How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : Norway Trip Report, Days 4 & 5: Hardangerfjord, National Tourist Route

June 27, 2015: Bergen:

Summary: Rental car pickup from airport , cable car ride to Floyen, stay on the foothills of the scenic Montana Ulrik with free parking to boot!

Rental car pickup from airport:

After reaching the Bergen train station, we went to the bus station in Bergen and took the airport express to the airport. Yes, with our bags, because that was the only way we’ll be able to make the car rental counter in time.

We had to go to the airport for picking our rental car because the rental at the city center was closed early as it was Saturday and on Sunday, they opened only at 12 noon. So we hired a car from the airport which was open till 5 pm and returned it there when we took our flight to Leknes 3 days later.

You can see how tough the logistics are…

Picked up our automatic rental car at the Bergen airport.

The Seven Mountains (Norwegian: De syv fjell) surround the city center of Bergen. The mountain group includes Ulriken (the highest), Fløyen. Which mountains belong to the group is unclear, due to the fact that several of the mountains are part of the same mountain massif.

No matter what the name, the surrounding hills make the city look pretty scenic.

Vandrerhjem Montana:

Our google map with a route from airport to our hotel proved useless as a road was closed for repair… thankfully the GPS suggested an alternate route and we reached our hostel, Vandrerhjem Montana at the foot of mount Ulriken.... lovely green surroundings and free parking...in Bergen city center hotels, parking is pretty expensive. We were pleased with the spacious grounds, the scenic view and the private room with ensuite bathroom at the hostel. Perfect in every way.

Checking in...

Communal kitchen...

Bunk beds...

View from our room window...Mount Ulrik

In Norway we stayed in 2 hostels , both in private room with ensuite bathroom and both were great value for money in a very expensive country. The linen we carried came in handy here as well as they are charged separately.

After check-in, we drove down to Bergen city center and parked at the railway station parking. (parking not easily available in city, so need to plan ahead where we can park easily.)

Used debit card with pin in the garage and other such places which needed a code to be punched in ...

(US credit cards don't have chip and pin which European organizations use. If there is a person at the counter they accept signature with US credit cards).

Cable car ride to Floyen:

We walked to the foot of Floyen, one of the tall hills surrounding the city, got to the cable station (Floibanen... cable car station; if I had not known that might have walked on past that building clueless!)

Took the cable up.. . Only 6 minutes from the city, and we have this breathtaking view and hiking opportunities

Had a ride up at 9.30 pm, watched the sun sink in the horizon over the city and then came down at 10 pm. Bergen city view from top of hill Floyen was great..

It might have been fun to do some hike but we had no time as we were on to our Hardanger fjord drive the next day.

We walked back, picked up our car from the garage, paid just 40 krones for 1 hour parking and drove back to our hotel.

June 28, 2015: Hardanger tourist route drive

Summary: Bergen to Norheimsund with stops at Fossenbratte, Steindalsfossen, Torvikbygd, Car ferry to Jondal, Jondal to Utne and then down to Odda hugging the fjord, stop at Latefoss, overnight stay in Lofthus...

We checked out early from our hotel. We took just one small bag for our overnight stay in Lofthus and kept 2 main bags in the hotel as we were coming back to Bergen. We wanted to drive through the Hardanger fjord area and enjoy the scenic views and the several water falls on the way. This is one of the famous tourist routes of Norway.

At 8 am Started on our Hardanger national tourist route drive from Bergen.

Hardanger is pronounced...har dan ghi yeh ... the letter g as in give... so the pronunciation should NOT be the English word 'danger'. Norwegians are such nice people. When we butchered some words unintentionally, there was no reaction... some times just an amused glint in the eye and an unobtrusive correct pronunciation in their reply!

The Hardangerfjord is the fourth longest fjord in the world, and the second longest fjord in Norway. It is located in Hordaland county in the Hardanger region. The fjord stretches 179 kilometres (111 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean into the mountainous interior of Norway along the Hardangervidda plateau.

Day started off foggy with slight drizzle and we were a little sad our day was not clear..

GPS was set to Norheimsund visiting Fossenbratte and Steinsdalsfossen on the way. (fossen is the Norwegian word for water falls). There were nice views through the mild drizzle.

Fossenbratte:

Fossenbratte was our first lookout. Fossenbratte (Steep falls… (pronounced "BRAH-tuh" meaning "steep")) (also called Bridal Veil) is a waterfall in Eikedalselva bottom of Eikedalen in Samnanger .

During the Second World War this valley was the scene of fighting between Germans and the Norwegian resistance. It was a blocking position above the bend in the road where the waterfall flows out.

