Our next stop after Ålesund was Åndalsnes, some 110 km inland. It’s a small town and there’s not much there, but it’s a good starting point for the Trollstigen to Geiranger scenic route. The only thing worthy of note on the journey is that we were stung for €27 to cross a (not very grand) bridge, and a further €13 to drive through a tunnel. We parked for the night by the railway station, and as it was a nice day I took my bike out for a ride around the fjord.



Of all the official scenic routes, the Trollstigen to Geiranger route is the one that we’ve wanted to do the most. Trollstigen, or trolls’ ladder, is where the road climbs up the side of a mountain with a 10% gradient, comprising 11 hairpin bends. At the top there are viewing platforms overlooking the road and the Stigfossen waterfall. We couldn’t have picked a better day weather wise, it was t-shirt and shorts weather.
Our early start meant that we avoided having to squeeze past any coaches coming in the opposite direction, and the drive to the top was rather easy. We were one of the first vans to park up at the visitor centre, and we spent a good while enjoying the views from the top and taking photos. By the time we left there it had become rather busy, and the coaches had started to arrive.










We stopped off for coffee and lunch breaks, or just to admire the stunning scenery. At Linge we took the ferry across the fjord to Eidsdal and continued along the road to Ørnesvingen, where there’s a very steep descent in the form of another 11 hairpin bends to Gerainger. It’s much more difficult descending mountains in the van, as this entails engine braking as much as possible so as to avoid overheating the brakes. We’re spending the tonight on a campsite overlooking Gerainger Fjord, and it’s a good job that we arrived when we did as the place is now full.




Tomorrow we’ll be making another early start to catch a ferry from Geiranger to Hellesylt, and from there we’ll be driving to a campsite for a few days downtime. Over the past month we’ve driven some 2,500 miles (or 4,000 km) and so we need a bit of a rest!
Mike
I’ve done the river cruise twice from gerainger – worth doing. Perhaps you will you will get to do the gorge by water with your trip.
Sorry for the delay in replying, probs with my https certificate (now sorted). We enjoyed the cruise, and we stopped off at the gorge too. The scenery in this part of the world is just breathtaking, we’re loving it here!
Breathtaking views. I don’t envy you driving the van on those mountain roads
Off to see Queen tonight at the O2, with my sister and 2 cousins. Not sure if we’ve ever been out together like this. It’s quite nostalgic
Driving the van isn’t too bad – the biggest pain is coaches and HGVs coming the other way on narrow roads which don’t slow down.
Oh forgot to say…
I could murder some bacon! Your fry up looked gorgeous x
It was lush! We saw some English bacon in Finland and had to buy a couple of packs. We were supposed to have bacon baguettes in Nordkapp but didn’t get round to it.
Belated Happy Birthday wishes Mike – sorry I wasn’t very good at keeping up with admin while we were in Madeira. Some amazing views and photos. Pleased you are getting some better weather at last – makes all the difference when you’re out and about. Think you’d like Madeira as we went up into the hills we saw similar looking waterfalls and hairpin bends. We were in a jeep as passengers so not so stressful for us. They have an amazing irrigation system there which I found very interesting – channels running in all the small villages as well as in Funchal. I’d definitely recommend it there. Seeing all your photos makes me yearn to go back to Norway xx
Thanks Lesley! Sounds like you had a great time in Madeira – I’ve never thought of going there, will have to check it out. Yes we’re loving it in Norway – off to Bergen tomorrow! Mike xx