Best Budget Stays in Búðardalur, Iceland
Budget stays in Búðardalur come down to three properties, a straightforward guest house, a capsule hostel and a family-run guesthouse with its own restaurant, all inside the village rather than out on the farms along Route 60. None of the three post a listed price in this evidence, but all three rank among the better-reviewed places to sleep in Búðardalur, with two-person scores of 8.8, 8.5 and a perfect ten. Búðardalur itself has no hostel scene beyond this one capsule property, so budget travellers passing through on the way to the Westfjords have a narrower choice than in a larger town, but what is here is well kept.
Búðardalur is not set up as a backpacker stop, it is a working village with a shop, a harbour and a scattering of farms, so the budget options here read more like a modest guest house than a hostel strip. Dalir district around it is sheep and horse country rather than a tourist corridor, which keeps rates from climbing the way they do closer to Reykjavík or along the busier stretches of Route 1. Travellers choosing budget stays here are usually passing through toward the Westfjords or stopping for Eiríksstaðir, not settling in for a week, and the properties are built around that shorter stay.
Where to stay
Three Rooms, One Village Centre
Keeping costs down in a village this small usually means giving up either private space or a kitchen, and each of these three properties trades differently. The Space capsule Hostel Árblik keeps a shared kitchen and lounge but gives every capsule its own private bathroom and a twenty-four hour front desk for late arrivals off Route 60. Dalía is a compact guest house with private showers rather than a shared bathroom block. Gil guesthouse goes further, running its own restaurant with vegetarian and vegan dinner options, so the saving is on the room rather than on eating well in the evening.
The Space capsule Hostel Árblik by Welcome Iceland is the clearest budget pick, with capsule rooms that still include a private bathroom, a tea and coffee maker and free WiFi, plus garden or mountain views depending on the capsule. A twenty-four hour front desk covers late check-ins after a long drive on Route 60, and the shared kitchen and dining area keep food costs down for longer stays. It sits a hundred and forty kilometres from Reykjavík Domestic Airport and close to the Búðardalur church and museum, both walkable once checked in. Reviewers gave it a perfect ten for a two-person trip on nineteen reviews.
Dalía keeps things simpler, a guest house with private bathrooms, showers and wardrobes in every room and free on-site parking, without a restaurant or communal kitchen to fall back on. What it does offer is multilingual staff, covering English, Icelandic and Swedish, useful for budget travellers who would rather not rely on a translation app after a long day of driving Route 60. At an 8.4 rating and 8.8 for two-person trips, it holds up well against the pricier stays in the village despite its smaller scale and only fourteen reviews on record so far.
Gil guesthouse costs more attention than the other two but earns it with the widest food offering of any budget stay here, a family-friendly restaurant serving dinner with vegetarian and vegan options, pizza and a barbecue grill, plus a breakfast that includes juice and cheese. Rooms come with private bathrooms, mountain views, a work desk and soundproofing, unusual specifications for the price bracket. It is the furthest from Reykjavík Domestic Airport of the three, at a hundred and eighty-nine kilometres, but the closest to Skriðuland Dalasýsla, and its 748 reviews make it the best-reviewed budget stay in Búðardalur by volume.
All three budget properties sit inside or close to Búðardalur village rather than out on the farms, which matters for anyone without their own car trying to reach a restaurant or shop after dark. None list a swimming pool or spa facility, and none claim a beachfront position the way the pricier stays further along this list do. What they share is free WiFi, free parking and, in Gil's and the hostel's case, a working kitchen or restaurant on site, which keeps a tight budget from turning into an expensive evening spent driving Route 60 in search of dinner.
A traveler's takeFor a budget night in Búðardalur, I would book Space capsule Hostel Árblik: each capsule has a private bathroom and a tea and coffee maker, the front desk runs twenty-four hours, and the shared kitchen covers dinner. If you want dinner served instead, my pick is Gil guesthouse, rated 8.2 from 748 reviews, whose restaurant has vegetarian and vegan options.
Budget & guesthouseSpace capsule Hostel Árblik by Welcome Iceland
Capsule rooms with a private bathroom and round-the-clock desk
Why guests love itThe capsule format sounds tighter than it feels once you are inside, and having a private bathroom attached rather than down a shared hallway makes a real difference for a budget stay. The twenty-four hour desk earns its keep for anyone rolling in after dark off Route 60, and the shared kitchen is properly equipped rather than a token microwave corner. This is a place built for one or two people passing through, not a family group settling in.
Budget & guesthouseDalía
A small, private guest house with multilingual staff
Why guests love itThis is a straightforward, well-kept stopover rather than a destination in itself, and that is exactly its appeal for anyone breaking up a longer drive. Every room's private bathroom is a genuine step up from a shared hostel setup at a similar rate, and the multilingual front desk removes a layer of friction that smaller guest houses in rural Iceland often leave unresolved. Do not expect a restaurant or lounge, this is a place to sleep well, not linger.
Budget & guesthouseGil guesthouse
Mountain-view rooms with the widest menu in the village
Why guests love itThe restaurant is the reason to choose Gil over the other budget and family options in Búðardalur, a proper vegetarian and vegan dinner menu alongside pizza and barbecue that most guesthouses this size do not attempt. Rooms are comfortable, with parquet floors and genuine soundproofing that matters if travelling with children on an early bedtime. The meeting rooms feel like a mismatch for a farming village at first, until you realise how many travellers pass through combining work and driving.
Local tips
- 1Book the Space capsule Hostel if arriving late, its twenty-four hour desk is the most flexible check-in in the village.
- 2Choose Gil guesthouse if dinner matters more than saving on the room, its restaurant is the best of the three budget stays.
- 3Confirm parking directly with Dalía, it is private and free but limited given the property's small scale.
- 4Bring snacks for the drive if staying at any of these three, none run a late-night kitchen beyond set dinner hours.
- 5Ask about language before booking Dalía if you need Swedish or Icelandic, staff there cover both alongside English.
- 6Expect simple rather than luxury rooms at all three, the saving here is real but so is the modesty of the fit-out.