A French couple, René Laigle (28 years) and Ginette Laigle (24 years) were on honeymoon when they ran off the road on 13 July 1951. They drove out on top at the falls and both were killed. There's a memorial plaque at the bottom of the valley for them.

A common misconception is that the incident got waterfall nicknamed "Bridal Veil...Brudesløret)".

We saw a signboard for the falls, parked the car and walked a bit for a pic of the water fall.

It was an easy walk. Thankfully the drizzle had stopped and we enjoyed the view.

There are clean toilets in car park at regular intervals on this tourist route.

We knew another viewing point was coming up before entering the tunnel... in fact we had been alert after crossing the previous tunnel Liarostunnelen; we did not want to miss the chance to hike. We parked at the big sign.

From there, there is an easy gravel path to the bottom of the waterfall. We hiked to the falls, also saw Memorial stone for the young honeymooners who lost their life here.

It does look fanned out like a Bridal veil; it's 80m high;

we enjoyed the views sitting on the benches.

Then there is another trail… we can follow the old road to the top of the water fall. We went on the old road getting a view of Fossenbratte from above. There is a Memorial for the Norwegian resistance against German soldiers, May 1940.

The path we had gone through earlier seen here... Looks steep but was easy to negotiate.

The whole place is very scenic… not visible in the pictures!

Steinsdalsfossen:

Next stop was at Steinsdalsfossen. Steinsdalsfossen (also called Øvsthusfossen or Øfsthusfossen) is a waterfall in the village of Steine in Hordaland county, Norway. Steinsdalsfossen is part of the Fosselva river that comes from the water of the lake Myklavatnet, located 814 m (2,671 ft) above sea level in the mountains above the waterfall.

Lovely trolls...

The waterfall is located about 2 km (1.2 mi) west of the large village of Norheimsund which sits along the Hardangerfjorden. Steinsdalsfossen is 46 metres (151 ft) high, with a main drop of 20 m (66 ft), and has the greatest volume when the snow melts in May and June.

From the parking lot, a path goes along the waterfall, up a hill, and behind it where visitors can walk dryshod "into" the rumbling water. Behind the waterfall...the jutting rock that makes this walk possible. Now to the platform at the side of the falls...

Bought some souvenirs (surprisingly reasonably priced for a place in such a prominent spot)

and chocobars.

Enjoying our chocobar with the lovely view.

Drove on to Norheimsund and then took the road to Torvikbygd along the fjord

Car ferry to Jondal:

We then drove on to Torvikbygd , took the car ferry to Jondal. There was a long line of cars at the pier and we took our place at the tail end as the ferry was coming in. waiting our turn at the car ferry at Torvikbygd... we had earlier checked the car ferry timings for the weekend and ensured we'll be in time.

There was a huge line. we got in last. The ferry was full.

It was a short but scenic ride with hills and greenery and shimmering water all round...

We drove out of the ferry and stopped for a lunch break at Jondal.

Utne and Odda:

We resumed our drive and our GPS was not recognizing the names Utne etc we were trying to feed in. By mistake I put in Odda as that was our ultimate destination on this leg. We reached Odda and realized our GPS has taken us thru 2 long tunnels under Buerbreen, 10km and 11km long.

Our plan had been to drive from Jondal to Utne and then down to Odda hugging the fjord all the way… we had skipped the scenic fjord drive but taken the fast route to Odda.

Now we decided to retrace our way to Utne and the fjord views were great...

all through we were much below the speed limit enjoying the views and pulling up frequently. Decided to turn back just before reaching Utne as time was slipping by.

Used bus stops to pull up and let faster vehicles pass;

Kro means tavern in Norwegian... of course the fork/spoon sign is universal. Note how the tunnel is set into the hill...

Låtefoss:

From Utne onward to Odda... Loved the Låtefoss (pronounced la ch eh and means "loud"!). Låtefossen or Låtefoss is a famous twin waterfall close to Route 13 in Oddadalen valley.

The 165-metre (541 ft) tall waterfall is unique ... it consists of two separate streams flowing down from the lake Lotevatnet, and as they fall, they join together in the middle of the waterfall, just before going under the Norwegian National Road 13, making for a spectacular (and wet) view as one drives over the old, stone, six-arched bridge.

We drove past the water falls twice over enjoying the unique experience.

Hardanger Vandrerhjem:

Then we turned back and drove on to our lodging for the night at Hardanger Vandrerhjem at Hordatun, Lofthus.

Lovely fjord views all the way.

Always fascinated by such houses on the hill side with a steep ramp entrance...

Our hostel was located in the midst of orchards with apple, plum and cherry trees.

Awesome fjord view from the grounds...

This is where we checked in...

Comfy beds..big wardrobe in our room

Orchard and waterfall view from window...

Communal kitchen was great...

This is the lounge where I waited when our food cooked next door...

