Posts In The “Europe” Category
Atlanterhavsvegen (Atlantic Ocean Road) is one of Norway’s 18 National Tourist Routes that the construction industry in 2005 named “Norwegian Construction of the Century”. The road runs 5 miles (8 km) along the outer edge of the Atlantic Ocean across an archipelago of islands and seven bridges. Popular for filming auto commercials, the route has…
If you enjoy holiday lights, Norway is a wonderful place to be in the winter. Most Norwegian towns have a lit holiday display in the hills above the community, and their houses are ablaze with holiday lights. And with the shorter days of winter, the lights are on longer. We’ve spent many a happy hour…
The Heroy municipality’s name derives from an old Norse term meaning “archipelago of islands.” The 1,700 islands and islets that make up Heroy are an absolute joy to explore, both in the tender and on foot along the archipelago’s many view hikes. Norway seems to have an endless number of exceptional boating locales, each one…
The lighthouse in Norway’s Flavaer Islands was built in 1870 to guide mariners into Heroyfjorden. The islands themselves lie on the edge of Heroyfjorden and are somewhat exposed, but make a great anchorage in calm conditions. Continuing north from Syltejforden, we stopped for a night in the Flavaer Islands and made an extensive tour of…
Norway’s headland Stad is so notorious for dangerous conditions that an escort service is provided for small boats and funds have been approved to build the world’s first full-scale ship tunnel through the base of the peninsula from Moldefjorden to Kjodspollen, pictured above. The tunnel will be just under a mile long, 120ft (37m) high…
The days continued to get shorter as we traveled further north in our Norwegian winter cruise—the sunset pictured above was taken at 3:15pm. We weren’t sure how we’d do with the super-short days of the Norwegian winter, but so far we haven’t minded. We run the boat in the morning during the darkness and then…
After visiting Hovden, we spent two nights in Gulen, a small fjord just north of Floro with three branches: Sorgulen, Midtgulen and Nordgulen (south, middle and north respectively). We toured the area extensively by tender, enjoying the spectacular scenery, and we had the excitement of breaking ice for a mile or so on the way…
The Kvanhovden lighthouse on the exposed west coast of Hovden opened in 1895. Much of the old path there has survived, hugging the rugged shore as it winds around the rocks, with the standard Norwegian lighthouse metal pipe guardrails still in place. Today the lighthouse is automated and the original path now is part of…
The coastal town of Floro, roughly midway between Sognefjord and the headland Stad, was founded in 1860. Today Floro is the administrative center for the area and supports diverse industries with branches of several national and international companies, including Westcon, EWOS and CHC. Westcon is a major shipyard company, with facilities along the Norwegian coast,…
The town of Forde lies at the head of 19-nm long Fordefjorden, the next major fjord system north of Buefjorden. Forde is the commercial, industrial, and government center for the region, with good shopping opportunities for us to buy a little more winter gear. We spent four nights exploring the fjord and approaches, including a…
Buefjorden is the next major fjord system north of Sognefjord. The fjord extends about 9 nautical miles from the North Sea into mainland Norway, splitting into three branches, from south to north: Afjorden, Skifjorden, and Vilnesfjorden. We visited all three in our continued detailed exploration of the Norwegian coast. The weather seemed to transition from…
Sognefjord is the longest and deepest fjord in Norway, extending 110 nautical miles from the sea with depths reaching 4,291 feet (1,308 metres), and is second longest in the world. The fjord is a popular tourism destination for its impressive natural beauty. Notable is the branch Naeroyfjord, pictured above, that was named a UNESCO World…
In 1936, Lifjorden was the site of Norway’s first fatal civil aviation accident. Classified as a “controlled flight into terrain”, the crew of the seaplane Havorn didn’t realize they were off course in a thick fog and flew the aircraft directly into the 2,513-ft (776m) cliff Risnesnipa, pictured at left above, killing all seven on…
Hoyanger, at the end of Hoyangsfjorden in Sognefjord, has several good hiking trails. Notable among them is Trappene (The Stairs), where 1,268 steps follow a hydropower penstock up to a height of 1,200 ft (360m) with wonderful views, and a tunnel, en route. With the run only 1,300 ft (400m), the grade is an incredibly…
With the short daylight hours of the Norwegian winter, we were underway in the dark for much of the time, particularly when making trips in longer waterways such as 110-nm Sognefjord, Norway’s longest fjord. This is more difficult than during the day, but can also be more enjoyable with beautiful night views. From Skjolden at…
At the extreme head of 110-nm Sognefjord, the longest and deepest fjord in Norway, stands the dramatic metal sculpture Jonsok in the town of Skjolden. Created by Wisconsin artist Kati Casida, the sculpture symbolizes the bond between Norwegians and their family members who emigrated to America. We continued our detailed exploration of Sognefjord, and the…
Laerdalsfjorden is a short branch of Sognefjord just east of Flam. It was the inspiration for Kjempeviseslatten, the most famous work of Harald Saeverud, one of the most significant Norwegian composers of the mid-1900s. Laerdal also is the terminus and namesake of the Laerdalstunnelen, the longest road tunnel in the world at 15.23 miles (24.51…
We first stopped in Flam, near the head of Sognefjord, in the spring of 2018 with snow still on the ground in the surrounding mountains. We returned in late fall of 2020 to snow on the peaks, but this time it was the first snows of the winter. On both visits, we took a ride…