Búðardalur

Búðardalur
—  Village  —
Búðardalur
Location of the Municipality of Dalabyggð
Búðardalur Location in Iceland
Coordinates: 65°07′N 21°46′W
Country	Iceland
Constituency	Norðvesturkjördæmi
Region	Vesturland
County	Dalasýsla
Municipality	Dalabyggð
Population (2011)
• Total	248
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)
Post Code	371

Búðardalur is a village situated on the Hvammsfjörður in the north-west of Iceland.

The village also lies at the north-eastern end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula and is part of the municipality of Dalabyggð. Búðardalur has about 250 inhabitants and it is a service center for the area. There are 650 inhabitants in the whole county.

Overview

Búðardalur contains a supermarket and a petrol station, flower shop, hair salons, pub/restaurant, information center/coffee shop, health care centre, off licence, garage and a lovely little craft shop, where women in the county sell their handmade craft items. Campsite, which is open during the summer, offers basic facilities.

The village has a long history, dating from the time of the first settlements in Iceland. The name means "Camp Valley", or more directly dale of booths, this is where settlers had temporary camp when coming to this area. In 1899, Búðardalur was officially granted the right of commerce. An old house from this time is still existing.

At a short distance from the village lies the site of the former siege of Erik the Red (Eiríksstaðir), who went from there to discover Greenland. He was the father of Leifur "Heppni" Eiríksson (Leif the Lucky) who went on and discovered America ahead of Columbus.