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About the
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John Osaki's Blog
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 Printable version of itinerary Norway Slide Show    |
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| NEWS! National Geographic Traveler Magazine's sixth annual “Places Rated” Destination Stewardship survey gave top honors to the fjord Norway region with a score of 85 points. The survey rates the world’s most celebrated travel destinations based on how well they have weathered the pressures of mass tourism and other threats. Fjord Norway also ranked first in the magazine's first "Places Rated" survey in 2004. Come experience for yourself a place that some have called the most beautiful place on earth. | |||
| Enjoy a close encounter with western Norway’s convoluted coastline, a landscape that has been called the most beautiful on Earth. Here towering granite cliffs plunge into deep, twisting fjords that wind their way for as much as a hundred miles into Norway’s rocky core. Picturesque villages and farms huddle where the topography permits. Stroll to ancient stave churches, and hike to the blue face of glaciers to see how the hand of ice is still at work shaping the Scandinavian landscape. Enjoy thrilling walks and hikes to glorious vantage points and isolated summer farms perched high above the fjords. Gain a better appreciation for the resiliency of the Norwegians who have over the centuries come to terms with and thrived in this rugged, harsh, and magnificent environment. | |||
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Day 1 Overnight in Lofthus Dinner included Velkomen til Norge! Depart Bergen and visit Troldhaugen, home of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. Travel to Lofthus, a fjord village in the Hardanger region known for its fruit orchards. Enjoy the ambiance of one of Fjord Norway's most renowned hotels, your base for two nights. Stretch your legs on an afternoon walk to the waterfalls that plunge over the edge of the great Hardangervidda plateau into the Opo Valley. The waterfall named Skrikjo ("shriek") plunges down the face of the escarpment at the head of the valley in a thin stream while the Bjørnabyksefoss tumbles down the valley’s north wall in a series of powerful, roaring cascades. A cabin that Edvard Grieg used while staying in the Hardanger region can be found on the hotel grounds. |
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Day 2 Overnight in Lofthus Breakfast, lunch & dinner included Follow the route of the Munketrappene ("Monk’s Steps") which leads to the fabulous vantage point called Nosi ("the nose") at the edge of the windswept Hardangervidda. Marvel at the cataracts that plunge in a foaming spectacle through narrow canyon of the Opojuvet. For a longer hike, continue into the austere, tundra environment of the Hardangervidda where rushing streams link a myriad of high country lakes. Be on the lookout for cloudberries (Rubus chamæorus)—highly prized by Scandinavians. They can sometimes can be found in the Hardangervidda's high windswept meadows. Return to your hotel nestled in the luxuriant green landscapes of fjord country. |
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Day 3 Overnight in Flam Breakfast included Travel to the town of Voss and catch a train to the mountain settlement of Myrdal. Myrdal is the mountain terminus of the Flam rail line (or Flamsbana) which makes its way down the lovely Flam Valley (Flamsdalen) to its sea-level terminus at Flam. Today's hike will lead you down the peaceful yet dramatic Flamsdalen filled with waterfalls and tumbling streams. You can hike all the way to fjord-side settlement of Flam thus completing a journey from fra fjell til fjord ("from mountain to sea"). Alternatively, you can shorten the journey by hiking part way down the Flamsdalen to Berekvam from where you can travel the rest of the way to Flam by vehicle or train. The hiking route down the Flam Valley is along the Rallarveg, a narrow, well-graded gravel road that was built originally between 1885 and 1898 to serve as a construction road for the Flam railway. Shortly after departing Myrdal, the route descends quickly via a series of short switchbacks alongside a rushing stream. The trail levels out as it approaches the hamlet of Kardal. Here, rocky buttresses constrict the flow of the Flamselvi (Flam River) resulting in a powerful, foaming cataract. The route continues to descend at a gentle grade to the station at Berekvam, approximately midway between Myrdal and Flam. Continuing on, pass the Høge Bro (bridge) where you can watch the Flam River emerging from a man-made tunnel into which the river was diverted during the railroad’s construction. Before reaching Flam and its wooden church, pass the lovely waterfall called Rjoande, streaming gracefully down the Flamsdal’s western wall. |
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Day
4 |
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We especially enjoyed being in small towns with ‘real’ Norwegians. We found the food to be ‘home cooking’ good, and we actually started to look forward to herring at breakfast! We enjoyed every bite! --PEGGY AND JIM HILTON |
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Day 5 Overnight in Flam Breakfast & dinner included After breakfast, a twenty minute drive along the Snøveg ("Snow Road") brings you to the Bjørgo mountain farm. Ascend the open ridge leading to the summit of Prestevarden ("Priest's Cairn") high above the town of Aurland. Enjoy bird’s eye views over the majestic sweep of the Aurlandsfjord and the tundra-like landscapes of the high vidda which stretches away to the east. In the late afternoon, pay a visit to the Otternes bygdetun or “cluster farm.” Twenty-seven farm houses and associated buildings dating from the 1600s are protected here. |
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Day
