Iceland

Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve

WHS Score 0.25 Votes 3 Average 0.33
Breiðafjörður encompasses a large shallow bay in Western Iceland with rich marine and terrestrial flora and fauna and sustainable use of its environment by early settlers. It is a spectacular land- and seascape which consists of shallow seas, small fjords and bays and the inner part of extensive intertidal areas dotted with about 3,000 islands, islets and skerries.
The village on the island of Flatey used to be one of the main cultural centres of Iceland from 1777 on.
>

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve (ID: 5585)
Country
Iceland
Status
On tentative list 2011 Site history
History of Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve
Criteria
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org

Community Information

Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
No connections… yet. Propose a connection.
News

No news.

Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 08/10/19.

Zoë Sheng

Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve

Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve (On tentative list)

Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve by Zoë Sheng

First off, I really like the Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve but you will see why I don't rate it highly soon.

I took the Viking Sushi Cruise from Stykkishólmur a couple of hours north of Reykjavík. It started ~10am and was quite full even on a windy and slightly rainy day. The main draw of this cruise is that it takes you to some of the nearby islands (I forget their names) for bird-watching and catches a net of clams. They even provide soy sauce and wasabi! There was also enough for everyone so it was probably worth the money.

The tour does not go as far north as Flatey island. If you want to go there you need to take a ferry by Sæferðir, the same company that does the cruise. I doubt this place is worth visiting for the settlement alone. It's a traditional fishing village which is not uncommon in Scandinavia. So for me the 2 first criteria are not justified. If you visit the website of the ferry company you can see an appropriate picture of the islands - one picture to see all, yes, it's that small. Might be a good place for bird watching and there is a hotel on the island.

The third criteria for the rich biodiversity is in my books always worth protecting and can be unique, but it doesn't sound unique, doesn't seem unique, and we didn't see anything special on this tour. We saw puffins (my first …

Keep reading 0 comments