"Borgarnes - West-Iceland." Borgarnes by Regina1965

Borgarnes Travel Guide: 11 reviews and 101 photos

Borgarnes.

Borgarnes is a small town in west-Iceland 74 km away from Reykjavík through "Hvalfjarðargöngin", The Whale bay tunnel, see my tip under my Iceland-page Hvalfjarðargöng. Borgarnes has a population of ca 1767 people. It is a small town but has got "everything" so to speak, a lovely swimming pool, schools, hotels, guesthouses, a campsite, church, lots of shops, restaurants and cafés etc.

Borgarnes.

The town of Borgarnes and the church.

In Borgarnes is The Settlement Center of Iceland with exhibitions and information on the settlement of Iceland and The Saga of Egill (Skallagrímsson). Borgarnes was the home of one of the most known settlers in Iceland, Skalla-Grímur Kveldúlfsson and his son Egill, who was raised at Borg in Mýrar, which is just outside of Borgarnes. See my tips on Skalla-Grímur Park, where the father of Egill is buried, and another tip on Brákeyjarsund strait, where Skalla-Grímur drowned his bond-maid in the strait by Borgarnes.

I am directly related to Skalla-Grímur Kveldúlfsson:

Skallagrímur Kveldúlfsson (863) Bera Yngvarsdóttir (870)

Egill Skallagrímsson 0910
Þorgerður Egilsdóttir 0939
Þorbjörg "digra" Ólafsdóttir 0960
Kjartan Ásgeirsson 1000
Þorvaldur Kjartansson 1055
Þórður Þorvaldsson 1075 - 1143
Snorri Þórðarson 1125 - 1194
Þorvaldur Snorrason 1160 - 1228
Einar Þorvaldsson 1227 - 1286
Ónefnd Einarsdóttir 1250
Eiríkur Sveinbjarnarson 1277 - 1342
Einar Eiríksson 1320 - 1382
Björn "Jórsalafari" Einarsson 1350 - 1415
Kristín Björnsdóttir 1374 - 1468
Sólveig Þorleifsdóttir 1415 - 1479
Jón Sigmundsson 1455 - 1520
Helga Jónsdóttir 1511 - 1600
Jón Kráksson 1533 - 1622
Sturli Jónsson 1590
Jón Sturluson 1625 - 1700
Einar Jónsson 1676 - 1745
Guðríður Einarsdóttir 1726 - 1772
Oddur Guðmundsson 1770 - 1841
Svanborg Oddsdóttir 1814 - 1877
Helga Ásmundsdóttir 1841 - 1910
Ásmundur Sigurðsson 1868 - 1919
My grandfather 1903 - 1977
My father 1942 - 2008
Regína 1965

Borgarnes.

The bridge leading to (and from) Borgarnes.

Borgarnes is by the ocean and when driving towards Borgarnes on ring-road 1 you have to drive on a long bridge to cross the bay.

Pros and Cons

In a nutshell:A lovely little town with great Saga places.

Last visit to Borgarnes: Aug 2012
Intro Updated Sep 12, 2012
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Reviews (5)

Borgarnes - pastime. Things to Do (5)

On hot sunny days, of which we are getting more and more here in Iceland due to global warming, then it has become a... more travel advice

Akranes - neigbouring town - Langisandur... Things to Do (5)

Akranes is the town closest to Hvalfjarðargöng or Whale bay tunnel, before you reach Borgarnes. There used to be a ferry... more travel advice

One of 9 cairns in Borgarfjörður - by Borg. - Borgarnes

Borg at Mýrar. Things to Do (5)

The Viking settler Skalla-Grímur Kveldúlfsson settled in Borgarfjörður and built a home at Borg in Mýrar. His son, Egill... more travel advice

The Monument "Brákin" of Þorgerður Brák. - Borgarnes

Skalla-Grímur and Brákarsund strait. Things to Do (5)

Skalla-Grímur Kveldúlfsson had a bond-maid named Þorgerður Brák. She had been the nanny and foster-mother to Egill the... more travel advice

Comments (9)

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HORSCHECK Sep 10, 2012 at 2:36 AM

Another excellent page of yours, although some tips are still under construction. I think it is about time to finish this page. *winkygrin*
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  Regina1965 Sep 10, 2012 at 7:14 AM
  
  Thanks for visiting this page. But the thing is the unfinished tips are from July 29, and I have been in Canada since August 4. So I will finish them when I get back home. I do not add tips when I am travelling.
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Yaqui Aug 1, 2012 at 7:10 PM

The history behing Skalla-Grím's& burial-mound and park is excellent. Excellent page! Your pages a so special!
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June.b Jun 20, 2012 at 12:03 AM

Interesting story of your ancestors - I've read. (fva.is/harpa/forn/english/e_...).
Nice place, breath-taking view :)
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GentleSpirit Jun 16, 2012 at 4:53 AM

It is amazing that you can trace your ancestry that far back!
Another excellent page with lots of history:)
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balhannah Sep 14, 2011 at 11:49 PM

Nice page Regina! I agree with you about the sculpture, it is really well done!
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Redang Jan 18, 2011 at 10:22 AM

Great memories from there.....!
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Nemorino Dec 12, 2010 at 2:12 PM

Oh, you can trace your ancestry back even further -- through twenty-nine generations!
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yumyum Jul 13, 2009 at 10:20 AM

Great stories! We had a shopping stop here on our tour.
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SapineKuu Nov 15, 2008 at 3:34 PM

Gosh, your a font of wisdom on all things Icelandic:) Great to read a tip about such a great man:)