Norway — A tryst with a million waterfalls
Norway was a unanimous decision when we thought of a road trip in Europe with our family. One of the key drivers being the drama series ‘Vikings’ (watch it if you haven’t) and nature in its purest form.
After months of planning, our Norway itinerary looked like following —
Day 1 : Oslo
Our plane was about to land and we all started craning our necks to get the first glimpse of Norway from the plane window. Typically you would find cities organized in well thought out blocks divided by beautifully orthogonal roads. In Norway, first thing you see is the plentiful forests. Watching those trees gave a feeling that we were about to enter into a country that deeply values and preserves it’s natural landscape.
Our hotel in Oslo — Comfort Grand Central — was about 40 kms away from airport. It was an urban chic hotel with artistic rooms. The entire city had a lively and modern feel to it (maybe it was the area we were in). There were plenty of food and drink options at walking distance. If you are visiting Oslo, I highly recommend staying in Comfort Grand Central Hotel and grabbing seat in rustic wooden Egon restaurant in the night sky sipping cocktails. It is right next to the Oslo railway station in case you are planning to take the ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ tour.
Day 2 : Drive on Highway 136
After a scrumptious breakfast at the hotel, we left our hotel and started our journey north. The route we were going to take was Oslo — E6 — E136 — RV63 — RV60 — Stranda. In Norway, the journey becomes the destination. Here is where we got our first glimpse of possibly the best nature can offer. The awesome thing about Norway’s roads is that almost always you are driving along side some kind of water body. After about 3 hours of driving on E6 we reached Otta. The drive after that is one of the most beautiful you can imagine
We saw our first roadside waterfall shortly after crossing Otta. We stopped to click many pictures. Had we stopped at every waterfall we saw from there on, it would have taken us more than an year to see Norway! Highway 136 is very picturesque. You are driving along side a stream of water surrounded by forests and tall mountains (which is pretty much the entire roadtrip). The scene is transformed from one waterfall to this in only a few minutes ~
There were countless waterfalls rolling down the mountains on each side. The rain, green grass and the waterfalls made the drive on E136 one of our favorite attractions in Norway!
The rain was pouring down relentlessly and we got to know that our route RV63 had been closed. This caused a lot of panic because the alternate route added 2 hours to our drive time and we were at risk to miss the last ferry to Stranda. Luckily we were able to make it in time for the second last ferry of the day at 10:45 and reached our beautiful cabin at around midnight.
There was no time to get dinner so we had to eat ready to eat Pav Bhaji that night (yes do keep some emergency food as the shops close before you realize it). There is something about 1.00 AM that makes even MTR Pav Bhaji taste delicious! By the time we slept, it was around 2AM and we had an early day tomorrow.
Day 3 : Fjord cruise to Geiranger
Our cabin in Stranda was gorgeous
We woke up to this view next morning
However we only had a couple of hours to enjoy the beautiful cabin. We left for Hellesylt from where we were taking the ferry to get to Geiranger, a jewel in the crown of Fjord-Norge.
A local at our guesthouse had warned us to give plenty of time at the port of Hellesylt(we weren’t too eager). But right in the middle of the cute little town, was a thunderous waterfall.
As a feedback to anyone traveling up here- make sure you have buffer time for any place you visit, you never know what you will encounter.
Geirangerfjord
Geirangerfjord is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. We were taking a cruise to Geiranger so that we could see the beautiful fjord and the surrounding landscape up close. I have no words to describe the calm and tremendous wonder I felt on this cruise. It’s nature at it’s very best with towering mountains, crisp fresh air, unlimited number of waterfalls and lush forests. One word comes to my mind when I see such places — it’s peace. There were no two things in that view that were conflicting with each other. Everything was in perfect harmony which made the cumulative effect so powerful that it made me feel extremely tiny. If there is a God, he/she brought me here only to show how incredibly amazing “perfect work” looks like. Hats off to whatever forces of nature created this place — if you ever feel short of inspiration in life, goto Geirangerfjord!
We had a delicious lunch at a cafe near the visitor center. Eat scampi here (I ate it vegetarian so without the scampi) — it was mouthwatering.
We left from Geiranger(if you have few more days I‘d suggest spend 2 days here, totally worth it!) to goto Kristiansund. On the way from Geiranger, we drove to some spectacular viewpoints as the road snakes around hairpin bends~ Eagle point and Dalsnibba point, an absolute must see!
I thought we had already reached the highpoint of our day. I was wrong! Since we missed driving on RV63 the previous day we decided to take slightly longer route which would take us via RV63. And man, was that a good decision!!
Trollstigen, the troll’s road
Imagine you are alone. In the middle of dark grey granite peaks that are so tall that their tops are obscured by the clouds. Grass and trees of lush green — the most beautiful green you can imagine, and gorgeous brown have covered all of the mountains around you. It’s raining. Huge waterfalls — too many to count — are everywhere as if they were the very veins of the mountain around. The flow of the water so strong that it made a thunderous sound and making the water look whiter than milk. A single meandering road goes through the whole mountain. The air is cold and the light drizzle and mist from the waterfalls has made your face moist. And you are in the middle of it all just gazing at this amazing scene, unable to move, just staring at the most beautiful combination of grey, green, blue and white. There were people moving around me, saying something — but I was still alone. I was in heaven.
A Norway visit can not be complete without visiting Trollstigen. It’s far and remote — but please visit this place. The road is generally open from June through September depending on rain.
We spent the night in the city of Kristiansund. It is a particularly charming urban environment to the north of Alesund on the edge of the ocean.
