Bifröst: The Small University Village in Norðurárdalur

Driving Route 1 through Norðurárdalur in West Iceland, you pass a cluster of buildings that looks more like a campus than a village — because that is exactly what it is. Bifröst is home to fewer than 300 year-round residents, most of them connected in some way to Bifröst University (Háskólinn á Bifröst).

From Cooperative College to University Village

The school now known as Bifröst University did not start here. It was founded in Reykjavík in December 1918 as the Samvinnuskólinn, or Cooperative College, set up by the Federation of Icelandic Cooperative Societies (SÍS) to train leaders for Iceland’s cooperative movement. In the summer of 1955 the school relocated to this valley in Borgarfjörður, and as staff and students grew, housing, a shop, and a kindergarten grew up around it.

A Farm Becomes a Campus

The land the university sits on once belonged to the farm Hreðavatn, worked by Sigurlaug Daníelsdóttir and Kristján Gestsson from 1913. On 1 December 1985 the couple’s children formally donated the Hreðavatn land to the institution in their parents’ memory. The school changed names as its mission broadened — Cooperative University in 1988, Bifröst School of Business in 2000, and finally Bifröst University in 2006 — and now teaches business, law, and social sciences.

Why Here

Bifröst sits in a striking pocket of the valley: Lake Hreðavatn lies just southwest of the village, and the campus backs onto Grábrókarhraun, a roughly 3,000-year-old moss-covered lava field produced by the Grábrók crater row. The craters and the Glanni waterfall a little further along the river are worth a stop in their own right — we cover that walk separately — but the village itself is worth knowing about even if you don’t hike.

• Location: Norðurárdalur valley, Borgarbyggð municipality, West Iceland, on Route 1
• Population: around 250 residents
• Founded as a school: 1918 in Reykjavík; moved to Bifröst in 1955
• Amenities: convenience store, coffee house, kindergarten, gym
• Nearby: Lake Hreðavatn, Grábrók crater, and Glanni waterfall

Where to Stay

Bifröst is a short drive from Hvítá Trucks, our converted expedition trucks parked on the riverbank at Hvítárbakki. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.

Photo: Alexander Grebenkov via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.