Explore Bergen and the western fjords
Profoundly beautiful, the Sognefjord (wsognefjord.no) drills in from the coast for some 200km, its inner recesses splintering into half a dozen subsidiary fjords. Perhaps inevitably, none of the villages and small towns that dot the fjord quite lives up to the splendid setting, but Balestrand and Mundal, on the Fjærlandsfjord, come mighty close and are easily the best bases. Both are on the north side of the fjord which, given the lack of roads on the south side, is where you want (or pretty much have) to be – Flåm apart. Mundal is also near two southerly tentacles of the Jostedalsbreen glacier – Flatbreen and easy-to-reach Bøyabreen.
Highway 55 hugs the Sognefjord’s north bank for much of its length, but at Sogndal it slices northeast to clip along the lustrous Lustrafjord, which boasts a top-notch attraction in Urnes stave church, reached via a quick ferry ride from Solvorn. Further north, a side road leaves Highway 55 to clamber up from the Lustrafjord to the east side of the Jostedalsbreen glacier at the Nigardsbreen nodule, arguably the glacier’s finest vantage point. Thereafter Highway 55 – as the Sognefjellsveg – climbs steeply to run along the western side of the Jotunheimen mountains, an extraordinarily beautiful journey even by Norwegian standards and one which culminates with the road thumping down to Lom on the flatlands beside Highway 15.
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Balestrand
Balestrand
BALESTRAND, an appealing first stop on the Sognefjord, has been a tourist destination since the middle of the nineteenth century, when it was discovered by European travellers in search of cool, clear air and picturesque mountain scenery. One of the visitors was Kaiser Wilhelm II, who became a frequent visitor, sharing his holiday spot with the tweeds and bustles of the British bourgeoisie. These days, the village is used as a touring base for the immediate area, as the battery of small hotels above the quay testifies, but it’s all very small-scale, and among the thousand-strong population farming remains the principal livelihood.
An hour or so will suffice to take a peek at Balestrand’s several low-profile attractions. Lining up along the harbour are the old post office, which features temporary displays on the town and its environs; a brace of art galleries; and an aquarium, the Sognefjord Akvarium.
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The Sognefjellsveg
The Sognefjellsveg
The mountain roads of Norway are some of the most melodramatic in Europe, but the wildest of them all is perhaps the Sognefjellsveg (Highway 55; wsognefjellet.com), which runs the 110km from Skjolden, a dull little town at the head of the Lustrafjord, over to Lom. Despite the difficulty of the terrain, the Sognefjellsveg – which is closed from late October to May depending on conditions – marks the course of one of the oldest trading routes in Norway, with locals transporting goods by mule or, amazingly enough, on their shoulders: salt and fish went northeast, hides, butter, tar and iron went southwest. That portion of the road that clambers over the highest part of the mountains – no less than 1434m above sea level – was only completed in 1938 under a Great Depression “make-work” scheme, which kept a couple of hundred young men busy for two years. Tourist literature hereabouts refers to the lads’ “motivation and drive”, but considering the harshness of the conditions and the crudeness of their equipment – pickaxes, spades and wheelbarrows – their purported enthusiasm seems unlikely.
The route
Beyond Skjolden, the Sognefjellsveg weaves its way up the Bergsdal valley to a mountain plateau which it proceeds to traverse, providing absolutely stunning views of the jagged, ice-crusted peaks of the Jotunheimen Nasjonalpark to the east. En route, the most obvious stopping point is TURTAGRØ, just 15km out from Skjolden, which is no more than a handful of buildings – including a hotel (see Hikes from Turtagrø into the Skagastølsdal valley) – but as good a place as any to pick up one of the several hiking trails that head off into the mountains.
Beyond Turtagrø, the Sognefjellsveg cuts its wild and windy way across the plateau before clipping down through forested Leirdal, passing the old farmstead of ELVESETER. Here, about 45km from Turtagrø, a complex of old timber buildings has been turned into a hotel-cum-mini-historical-theme-park, its proudest possession being a bizarre 33-metre-high plaster and cyanite column, the Sagasøyla. On top of the column is the figure of that redoubtable Viking Harald Hardrada and down below is carved a romantic interpretation of Norwegian history. Dating from the 1830s, the column was brought to this remote place because no one else would have it – not too surprising really.
From Elveseter, it’s a short hop over the hills to Bøverdal, which runs down into the crossroads settlement of Lom. On the way, you’ll pass the start of the narrow, 18km-long mountain road that sneaks up the Visdal valley to the Spiterstulen lodge.
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Norwegian Book Town
Norwegian Book Town
Mundal has eschewed the crasser forms of commercialism to become the self-styled “Den Norske Bokbyen” (Norwegian Book Town; wbokbyen.no), with a dozen rustic buildings accommodating antiquarian and secondhand bookshops. Naturally enough, most of the books are in Norwegian, but there’s a liberal sprinkling of English titles too. The main bookselling season runs from May to late September and the bookshops are usually open daily from 10am to 6pm, though one or two places do hang on into the winter.
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Hikes from Turtagrø into the Skagastølsdal valley
Hikes from Turtagrø into the Skagastølsdal valley
One tough hike from the Turtagrø Hotel is the six-hour, round-trip haul southeast along the well-worn (but not especially well-signed) path up the Skagastølsdal valley to DNT’s self-service Skagastølsbu hut, though you can of course make the hike shorter by only going some of the way. The valley is divided into a number of steps, each preceded by a short, steep ascent; the hotel is 884m above sea level, the hut, a small stone affair surrounded by a staggering confusion of ice caps, mini-glaciers and craggy ridges, is at 1758m. The terrain is unforgiving and the weather unpredictable, so novice hikers beware – If you’d rather have a guide, the Turtagrø Hotel is a base for mountain guides, who offer an extensive programme of guided mountain walks as well as summer cross-country skiing – the hotel will help to sort things out; the season begins at Easter and extends until October.