Day 4 : Atlanterhavsvegen — The Atlantic Ocean Road
This was voted as the most beautiful drive in the world in 2005. It definitely deserves the title known as ‘the road in the sea’. It’s a stretch of twisty curvy road connecting tiny beautiful islands consisting of amazing bulging bridges starting north of Kristiansund to Bud via Vevang. The bridges and the waves and the wind and beautiful violet wild flowers on the green grass along the way — they make the most awesome scene. We spent a lot of time basking in the sun, getting wet in the rain and clicking a million pictures(You can park at any of the lay bys and explore on foot to get the best clicks). The weather changes with the blink of an eye and we were rewarded with views in different shades of the sky all within the hour or two we spent here.
Next, we were driving south towards our hotel which was in the small city of Skei(Jolster). It was a beautiful drive with parents. We had taken some Pu. La Deshpande cds with us and his narratives blended perfectly with the weather and views outside.
Day 5 : Flam
We were in awe already but there is nothing as relaxing as a hotel with a lake side view. We spent all morning exploring the lake in the rain & finally left from our hotel (Thon Hotel, Jolster) at around noon and drove to Flam. There is a food truck right next to the visitor center that serves delicious fish curry — it’s a must have in Flam.
Flam railway that goes to Myrdal and back is very popular but we were not going to take a train ride. Instead we were here for a “Fjord heritage safari” to see another UNESCO world heritage site called Naerofjord
Naerofjord and Aurlandsfjord
In many ways Naerofjord and Geirangerfjord are similar. By now, we were not strangers to the tall mountains filled with waterfalls surrounding the beautiful serene water but then no one can get tired of that view!
Our cruise at Naerofjord was a bit different. It was a small power boat which was going to take us into the fjord into the waterfalls(yes!). Each safari only took around 12–14 people so it was fairly personalized. Safari was well worth it only to see everyone suit up and click this picture!
Our guide was cool and he told us awesome stories about Norway and the thriving rural communities (even with only 1 person living in them). He also took our boat into the waterfalls which was a thrilling experience.
Drive to Vangsnes
After our cruise we left for our hotel which was called Sognefjord Guesthouse. The hotel was not as expected and the owner was kind of annoying. But the drive to Vangsnes was incredible so we don’t regret going there at all.
Taking a roadtrip in Norway was the best decision - you get a fantastic tour of spectacular scenery, with open sea, breathtaking bridges and scenic ferries & snow-clad majestic mountains providing the setting for wealth of things to do and see along the way. We even saw glaciers up close for the first time in this region.
Day 6 : Bergen
Next morning after playing in the snow a bit we were on our way to Bergen which was the last stop for most of us. All the parents and Maithu Pushkar were leaving from Bergen the following day. Our incredible holiday was coming to an end.
Our hotel P-Hotels was in the heart of the Bergen downtown, a great place for shopping too! Bergen has a very “old European town” kind of feel. The weather wasn’t very forgiving so we did not spend a lot of time exploring Bergen but instead just explored the shopping area.
Day 7: To Flam again
Next day morning everyone but Purva and I departed. We spent some time just looking at the fjords (Naerofjord) again. It was magical. It’s amazing how easy it is to spend hours just sitting there, without saying anything aloud. Just thinking.
We also hiked upto a waterfall near Gudsvangen called Stalheimsfossen.
Our next destination was a town called Tyssedal near Odda which was just 7km drive from Trolltunga trailhead.We were staying back to hike Trolltunga on the next day. Purva had flat out refused to return from Norway without visiting Trolltunga. On our way to Tyssedal we saw a few more incredible waterfalls along the roadside. I think there are more waterfalls in Norway than people. This was was spectacular
Day 8 : Trolltunga — The trolls tongue
Trolls are mythical beings according to Scandinavian folklore that dwell in isolated rocks, mountains or caves. The dense rocky forests and jutting fjords of Norway seem to be the ideal setting for a magical creature that turns to stone if it encounters elusive sunlight. This is probably why so many places in Norway are named after Trolls. Our destination for today — was a sharp horizontal rock, referred to as Trolltunga or the trolls tongue, protruding from the mountain and hanging 2700ft above the lake Ringedalsvatnet offering the most stunning views of the surrounding valley, mountains and glaciers (Folgefonna glacier)!
We were exhausted and sleepless but still totally excited to get up next morning. (Tip: Trolltunga guesthouse is really convenient if you’re hiking here providing bonus views through huge glass windows).The hike is a strenuous 22 km roundtrip hike with 900m (~2950 ft) elevation gain which takes about 12 hours. We knew this. What we did not know is how much tougher it is if it has been raining for the past few days. We were at the trailhead at 7AM. For the first 2 kms of the trail you have to climb what felt like a million stone steps all of them covered in muck er·go extremely slippery.
Next 2–3 of kms you have to climb the mountain and are awarded with glorious views of the valley behind.
There on the landscape is one of the prettiest I have ever seen. It was an amazing feeling to be on top of a mountain, in Norway, at 8am in the morning. Clouds were rising from the valley as if it was on fire. The air was fresh and the colors vibrant! There were many lakes and small streams on top of the mountain and we spent time soaking it all in.
The water below was crystal clear. It was reflecting the mountains and the clouds and the picture was quite mesmerizing. It was cold up there but that felt very pleasant as we were sweating from the climb.
By the time we came back it was 5.30 in the evening. Our feet were dead from the climb down which was very tough on the slippery steps. Our mind was completely blown from the incredible beauty of Norway!
Next day, on our flight back home, we were just thinking back about the incredible last few days spent in Norway and how we would be here again, someday!
P.S. Please visit Norway if you want to see nature in its raw beauty. We’d be glad to share our detailed itinerary and share some tips if you want to visit museums or spend more time exploring cities depending on how many days you have.
