Valdres is a valley that is located in Innlandet county and
comprises most of the precipitation area for the Begnavassdraget,
north of Sperillen in Ådal, and the upper part of the Etnedal
landscape area with surrounding mountain areas. The southernmost
part of Valdres consists of Begnadalen and the side valley Hedalen.
To the north, Valdresflya is included in the south of Jotunheimen
and the areas to the west towards Filefjell, as well as the upper
part of Etnedalen in the northeast. Valdres is one of the largest
steel life in Northern Europe. Valdres is located between the
valleys Gudbrandsdalen (in the east) and Hallingdal / Hemsedal (in
the southwest) and inner Sogn in the west.
Valdres comprises
six municipalities with a total of 17,968 inhabitants (1 July 2013)
and a total area of 5,406 km². The regional center in Valdres is
Fagernes, which was granted city status on 8 September 2007.
The Valdres dialect belongs to Eastern Norwegian dialects with a
touch of Western Norwegian. Valdresmål has traditionally split
infinitive.
The southern part of the Etnedal landscape area is topographically connected to Land. The largest settlement in the main valley floor is the town of Fagernes. For other city functions, the valdris prefer to go to Gjøvik. The most important road connection is the E16. Traditionally, the upper and western part of Valdres in particular has been more closely linked to Western Norway than to Eastern Norway. The easternmost part is more connected to Land and the southern part to Ådal and Ringerike. There is also a significant connection to Hallingdal, especially via the Golsfjell area. Valdres is located in many ways between Bergen and Oslo. Most of the municipalities have Nynorsk as their target form. Fagernes Airport, Leirin is located 9 km above Fagernes 810 meters above sea level.