water front. We did not purchase tickets for the guided tour but just walked around enjoying the scenery! They had a nice little gift shop as well. Lots of information and historical things about Iceland to check out.

Full of great information about the history of Iceland very well explained with awesome exhibits

Went to the restaurant for supper and it was amazing! Tried the mashed fish, and it was exceptionally tasty. The local light beer in the menu was also very smooth. The bread comes with some salted butter too! The atmosphere is very intriguing as well, as the building is built right up to the rocks behind. Highly recommend!

Great food! Our party had the cod, horse, and lamb. All three dishes were spectacular. So glad we stumbled upon this place! The gift shop in the lower level is super cute.

I have been living in Borgarnes for more than 8 years and the Settlement Center remains my very favorite place to eat. Their service is always friendly and impeccable. Their food is local and fresh. Their menu is simply delicious and they are open year round. As an artist, design is important to me and the Settlement Center offers atmosphere as well as fine dining with great vegetarian options!

Exceptionally friendly and helpful staff at the front desk, we visited both exhibitions (~30 mins each, with audioguide headset, $25CAD/adult) on a Sunday afternoon and it wasn't too busy. We did learn quite a bit, being tourists. Even better was the delicious restaurant upstairs, I had the vegetarian buffet (~$25CAD) and my husband had the lamb plate. Both were exceptionally delicious and we'd gladly return any day. My husband is still talking about the delicious date sauce!

Nice place and good food. If you are in Borgarnes, you have to go to this restaurant / store / museum. The people are so kind.

I ate horse for the first time since I was a kid. It was one of the best meals I've experienced in the two trips I've taken to Iceland. They also make the best latte in the country. Good and strong with the proper amount of foam. The wait staff and owner were super friendly people who treated us very well. I was in Borgarnes everyday the last time I was in Iceland, and I regret that i didn't discover this restaurant until my second trip. You will not be let down with their service and food.

We stopped at The Settlement Center for dinner on our way back to Reykjavik after a full day visiting the Snæfellsnes peninsula during Summer 2021. We were welcomed in for dinner even though it was very near closing time. Fresh homemade bread, butter garnished with smoked salt, and delicious Icelandic meat soup made the stop worthwhile. We weren't able to visit the exhibition, but plan to go back on our next visit to the area.

Quite nice but definitely not 4+ star material. The homemade bread is somewhat stodgy, the fish of the day was tasty but inconsistently cooked through (some undercooked some overcooked). It's a nice spot to sit, interesting ambience in the old hall against the rock wall. A nice selection of drinks.

Cozy restaurant with a nice menu. We got the meat/lamb soup (or stew to some people). They let us eat even though the kitchen was closing 10 minutes later for an hour. Staff are lovely.

Just went here with my boyfriend. It was great! We both had the fish of the day (cod) which tasted very fresh and delicious! Our server was fantastic! He gave us extra of their tasty homemade bread to dip in the white wine sauce that our cod soaks in and it was so good! Their chocolate cake is also extremely yummy! So far the best restaurant I’ve eaten at in Iceland.