Some 15km northeast of Sogndal on Hwy 55, a steep 3km-long turning leaves the main road to snake its way down to
SOLVORN, an attractive little hamlet clustered beneath the mountains on the sheltered foreshore of the
Lustrafjord. Solvorn is the site of the
Walaker Hotell (
57 68 20 80,
www.walaker.com;
Kr800-1000), the prettiest part of which is the old house, a comely pastel-painted building with a lovely garden and first-rate period bedrooms.
From Solvorn, a local
car ferry (early June to Aug Mon– Fri 10am–4pm hourly, plus Sat & Sun 11am–4pm hourly; Sept to early June Mon– Fri 2–4 daily, Sun 1 daily; 20min; 25kr passenger, 70kr car & driver;
91 79 42 11) shuttles across the Lustrafjord to the hamlet of
Ornes, from where it's a stiff, ten-minute hike up the hill to
Urnes stave church (early June– Aug daily 10.30am–5.30pm; 45kr). Magnificently sited with the fjord and the snow-dusted mountains as its backdrop, this is the oldest and most celebrated stave church in Norway. Parts of the building date back to the twelfth century, and its most remarkable feature is its wonderful medieval
carvings. On the outside, incorporated into the north wall, are two exquisite door panels, the remains of an earlier church dating from around 1070 and alive with a swirling filigree of strange beasts and delicate vegetation. These forceful, superbly crafted panels bear witness to the sophistication of Viking woodcarving – indeed the church has given its name to this distinctively Nordic art form, found in many countries where Viking influence was felt and now generally known as the "Urnes" style. Most of the interior is seventeenth-century, but there is Viking woodcarving here too, notably the strange-looking figures and beasts carved on the capitals of the staves and the sacred-heart bench-ends. A small display in the neighbouring house-cum-ticket office fills in all the details and has photographic enlargements of carvings that are hard to decipher inside the (poorly-lit) church.
If you're driving, there's a choice of routes on from the church. You can head north along the minor road that tracks along the east shore of the Lustrafjord to rejoin Hwy 55 at
Skjolden, or retrace your steps back to Hwy 55 via Solvorn. The latter is the route you'll need to take if you're heading to the Nigardsbreen arm of the Jostedalsbreen glacier.