The beautiful Svarfaðardalur Nature Reserve and Húsabakki in North Iceland

In several of my travel-blogs through the years I have shown you the valleys of Iceland, told you about historic sites that are often overlooked by visitors, and shown you what treasures these valleys keep.

Svarfaðardalur valley in North Iceland is one such valley, which is well worth a visit, as here you will find beautiful little churches, one of the turf houses left in Iceland, Laug Bakkabræðra - the Pool of the Brothers at Bakki, the Svarfaðardalur Nature Reserve and much more.

Top photo: An Icelandic horse on a bright summer night in Svarfaðardalur

The Svarfaðardalur Nature Reserve

Tjarnartjörn pond

We stayed at the Húsabakki hotel for the night. My husband had performed at the Hríseyjarhátíð festival on Hrísey island, the Pearl of Eyjafjörður, and we wanted to extend our stay in this beautiful area.

And I was eager to check out Friðland Svarfdæla - the Nature Reserve and Bird Sanctuary of Svarfaðardalur on this bright summer night when Icelandic flora and fauna become alive.

The Nature Reserve is right outside Húsabakki and there used to be a bird exhibition at the hotel, which is closed now.

A phalarope (óðinshani) in the nature reserve

The Svarfaðardalur Nature Reserve covers approx. 8 sq. km. on both sides of Svarfaðardalur valley from Húsabakki and extends all the way to the sea in Dalvík town.

The Nature Reserve is Iceland's oldest wetland protection area, established in 1972 by some of the landowners in Svarfaðardalur and the Nature Conservation Council.

They wanted to protect the valley's unique ecosystem and I am grateful for their foresight as it is ever so lovely visiting the bird sanctuary.

A godwit (jaðrakan) in the Nature Reserve

At the bird sanctuary, you will find a myriad of migratory birds, and more than 30 bird species nest in this area. They arrive in Iceland in April and nest here, raise their chicks and leave in late August.

We Icelanders always get sentimental when the migratory birds start arriving and we hear them singing after a long dark winter. It is truly music to our ears, and many an Icelandic poet has written beautiful poems about the migratory birds.

Information signs on the educational trail

I followed a trail to the Nature Reserve from Húsabakki, passed the campsite and in 2 minutes I was in this beautiful area with birds singing and horses playing.

Along the educational path (from 2012), you can read up on different bird species that nest in the Nature Reserve.

The bird-watching hide by Tjarnartjörn pond

I visited the bird-watching hide but the birds were not at ease with me being there and started shrieking. A beautiful godwit followed me and sat on top of the bird-watching hide.

The godwit is especially loud in this respect and it won't stop shrieking until you leave. Cute as it is then it is impossible to be around it during the nesting season.

The loud godwit in the nature reserve

I didn't want to scare it so I ventured out on the floating bridge where the path floated on barrels on the reed pond.

I soon realized that it was a mistake as the bridge vibrated when I was walking on the pond, and in some places, I was literally walking on and in water.

When the Arctic tern started attacking me in the middle of the path I returned back rather than falling into the pond with my 2 cameras.

The floating bridge

The Artic tern seems to have it in for me and attacks me even when I am nowhere close to its nest. This cranky bird has attacked me all over Iceland and that is why I always carry an umbrella with me to fight it off and protect my head.

It always attacks the highest point so holding an umbrella or a stick above your head will protect you.

This time around I had forgotten the umbrella in the car along with the wellies which I had in the trunk of the car. So I turned back from the floating bridge.

A phalarope (óðinshani) in the nature reserve

I wanted to see the whole area, but it was not necessary. Just being in one place and taking in the beauty was enough.

The weather was completely still and the surrounding snow-filled mountains reflected in the water creating a beautiful sight. When the midnight sun was about to set it cast a pink hue on the mountains, which reflected in the still ponds.

The snowy mountains reflected in the ponds

I spent a couple of hours outside with the birds and the horses which were happily playing on this bright summer night. 

When I am travelling in Iceland during the summertime I get very little sleep as I don't want to miss out on this magical time in my country. We never get used to the bright nights, they always bring magic into our lives after the dark winter.

Horses were playing in the nature reserve

While standing there I thought to myself that this was perfection, that nothing could beat the beauty of this moment.

I wanted to stay outside for the whole night but had to return back to Húsabakki where my husband was waiting.

Mt. Stóllinn in Svarfaðardalur

Svarfaðardalur Valley, as lovely and serene as it is today with its friendly farms and beautiful little churches, has not always been this peaceful though.

Here Svarfdæla saga - the Saga of the people of Svarfaðardalur Valley, took place with endless fights between the Vikings who settled on one bank of the Svarfaðardalsá river and the settlers on the opposite bank of the river.

Returning back to Húsabakki only took a couple of minutes

Svarfdæla is an amazing saga that is well worth reading before you visit this valley as you will see it in a totally different light after reading the saga. 

Húsabakki

Húsabakki

Húsabakki is an old boarding school that operated from 1955-2004. In the summertime from 1997-2009, there was a drama school at Húsabakki. Now it is a hotel and there is a camping site next to it.

Boarding schools often change their role and act as hotels in the summertime.

I love staying in boarding schools as they remind me of the time I was travelling with my parents around Iceland.

Our room in Húsabakki

I found them on Booking and booked a room on the night before our stay. When we arrived at Húsabakki we saw a note in the front door window that the proprietors welcomed us and said that they had popped over to Akureyri town and that the key was in an envelope inside.

New proprietors had just taken over the business and reopened after renovation. And it seemed that we were the only guests at the whole Húsabakki hotel after it reopened.

So we just wandered around and had a look at all the rooms available.

The view from our room at Húsabakki was of the nature reserve 

We were given a room with 2 beds, but since we were the only people staying there, I asked for an upgrade to a bigger room with a twin bed. 

The view from our window of the nature reserve was heavenly.

The proprietors were very helpful and invited us to prepare our dinner in the breakfast area with them on the ground floor. And they invited us to breakfast with them the morning after our stay.

Having breakfast with the proprietors of Húsabakki

They also showed us the way to Fótlaug Bakkabræðra, the Footbath of the brothers at Bakki, which is a warm footbath in the mountain above Húsabakki.

We had been searching for the path to that footbath on the previous day, but couldn't find it. I show you our hike up to that warm footpath in my next travel-blog: The warm Footbath of the Bakkabræður brothers in Svarfaðardalur Valley.

From the warm footbath, there is a fantastic view of the valley.

The view from the footbath 

After visiting the footbath we had a look at the beautiful churches in Svarfaðardalur valley, about which I have also written another travel-blog.

We had such a wonderful stay in this historic valley. Here is the location of Húsabakki and the Nature Reserve of Svarfaðardalur on Google Maps.

Have a lovely time in Svarfaðardalur valley :)