The town’s most significant building is Kaupvangur, a restored customs house. You’ll find an excellent cafe and information centre on the ground floor, and a handicrafts shop. Upstairs there’s a well-curated exhibit about two locals, Iceland’s version of the Gershwin brothers. Also on the 2nd floor is a small display about East Iceland émigrés: from 1850 to 1914, a wave of locals purchased boat tickets to North America from this very building.
The East Iceland Emigration Center (www.vesturfarinn.is) is based here, and can help 'Western Icelanders' (ie North Americans with Icelandic heritage) reconnect with their heritage.
