Búðardalur Camping Ground

Gudrun Osvifursdottir, heroine of Laxdaela Saga, was born (973AD) and brought up at Laugar.

It is said that she used the hot water pool there a lot and also met there her followers Kjartan and Bolli.

There is a geothermal area at Laugar and a naturally-heated swimming pool was built there in 1932. The hot water is also used for heating up the buildings at the place.

At about 3 km from Laugar you may find the rocky hill Tungustapi, home of elves.

Eiríksstaðir is one of most historic sides of Iceland. Step back to the Viking Era and immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and scents of Eriks the Red's farm which is also the birthplace of Leif the Lucky who is said to have discovered America. Modern day vikings demonstrate the lifestyle of 1000 years ago, sharing their crafts and knowledge.

Auður djúpúðga ( Auður the Deep minded) was one of the settlers in Dalir. She was a Christian and had a cross raised at Krosshólaborg, where she went to pray. Her descentants considered Krosshólaborg a holy place. Women in Dalir set up a memorial of Auður, a stone cross in 1965. The remains of Auður´s first farm, Auðartóftir, are nearby.

The route via Klofningsvegur no. 590 runs through Hvammssveit, Fellsströnd, Klofningur, Skarðsströnd and Saurbær. Day-to-day it is called going around the coasts. The boundaries of Fellsströnd and Hvammssveit are around Hólsá and reaches Fellsströnd to Ormsstaðir, where Klofningur takes over.

It used to be populated on Fellsströnd, but now many premises are not inhabited. Icelandic forest service owns the land Skógar, from where there is almost continuous forest out to Staðarfell. Staðarfell is an ancient manor and church. A housewife school was there 1927-1976, an treatment home from 1980-2018 and there is a community home. Outside Ytrafellsmúli, the lowlands increase and there is some woodland and islands out from the coast. Flekkudalur and Galtardalur go in between the mountains and there lies Efribyggð. From Efribyggðarvegur there is a large and beautiful view of the islands at the entrance of Hvammsfjörður. Kjarlaksstaðir is the settlement land of old Kjarlak. After Flekkudalsá and Galtardalsá merge, it is called Kjarlaksstaðaá. Bjarni Jónsson grew up in Vogur and was called Bjarni from Vogi, after the farm. There is a monument about him by the highway.

Until 1918 the boundaries of Skarðsstrandarhreppur were from Ormsstaðir to Fagradalsá, then the district split into Klofningshreppur and Skarðshreppur. The district boundary held until 1986 that Klofningshreppur split over Klofningur between Fellsstrandarhreppur and Skarðshreppur.

In Dagverðarnes, Auður Djúpúðga ate a breakfast in her search for her settlement columns. The current church in Dagverðarnes was built in 1934. Outside Dagverðarnes lies Hrappsey where the country's first secular printing house was operated.

Klofningur is a natural gap and the road runs through it. At Klofningur there is a sightseeing point and a good view over the islands and out to Snæfellsnes.

One of the oldest manor in the country is Skarð á Skarðsströnd. It is the settlement land of Geirmundur heljarskinn and the same family has lived there since the 11th century. Farmers church is in Skarð and there is, among other things, an altarpiece that Ólöf "the rich" Loftsdóttir is said to have given to the church. Below Skarð is Skarðsstöð. There is a lot of bird life and cultural monuments. Skarðsstöð was the first legalized trading center in Dalasýsla in 1884 and now houses a fishing port.

The community center Röðull is located below the road by Búðardalsá. In Röðull there are often exhibitions related to the life and culture of the people of Skarðsströnd. In the 18th century, Magnús Ketilsson, an magistrate and a great progressive man, lived in Búðardalur and did significant agricultural experiments and wrote a number of scholarly articles. Ytri-Fagridalur is the innermost town on Skarðsströnd and is the settlement land of Steinólfur "the low". Over there you can see Hafratindur, the mountain of Dalir.

According to Laxdaela saga, Gudrun Osvifursdóttir used to dwell by a geothermal pool in Laugar in Saelingsdalur. The pool is mentioned in Sturlunga saga and it seems to have been used a great deal.

The pool is believed to have been destroyed in a landslide. In 2009 a new pool was built near to the location where the old pool is thought to have been situated and named Gudrunarlaug.

A changing facility, referred to as a "house of modesty" in Icelandic, was also built at the same time.

Around the year 890, Audur the Deep minded (djúpúdga) from Dogurdara settled the land between the outer edge og Hvammsveit and Skaumuhlaupsa in Hordudalur.

She built her farm at Hvammur and for a long time after her kin lived there. Audur was Christian.

The father of Snorri Sturluson, Sturla Thordarson (1115-1183), lived at Hvammur. He was of the ninth generation counting from Audur the Deep minded. His sons Thordur, Sighvatur and Snorri were born there.

Arni Magnusson (1663-1730), professor and collector of medieval manuscripts, grew up at Hvammur. Priests would remain at Hvammur. Since the Reformation until 1944 only 15 priests held the position.