Over Norwegian mountains- Geilo-Hardangervidda-Eidsfjod-Odda

This is quite the route but it is possible to do it in one day. As usual  we start from Oslo and I suggest you start early specially in the fall because the day is too short to see anything in the evening.  one stop you should make on your way to Geilo as we did is the Torpo stave church. This church is constructed as far as 1160. The church is very small and that is way there is a newer , bigger church built right next to it, leaving this as a tourist attraction. It is only opened in summer but church is pretty impressive all throughout the year. The best part about it for me  is the portal - the carvings are just magnificent. Hard to believe but in fact  this use to be the religious center of the region including the much bigger Ål town. This is only stavechurch that is preserved from middle ages in this region so it is most definitely worth stopping,
Next stop is just above Geilo, the Hallingskarvet mountain. Here is one of the best hiking places I have come across in Norway. There a 2000 steps built to the top of a 1600 m tall mountain where you can choose how you come down from it or whether you want to continue to a bit higher mountain. The rock steps where built by sherpas from Nepal and the hike is actually really easy and doable within 2 hours (round trip). What should be taken into consideration is that the steps can get very icy so you should have the right kind of shoes  to climb this. In a clear sunny day you are able to see Hardangervidda from the top of it.

From here we decided to go further from Geilo to Hardangervidda tourist route. As I have written about it before (check here) I won`t  focus on it here. 

Crossing Hardangervidda we come to Eidsfjord and this is one of the branches of Hardanger. Hardanger is also known as the fruit basket of Norway as most of the fruits are grown here. That is something you will see quite a lot here , people having fruitgardens. Of course that is when you will not be looking around at the breathtaking views. The tall walls of Hardanger , the blue waters of fjord are just gorgeous .  

Continuing on the road 7 we come to town Odda where the Trolltunga is located. If you have a second day to see it , do it but be sure to not do it in winter if you are not experienced enough and do take in consideration that the hike in total may take 8 hours so  if the day is shorter than that I do not recommend it. For full hike click here. 

If you do the one day trip you and the daylight is still there you can check the other Hardanger tourist route and see the waterfalls near Odda on your way to Oslo. If you don't turn back and do a round trip via Drammen you can check out the Heddal stavechurch- the biggest in Norway, which is lid up so it is possible to see it in winter as well.  Also take into consideration, the temperatures in the mountains are much lower and wintertires may be needed in the beginning of October.

The full route you will find here.

A three day trip to Sognefjord-Hardangervidda-Jostedal

This weekend we took a tour around the biggest fjord in Norway as well as the longest in the world- Sognefjord. Located more than 300 km from Oslo in the municipality of Sogn and Fjordane , this place has the most breathtaking scenes to offer. 

We started on friday . There is a long way to go as Norwegian mountain roads do not allow to go fast as it is dangerous and the days in November are short so in order to be able to get the most out of daylight we decided to spend the night as close to our first sightseeing object as possible, So we traveled to Sogndal and got a nice cabin  50 km away from the  Nigard glacier. After  5 hours in  the car, we finally reached our destination. We spent the night in a nice traditional Norwegian cabin.

The next day we got up at seven and went to the  nearby Nigards glacier. The glacier is a part of the bigger Jostedals glacier, which is located over the mountain-es area and covers over 487 square km and reaches the height of 1600 m above sea level and at it's thickest reaches about 600 m . The branch we chose to visit is called Nigardsbreen which is located next to Gjerde town and is easily accessible by car. When entering the area you can choose to leave the car and walk for 5 km or pay 40 nok and drive up  to the parking spot  where it is only 2 km walk to the glacier.

Upon arrival you can see the impressive size and majestic coloring of the glacier from  far away . It seems to be much closer than it actually is. From the parking  you will have to hike to the glacier, but it is not a demanding hike, rocks can only get a bit slippery . When you finally reach the glacier, you will be surprised by the color of it - it is a beautiful shade of blue. This color is due to the weight and the pressure. Ice normally contains a lot of air bubbles in it, but the pressure in the glacier squeezes it out of it so it is more dense an thus blue. As it is raining the ice is slippery so we do not try climbing on it. 

Without proper equipment I would not suggest to do that. The size and the massiveness of this place is just breathtaking.  This place reminds of the processes that formed fjords, when giant glaciers carving fjords from mountains.

After that we leave for the Aurlandsfjellet national tourist road. The road is 47 km long , narrow path over the mountain plato and reaches up to 1300 m in height. The road is dangerous during winter so it closes in November because of the snow. We were unfortunate and the road was closed already. However parts of it are still accessible during winter such as the Stegastein lookout point. So we reach the closed part from one side of the road, then go down to the Lærdal Tunnel- the worlds longest road tunnel.

The design is unique - in order to help drivers with the 20 min drive and have them not falling asleep there are 3 cave-like stops  designed to resemble sunrise and split the road in to 4 sections so drivers can have a rest and continue the drive.  The tunnel is 24,5 km long and was designed in the 90'ies . Before that there were to ways to reach Oslo from Bergen- in the summer  you could use the Aurlandsfjellet road or take a ferry to Skjolden and then drive to Oslo from there.

After that we  went to Stegastein look out point. This  construction hovers over 30 m into air over 650 m height and offers a view over  Aurlandsfjord- a part of  the Sognefjord.

  After that ,the daylight is almost over and we leave for our cabin at Gudvangen.

From there the next morning we leave for Tindefoss next to Voss. The cascade is a magnificent staircase of waterfalls easily accessible from the e16 road.

We take a trun and cross over Hardangervidda- another National tourist route over mountains starting from Eidfjord and going up to a 1200 km plato ending at Ustaoset. On the way you can see the one of the most well known waterfalls in Norway- Vøringsfoss . This is one of the most  visited sites in Norway due to the amazing view from the cliffs that surround Måbødalen. The waterfall is located on Bjoreio river. The flow here is regulated by the the Sysendalen waterdamp located not that far from the waterfall.   There are 3 look out points to see the view-2min, 5 min and 20 min walk from parking. You should be extremely careful here as there are several people who have fallen to their death from the cliffs.

As mentioned before a bit further you can see the Sysendalen  dam with power plant. Also an impressive view to see. This damn was built in 1977 and is located 880 m above sea level.

from there we  finished the tourist route and went back  to Oslo. Due to the time limit and the short day time in November we did not have as much time but if we would do the same route in  august or July I would add the Sognefjellet route and Hardanger route but as it was the trip was great. There were many great sites and impressions to soak in.