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Skyrland Selfoss

Florian Buechting Museums & Exhibitions No Comments

Skyrland

1,990 ISK
Skyrland
4.1

Rating

 4.1/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice part of your Iceland journey
  • Modern presentation
  • Skyr tasting included

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Slightly too commercial

There are a bunch of iconic dishes in Iceland. One which made it globally is Skyr. Isey, one of the most successful skyr franchises of the country, has its roots in Selfoss, a town Southeast of Reykjavik. Rather recently, they opened the Skyrland, which is some sort of museum about the dairy product, which is rather some sort of cream cheese than yogurt (even though you rather eat it like yogurt). My wife and I visited the place on the eighth day of our Iceland Ring Road trip (as the place has not yet been open for summer when we passed it on Day 1). Here is the review.

 

Skyrland – Location & Admission

Skyland is located right at the main roundabout in Selfoss, where the Ring Road (route 1) is meeting road 34. The museum is located in the basement of The Old Dairy, which is in fact a food court kind of place. The building is a replica of the dairy in which Isey started producing the dish near Selfoss. Parking lots are located next to road 34. The town, which is about a one hour drive away from Reykjavik, is very well known as the burying place of chess icon Bobby Fischer. There is also a Bobby Fischer Museum – unfortunately, I never made to visit it during opening times.

Skyrland is opening daily from 9:00 to 18:00 in summer. There may be closures and different opening times in winter. The admission for adults is 1,990 ISK,roughly 13.50 EUR.

 

Skyrland – The Visit

There is not a guided direction in the museum. We first went to a section, which is explaining the origin of skyr. The so-called Story Wall is an interactive overview of the product (who can hold your hands on some icons and kick-off some additional information by that). Skyr is in fact not an Icelandic invention, but a traditional Nordic product, which had lost its importance, before it has been “re-activated” in Iceland. In other exhibits, you can learn about traditional dairy farming or which flavors are nowadays typically added to skyr. A huge glass box (named Summer in a box) allows you to stand in the middle of Icelandic grass and even smell the nature. Yeah, finally, Skyrland is a mixture of museum, factory tour and company marketing.

You also learn about expansion of skyr outside Iceland or how it is produced industrially nowadays. The museum is very illustrative, there are a lot of pictures and items in display. Of course, there are also some sections on skyr marketing and how healthy the product is (which is, at least, the case compared to yogurt).

At the end of your self-guided tour (which took us roughly 30 minutes), you are also receiving some skyr tasting.

 

Skyrland – Services

One of the cafes and restaurant is of course driven by the skyr company. Thus, you may add some more skyr experience to your visit and have a shake or a bowl – visitors to the exhibition receive a discount. Even if you don’t feel like the Icelandic dairy product, there is quite a range of options of other cuisine available in the multi-level food court building.

 

 

Skyrland – My View

I had an enjoyable time at Skyrland. You cannot deny that they also do a quite a bit of self-marketing in Selfoss, but there is also nice staff, some interesting stories and – finally – some tasting. The presentation is very good as well. You will cross Selfoss likely on your Iceland trip anyway. The food court is good as well – so why shouldn’t you go for it?

 

Flyctory.com on Eating & Drinking

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