6 Overnight in Balestrand Breakfast included After breakfast, travel by vehicle to the Laerdal, a valley well-known for its salmon fishery. Walk the historic route known as the Vindhellaveg ("way of the winding incline") to the beautiful 12th-century Borgund Stave Church, one of Norway’s best preserved stave churches, richly ornamented with carvings. There were at one time about one thousand stave churches in Norway; about twenty-eight are left today. The Vindhellaveg was first built in 1793 and rebuilt in the mid-19th century. Today, the old road is closed to traffic, its grassy tread maintained for the delight of walkers. You can return to the trailhead via the Sverrestig ("sword path"), a lovely trail meandering through quiet woodlands. The Sverrestig is part of the old main road between eastern and western Norway, and it's at least a thousand years old. Continue by vehicle to the fjord-side town of Balestrand, a mecca for fjord visitors since the mid-nineteenth century. |
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Day 7 Overnight in Fjaerland Breakfast & dinner included Travel by vehicle to Fjaerland where you'll spend the next two nights. For a moderate hiking option, follow the trail leading into the green and quiet Mundalsdalen. At the head of the valley, a large glacial cirque whose walls wear a waterfall filigree awaits you! Wild huckleberries and raspberries grow in profusion along the trail to Mundalsdalen and the open floor of the cirque invites wandering. Alternatively, experienced mountain walkers can undertake a challenging hike following the trace of an old route across the mountains to Fjaerland. The route starts at Anestølen, an operating goat farm in a high mountain valley. (The term støl refers to a summer farm where herds graze and milking and cheese-making is done.) From Anestølen, hike across the surrounding stream-laced meadows and begin a gentle ascent along the Langedal stream bordered by grassy meadows punctuated with twisted birches, willow thickets, and huckleberry patches. After a brisk climb alongside a rushing cascade, the trail enters the Haugbotn, a large glacially-carved cirque carpeted with ferns, boulders and meadows where tufts of cotton grass sway in the mountain breezes. Waterfalls cascade down the walls of the Haugbotn from snowfields high above. The route ascends to the high pass at Sogndalseggi and skirts an ice-filled lake before descending through wild, lonely mountain basins into the Fjaerland Valley. After dinner in Fjaerland, you might choose to take an evening walk on your own to enjoy a serene fjordscape of glacier-clad mountains rising from the sea. |
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Day 8 Overnight in Fjaerland Breakfast & dinner included Continue your exploration of the countryside and mountains surrounding Fjaerland. Fjaerland's wealth of trails leads you through an "open air laboratory" of glacially-sculpted landforms. If you desire, pay a visit to the Norwegian Glacier Museum (Norsk Bremuseum) which interprets the glaciers of western Norway (cost of admission not included in trip price). The museum's exhibits are a great way to gain a deeper appreciation for the power of moving ice. A moderately challenging walk leads to the astounding viewpoint atop Nesehaugen where fjord panoramas await! Or you could choose a vigorous hike to the Flatbre hut (Flatbrehytte) in the Jostedalsbre National Park (Jostedalsbreen Nasjonalpark)—3,000 feet above Fjærland—from where you’ll enjoy bird’s eye views over the Fjaerlandsfjord. Enjoy "front row" vistas of the deeply crevassed Flatbre (glacier) as it descends from the main Jostedal ice cap and plunges over a cliff edge in the magnificent Supphellebre ice fall. |
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Your choices of activities were excellent. In talking to other Norway visitors, our group seemed to be seeing more of the country and having a greater variety of experiences. --ROSALIE GITTINGS |
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Day
9 Overnight in Bergen Breakfast included Depart Fjaerland to return to Bergen. Upon arrival in Bergen check into your hotel before enjoying a funicular ride to the top of Fløien mountain for magnificent views over the city. A network of forest paths descend the slopes of Fløien to bring you back to your hotel via the old quarter of Bergen. Your lodging tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning are included. |
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| Other Details about this Trip | |||
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Dates: July 6-14, 2013 Price: $4,895 (group of 4-5); $4,395 (group of 6 or more) Single Room for entire trip: $600. Single accommodations are subject to availability and may be limited. Meeting Point: Bergen, Norway Departure Point: Bergen, Norway Accommodations: Nine nights in hotels/inns with private bath. Nine breakfasts, one lunch and five dinners are included. Note: Your accommodations on the evening of July 5, 2013 are not included but we are happy to assist you with booking your lodging for that evening.
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Seeing Bergen We suggest you allow yourself one or two days in Bergen prior to the start of the trip so you can experience on your own the joys of Norway’s "Fjord Capital." Bergen's main shopping street, the Torgalmenning provides temptations for your pocketbook, and the lively torget (fish market) at the head of Bergen harbor offers fresh steamed shrimp (reker), sizable strawberries (jordbær) from the island of Askøy, and the typical Norwegian open-faced sandwich called smørbrød in all its variations! For a bit of history and a taste of Bergen’s Hanseatic past, wander through the old waterfront warehouses at Bryggen, a World Heritage Site. And the picturesque, cobblestone streets of Gamle Bergen ("Old Bergen") invite wandering!
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Other Resources
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I’m feeling a bit nostalgic these days, thinking over my wonderful Norwegian adventure…I hold "my" trip very special. --PATTY DYKE |
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All photos by John Osaki |
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© Mountain Hiking Holidays, Inc. |
Peaceful scene on the Fjaerlandsfjord, Sogn
i Fjordane, Norway.
Make a virtual visit to
the 
