Dalir district is a family-friendly place to visit, combining historical and cultural attractions with an enchanting world of wildlife and nature. It is the ideal place to spend a few days away from the hustle and bustle of city life, to relax,slow down, be outdoors, discover, and learn.

When you enter Dalir in West Iceland you come into region of history and pristine nature, an area where you can just be. Be in silence, be in nature, be with the history that is all around, and experience Iceland like the locals do all year through. You can visit the sites of Auður djúpúðga (Aud “the deep-minded”) famously involved in Eiríkssaga rauða (Saga of Erik the Red) and Laxdæla saga (Laxdaela saga) and see the landscape that effected this intelligent and gracious, wide travelled woman. Or visit the birthplace of Leif “the lucky” Eriksson, son of Erik the Red, where you can see and experience the ways of life and conditions that his family lived in at Eiríksstaðir in Haukadalur.

Look out to Breiðafjörður bay with its abundance of islands, islets and skerries. Their number has been estimated to be close to 2500, which only includes those that are not submerged during spring tide and where some vegetation of terrestrial origin is found. You might see seals, puffins, or spot a White-tailed eagle by Breiðafjörður. Not to mention Icelandic sheep and horses, but May is lambing season and after that sheep’s are set free with their lambs for the summer, so you’ll want to drive slowly around the countryside while they might run around the road.

Take time to taste the region, and try some of the many cheeses that are made in Dalir.

Ten ideas for recreation in Dalir and it’s surroundings:

1. Visit the Leif Eiriksson center in Búðardalur to learn more about Leif the Lucky’s discovery of America (Vínland).
2. Eiríksstaðir is a living museum in the Dalir region in West Iceland offering first-hand life experiences in the Viking Era.
3. Take a dip in Guðrúnarlaug (hot tub) in the peaceful surroundings of Laugar in Sælingsdalur.
4. When you travel around the „Golden History Circle“ in Dalir, you can see the places where the settlers Auður the Deep Minded and Geirmundur Heljarskinn lived (9th century). Also the storyteller and writer Sturla Þórðarson (13th century).
5. Visit the family run Erpsstaðir Dairy Farm. best known for their ice cream, the Icelandic Skyr, caraway cheese and various other dairy products which the „Cream Shop“ at Erpsstaðir processes.
6. Dalahestar is a family run horse rental offer personalized tours alongside the beautiful river Laxá and down to the black sand-shores of Hvammfjörður fjord.
7. Get a fishing license to catch trout in Haukadalsvatn.
8. Pet some cute domestic animals and get a live guidance at the Hólar petting zoo.
9. Take a look at Ólafsdalur in Gilsfjörður, a historical place where the first agricultural school in Iceland was founded in 1880 and where a settlement longhouse was discovered in 2017.
10. The peaceful rural setting of Dalir is ideal for longer and shorter walks.

For further information:  www.west.is/en/destinations/towns-regions/visit-dalir