Húsavík

According to Landnámabók this was the first place in Iceland settled by a Norseman: the Swedish Viking Garðar Svavarsson wintered here around 870 and, leaving in the spring, left behind a man called Náttfari and two slaves, who made a farm. The name means bay of houses, probably for Garðar’s buildings, which were likely the only houses in the country at the time. The town now lives on tourism and fishing, and has become the centre of whale watching in Iceland, since whales of several species come into the bay. The wooden church dates from 1907.