top of page

Mountains, fjords, sculptures,

stave churches, a glacier

and a lot more

Two of Norway's nature hightlights just right beside each other: a tour from Oslo to Jotunheimen and then crossing the Sognemountains to the Sognefjord. 

Last update August 2018, 4 days

One of the best round trips

 

We could not end one of our summer holidays without doing another trip in Norway. After checking the weather forecast we only had one choice: direction Jotunheimen and further ahead to the Eastern part of the Sognefjord.

And even though we knew that this was a nice area we were really suprised how spectacular it was. 

 

This short round trip was packed with gorgeous spots: it included two National tourist roads, the  Jotunheimen National Park, the absolutely scenic drive from there over the Sognefjellet with inspiring sculptures in the middle of nowhere down to the Eastern branches of the Sognefjord, two cosy hotels, freshly picked strawberries and raspberries, a boat trip on the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord, a hike on the Nigardsbreen glacier and last but not least a short detour along the Aurlandsfjord on the way back.

 

Sounds like a lot? Yes and no, as all this happened in 4 wonderful and still relaxing days!

 

National tourist roads - Najsonale turist veger

 

Check out these wonderful scenic roads spread over the country and drive at least one of them when traveling in Norway. All offer wide views into the fantastic landscape.

 

Out of the 18 tourist routes you find in total in Norway we included three on our trip: the Sognefjellet, Aurlandsfjellet and Valdresfylke. 

Norway's oldest: Walaker Hotel

 

In one of the long branches of the Sognefjord right at the waterfront in Solvorn you find Norway's oldest hotel which has been family driven since 1690.   

 

It is not only one of these charming old wooden Norwegian houses, it has in additon a beautiful garden, a gallery, a really good restaurant, a cosy "living room" with an open fire place and last but not least, the staff is so welcoming and friendly that you feel home right away.

In short: a true pearl!

Stave churches - The "Norwegian" churches

 

In Norway you find a lot of stave churches, these medieval wooden churches, which were once common on Northern Europe, but not many of them survived the centuries. They are quite different each other though: some rather simple, some artfully decorated, some even in regular use until today. But all of them are worth a detour.

​

Although spread over the country, you find quite some of them in the Sognefjord region. So we visited 5 of them on this trip alone and made it our ambition to see them all eventually in the months to come!

​

Of all the stave churches we have seen, the Urnes stave is for sure the oldest, with the Burgond church may be the prettiest.

​

Read more about it in our entry on stavechurches.

Hike to the Nigardsbreen glacier 

 

To do a tour on one of Norway's glaciers has been on our travel list for a long time. And on this trip we realized that one of them, the Nigardsbreen, was just around the corner.

 

So one morning we went to the Glacier center and got the last two tickets for the next guided tour! 

Roped to each other and with crampons under the shoes we hiked onto the glacier up and down the glacier crevasse through little caves and small tunnels in deep blue.  

 

It was a great experience, if only there had not been another 20 groups around us...

​

One the other hand was it funny to watch a group of Asean tourists dancing on the ice with their sneakers and toy version of ice crampons. But all in a good mood and with their selfie-sticks ready to shoot plenty of pictures...

INFO

Distance from Oslo

  • 360 km / 5 hours by car

 

Highlights

 

Overnight stay we can recommend

Fun fact

  • End of July is the berry season at the Sognefjord, try strawberris and raspberris!

 

Points of interest close by:

  • It is not a long drive from the Sognefjellet to Geiranger/the Geirangerfjord.

  • Jotunheimen offers a lot of hiking options, including Norway´s highes mountain. 

 

More information

MAPS

Click on the map for opening the right clipping in google maps in a new window

bottom of page