Þverárrétt Sheep Round-Up: Joining Iceland’s Réttir in Borgarfjörður
If you are staying in Borgarfjörður in mid-September, one working morning outranks almost anything on the tourist route: the réttir, Iceland’s annual sheep round-up. At Þverárrétt in Þverárhlíð, thousands of sheep that have grazed free all summer are driven down off the highlands and sorted, by hand, back to the farms they belong to. It is not a show put on for visitors. It is a real farming day, and you are welcome to lend a hand.
What Þverárrétt Is
Þverárrétt is one of the larger and older sorting pens in the country. The stone structure was built between about 1850 and 1860 from lava rock and covers roughly 2,300 square metres. The layout is the classic Icelandic réttir shape: a big central ring (the almenningur) where the mixed flock is held, ringed by smaller wedge-shaped pens (dilkar), one per farm. Sheep are caught by the horns and walked to the correct pen, read off the coloured ear-marks and tags. On a busy morning the noise is constant and the mud is real.
How the Round-Up Works
Icelandic sheep spend the summer loose on the open highland pastures inland from Borgarfjörður. In September, farmers and volunteers ride and walk the heaths to gather them and drive them down over several days. The animals arrive at the pen as one enormous mixed flock, and the sorting can take most of a day. There is usually a first gathering day and then a main sorting day a few days later, so check which is which before you go. Afterward there is often coffee, food and singing, part of why réttir counts as a genuine community event and not just farm work.
Going as a Visitor
Visitors are genuinely welcome. You can simply watch from the walls, or you can climb in and help move sheep to the marked pens; ask a farmer first and follow their lead, since it is their working day. Réttir is free and unticketed. There is no set programme and no operator, so treat it as you would any working farmyard.
- Getting there: Þverárrétt is in Þverárhlíð, Borgarbyggð, about a 30-minute drive from The Hvítá Inn. Reykjavík is roughly 90 minutes further south.
- When to go: Mid-September. In 2025 the Þverárrétt gathering and main sorting fell on 15 and 21 September; exact dates change every year and are published by the Borgarbyggð municipality at borgarbyggd.is, so verify the current year before you set out.
- What to bring: Waterproof boots and trousers, warm windproof layers, and gloves. It gets muddy and the West Iceland weather turns fast.
- Timing: Arrive in the morning. Sorting can run for hours, but the pen is fullest and liveliest early.
Where to Stay
The best base for the round-up is The Hvítá Inn, on the bank of the Hvítá river at Hvítárbakki in Borgarfjörður. It sits about 30 minutes from Þverárrétt, close enough to reach the pen early on the sorting morning while the flock is still packed in, and it is well placed for the rest of the classic West Iceland driving circuit. Rooms have private bathrooms. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.
Photo: Ethan Kan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.