Dining room adjoining the kitchen...

We had left our big bags at Montana Vandrerhjem Bergen and carried only 2 small bags. Vandrerhjem means hostel in Norwegian.

Lovely breakfast spread included in the room rent... plenty of options for us vegetarians also.

Fruit trail:

After breakfast, we started on our fruit trail hike.

The whole area of Lofthus is fruit country and it produces more than 50% of the fruits in Norway. What we get to see depends on the season… the apple blossom season in spring is supposed to be spectacular.

Fruits coming up in the apple tree...

Map of the fruit trail... with the black dot showing where we are.

Some facts about fruit blossom in Hardanger:

The blossom lasts about four weeks. The time of blossom depends entirely on the temperature during spring. First cherries and plums blossom, then follow the pear and apple blossoms. There is usually blossom around the date of 15th May.We know more about when the blossom will take place in the second half of April

There were nice houses and flowers dotting the trail.

Oh... our little mermaid has followed us from Copenhagen.

Drove on the fruit trail as we wanted to hike the river side trail to the falls...

Waterfall hike:

Parked the car and started on our waterfall hike along the river...

2 waterfalls snaking their way down the hills. We only did the hike toward the left waterfall...

Gushing stream...river Opo. yay...got to the waterfall

Mmm... a little rest after the 2km walk ...

That looks precarious but was NOT.

On the bridge...

Wild flowers dotting the way.

Our trail Map black dot marks our position on the red fruit trail but we went on the yellow waterfall trail above.

Eidfjord:

We started off on our fjord drive at 11am after our fruit trail/waterfall hike

We drove on to Eidfjord, Mabodalen and Vøringfossen.

We reached the lovely village of Eidfjord...

Eidfjord is situated at the end of the Eidfjorden, an inner branch of the large Hardangerfjorden. The village of Eidfjord is a major cruise ship port of call.

We wanted to drive up to the famous Kjeåsen mountain farm and needed confirmation from the Tourist Info office that the road was open.

As can be assumed from the cruise ships in the pictures, the town was crowded with the cruise people and the TI office had long lines. We decided to just enjoy the pretty square, use the rest room and then leave.

This is the Tourist train in Norwegian flag colors...

Vøringfossen:

We reached the famous waterfalls Vøringfossen...

The name Vøringfossen (Old Norse Vyrðingr) is derived from the verb vyrða (English: esteem, revere). It has a total drop of 182 meters, and a major drop of 163 meters.

Next to the car park we followed the left and right walking trail to check out the views close to the edge of the cliff. There is an iconic hotel Fossli Hotel from where the view is better. They are in the process of improving the viewing stations and building a trail and a bridge to link the hotel viewing area with the rest stop viewing area near the highway. Expected completion by 2020.

Vøringfossen was the only miss shrouded in dense fog, with just short windows of the fog lifting for peeks. A lady with a kid wanted us to take pics of her and kid and by the time we did so, the fog had again descended and we could not get a picture.

We had our lunch there in the car and waited for the clouds to lift but no luck. There was no point driving up to the hotel because at higher elevation the fog was bound to be denser.

We turned back...

Hardangerbrua:

Took the Hardangerbrua 1360m toll bridge. An interesting fact here...During our Hardanger tourist route drive, we did pass a few toll roads and the tolls were registered electronically to the car registraction number. The rental company gets these records and add it on to our final charges when we return the car.

On the way from Lofthus to Eidfjord, we made a mistake inside a tunnel and took the exit "to Bergen" instead of "to Oslo"and had to enter the Hardangerbrua (brua means bridge) which has a toll of 150nok. We made a U-turn afterwards to get back on our route.

After going up to Vorringfossen, per our plan we again retraced our way and took the same bridge to go toward Ulvik.

We were expecting a toll of 450 nok for this but our total toll in our car rental bill is only 330 nok for the whole drive. (We obviously passed through other places with tolls, but they were around 45 nok or 26 nok and so on)

We can only assume no toll was charged for our mistake. A local explained that toll is charged once per hour but more than one hour elapsed between the 1^st 2 times and the last one. Anyways, it’s great we did not get charged for our mistake… it seems as if the system did not charge for the U Turn!.

Ulvik, Granvin, Kinsarvik

Drove on to Ulvik, Granvin and then turned back to Kinsarvik … all picture perfect and definitely worth the high praise they get from visitors.

Granvin TI office confirmed our route...

This is Kinsarvik...the last of our scenic stops on the fjord...

We completed the loop to Norheimsund ... passed by Steinsdalsfossen again...

and onward to Bergen by the night.

It was an awesome drive through the fjord area and we have great memories... now we were off to the mystical Lofoten islands, flying from Bergen to Leknes via Bodo...