The fjords of western Norway: Geiranger, Trollstigen and the Atlantic Road

Fjords listed by Unesco, winding mountain roads and a road laid on the sea. Six days on the west coast of Norway, from Ålesund to Kristiansund.

Norway

The Geirangerfjord between its walls and snowy peaks, under a blue sky.

Fjords, passes and ferries

This trip links Ålesund to Kristiansund in six days, on the west coast of Norway. The distances are short, but you drive slowly, between the hairpin bends and the stops at viewpoints. The ferries are part of the journey. The finest runs from Hellesylt to Geiranger: an hour on the fjord, below cliffs with waterfalls tumbling down them, the Seven Sisters on one side and the Suitor on the other.

Above Geiranger, two roads climb to the viewpoints. The Dalsnibba road goes up to 1,476 metres, facing the fjord. The Eagle Road climbs eleven bends to Ørnesvingen, at 620 metres. Further north, the Trollstigen road, opened in 1936, also drops through eleven hairpin bends into the Isterdalen valley. It crosses the Stigfossen waterfall on a bridge.

On the last day, the landscape changes. The Atlantic Road hops from island to island over 8.3 kilometres and eight bridges, just above the sea. In rough weather, the waves break over the road. You reach Kristiansund through an undersea tunnel that goes down to 250 metres below the surface.

Ålesund, its colourful Art Nouveau façades on the Brosundet harbour.

Ålesund, rebuilt in Art Nouveau

On the night of 23 January 1904, a fire destroyed the centre of Ålesund. Nearly 850 houses burned and more than 10,000 people had to find shelter elsewhere. The German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who often holidayed in the fjords, sent four ships loaded with food and supplies. The town was rebuilt very quickly, mostly between 1904 and 1907, in the style of the time: Art Nouveau, called Jugendstil in Norway.

The town centre has kept this style. The façades mix turrets, gables and patterns taken from Viking art. The Jugendstilsenteret, the Art Nouveau museum, is in the town’s old pharmacy, on Apotekergata street.

For the whole view, climb Aksla, the hill above the town: 418 steps from the town park, or the road up to the Fjellstua viewpoint.

They are valleys carved by glaciers, then flooded by the sea.

The fjords and the Troll Wall

The fjords all share the same origin. They are valleys carved by glaciers, then flooded by the sea. The Geirangerfjord has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2005, together with the Nærøyfjord, further south. The land is still moving: above the Sunnylvsfjord, the slope of Åkerneset is slowly sliding. It is watched around the clock, because its collapse could send a wave as far as Hellesylt and Geiranger.

Further north, trolls give their name to many places in the Romsdal. The Troll Wall, or Trollveggen, is the tallest vertical rock face in Europe, at about 1,100 metres. BASE jumping from its summit has been banned since 1986. According to a local legend, the nearby peaks, the Trolltindene, are trolls on their way to a wedding, caught by the sunrise and turned to stone. Trollstigen means “the Trolls’ Ladder”.

Kylling bru, the stone railway arch above the Rauma gorge.

Kylling Bridge

Rauma, Møre og Romsdal · 40 minutes from Åndalsnes

The E136 runs up the Romsdal valley below the Troll Wall, which you see head-on from Horgheim. Further up, the 76-metre Kylling Bridge crosses the Rauma gorge on a stone arch, 59 metres above the water. It carries the Rauma Railway, opened in 1924.

Practical notes

When to go: June to September. Trollstigen, the Dalsnibba road and the Hellesylt–Geiranger ferry close in winter. Trollstigen usually opens from mid-May to October, but may close for works or bad weather: check vegvesen.no.
Getting there: Flight Oslo–Ålesund, return Kristiansund–Oslo. A hire car dropped off in another town often costs extra.
Access: Everything is tarmac, but narrow and winding. Trollstigen is closed to vehicles over 12.4 metres long. Dalsnibba is reached by a toll road.
Sleeping in a van: Campsites in Geiranger, Valldal and Åndalsnes. Overnight stays in vans are often banned in the viewpoint car parks.
Worth knowing: Ferries are paid on board or through AutoPASS. In high season, book the Hellesylt–Geiranger ferry and arrive 30 minutes early. With a foreign car, register on Epass24: tolls read number plates.
Allow: Six days from Ålesund to Kristiansund. One more day for Mardalsfossen, a waterfall that only flows from 20 June to 20 August.

The hairpin bends of Trollstigen and the Stigfossen waterfall.

What not to miss

1The Hellesylt–Geiranger ferryAn hour on the fjord, past waterfalls and farms perched on the slopes.
2FlydalsjuvetAn overhanging rock, with the village and the fjord below.
3GudbrandsjuvetA narrow gorge carved by the Valldøla river, seen from walkways.
4RampestrekenA steel balcony above Åndalsnes, on foot from the top of the gondola.
5Rødven churchA stave church built around 1300.
6The Klippfisk MuseumIn Kristiansund, the story of dried cod, in the Milnbrygga warehouse.

The fjords of western Norway in pictures

The Atlantic Road and the Storseisundet bridge, from the air.

Rødven stave church and its shingle roofs, under a blue sky.

Geiranger and its fjord from the Flydalsjuvet rock.

The Atlantic Road and the Storseisundet bridge, from the air.

Food from the fjords

Kristiansund grew rich on klippfisk, cod salted and then dried on the rocks by the sea, and sold to Spain, Portugal and Latin America. You find it in bacalao, the town’s dish: a stew of cod, potatoes, tomatoes and onions in olive oil.

All along the coast, people eat salmon, herring and lapskaus, a meat and vegetable stew. Brunost, a brown cheese that tastes of caramel, is spread on bread or waffles. In summer in Valldal, the farms sell their strawberries by the roadside.