From Iceland — It's Berry Picking Season In Iceland

It’s Berry Picking Season In Iceland

Published August 13, 2014

Nanna Árnadóttir
Photo by
Alisa Kalyanova

It’s berry picking season in Iceland and droves will soon head out to the countryside to pick berries, an activity that’s called “berjamór” in Icelandic. 

University professor and berry enthusiast, Þorvaldur Pálmason, has told Vísir where this season’s best berries are located.

“You can get a hold of good bilberries north of Snæfellsnes and in Dalir,” said Þorvaldur. “But you’ll want to go up Northeast, that’s where the real bilberries are.”

In Iceland, the small flavourful bilberries are often mistaken by tourists as blueberries, and are indeed called bláber in Icelandic which directly translates as “blue berries” but are in fact bilberries or bog bilberries. 

“I was also told by a man down south by the sea that he didn’t even need to take off his slippers to get to good crowberries [they are that abundant in that part of the country],” said Þorvaldur, who in his spare time runs the website Berjavinir (Berry Friends) with his brother – another berry enthusiast – in order to share berry picking tips and to let others know of good spots to find berries.

Anyone is free to pick berries on public land and you can even pick and eat berries on private land provided it is uncultivated farm land, but it is not OK to pick berries on private property, so steer clear of that.

Related

Picking Wild Berries In Iceland

Support The Reykjavík Grapevine!
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!

Show Me More!