The Aurora building at the top of the Old Harbour is a nice little attraction that give a great insight to the Aurora Borealis, or as it is more commonly known, the Northern Lights. Inside there are small displays explaining the phenomenon and how it happens, a small cinema where you can sit for 20 or 30 minutes or so seeing images of the lights from locations all over the island and then in the small shop and coffee bar you can sit down for the final treat. A virtual reality headset with about 3 minutes of the Borealis crashing all over the sky. That bit is great, as your head swings from side to side and up and down trying to follow it all over the sky as it happens before your eyes.
It is quite small exhibition and can be visited in an hour or less which is great if like us for instance, you need to fill a little time before going out on a boat or something.
There is an entrance fee which is ok, but beware if, like us you have booked with an excursion such as a Northern Lights sightseeing tour that promised a free admission the Aurora Centre on the day of the tour. We went along on that assumption, only to find that the Centre had no knowledge of the promised ticket and so, being at a loose end we opted to pay for admission (for which the visit was, I think, good value). Expecting to claim the fee back from the tour company. When we tried later to do just that, the company denied that they offered such a deal and claimed that we must have seen that offer on some other firms website. I am pretty sure that we did not, but when trying to get more information from the main Icelandic booking website who we booked through, we got nowhere.
So be warned, the promise of free entry may not always be honoured, but don't let that stop you from visiting the Aurora, Northern Lights Centre, it really is a very good experience.