The Visitor centre is located right next to the viewing platform at Hakið, where you walk down to Almannagjá gorge.
An introductory video about the exhibition can be found here.
The exhibition is instructive as well as giving visitors the opportunity to experience Thingvellir in the past.
May - October 09:00 - 18:00.
November - May 09:00 - 17:00
| Adults | 1200 kr. |
| Children (17 year old and younger) | Free |
| Senior citizens | 600 kr. |
| Disabled | Free |
| Groups (10+) | 1000 kr. per person |
| Students (18+) | 600 kr. per person |
We follow in the footsteops of photographer Gunnar Geir Vigfússon who has beeen been taking photographs of visits by foreign heads of state and their hosts, as well as major festivals, at Þingvellir for 50 years.
Þingvellir þjóðgarður
In an inner hallway inside our exhibition at our Visitor centre we have the opportunity to set up temporary exhibitions. Now we have there a great photo collection with images from photographer Gunnar Geir Vigfússon been taking photographs of visits by foreign heads of state and their hosts, as well as major festivals, at Þingvellir for 50 years.
Gunnar’s career at Þingvellir spans a huge number of visits by heads of state and other dignitaries who have been welcomed to Þingvellir.
Þingvellir þjóðgarður
Gunnar Geir has photographed three major festivals at Þingvellir, marking the 1100th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland in 1974, the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the modern Republic of Iceland in 1994, and the millennium of the adoption of Christianity in Iceland in 2000.
Gunnars Geir´s saga as photographer of foreign leaders spans all the way too 1973. Here we can see Queen of Denmark on her official visit to Þingvellir.
Gunnar Geir Vigfússon
Other major events have included visits by Pope John Paul II, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and the inscription of the Þingvellir National Park on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Gunnar Geir Vigfússon
Over the past fifty years Gunnar has built up an extensive archive documenting visits by foreign dignitaries. This exhibition is a journey through time in which the environment of the National Park remains largely unchanged, while new faces appear in every image.
The exhibition "The Heart of Iceland", located in the visitor center of the national park at Thingvellir, won two Red Dot Design awards in 2019. The exhibition received an award for "information design" on the one hand and also for "interface design and user experience". The exhibition has about 10 interactive stations and offers an interesting journey through the history of Thingvellir National Park and a unique insight into the nature of the place where all the senses are activated.
The visitor center at Haki has a complete certification of BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method). BREEAM is a British environmental certification system. The building has received BREEAM certifications both during the design period and after the building was built.
The completion certification confirms that the building meets eco-design standards according to the internationally recognized BREEAM certification system. No comments or deviations were made and Hakið received three stars out of five possible and the final score was 59.9% - "Very Good" - as the goal was set. EFLA thanks Thingvellir National Park and the State Construction Agency for their cooperation and sincerely congratulates them. The certification assesses many different aspects such as:
The goal of BREEAM eco-certification is to design and build buildings that have less environmental impact, are healthier for users and require less maintenance than traditional buildings.
You can read more about outreach in a pdf file.