The village also lies at the north-eastern end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula and is part of the municipality of Dalabyggð.

Búðardalur had about 270 inhabitants in 2014 and is a service center for the area, including the regional tourist information centre.

[1][2] In the traditional system of counties of Iceland that existed until the late 1980s, it was part of Dalasýsla, a name that is still used for the region.

Búðardalur contains a supermarket and a petrol station, hair salons, a pub/restaurant, a coffee shop, a health-care centre, an off-licence, a garage[1] and a craft shop; the information centre is in the same building as a cafe and a museum on the Vínland expeditions.

[1][2] Depending on the isotherm used (−3 °C (27 °F) or 0 °C (32 °F)), Búðardalur has either the rare dry-summer subarctic climate (Köppen: Dsc) or the extremely rare cold-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csc) with cold but not severe winters and cool summers.