8 Days of Adventure in Norway

Day 2: Hike Kjeragbolten

August 18, 2019

We headed out from Stavanger in the morning and started a 2-hour drive to the Kjeragbolten parking lot. From there it's a 12km/7.5mile hike to the famous boulder between two cliffs and almost 1,000 meters (3000+ feet) above the fjord below. The hike takes around 6-10 hours to complete.

The hike starts off with a bit of climbing with chain assistance, and then rolling hills, with quite a bit of elevation both up and down. Before reaching the boulder, you climb down into a stream that leads towards the boulder. An overlook to the left of it has fantastic views and a waterfall, but it's easy to miss when you're focused on getting the insta shot. Be warned this was the first of the hikes I realize you need to wait in line for your shot after hiking many miles. Bring warm clothes for waiting.

The hike back got extremely difficult as it was raining on the chain assistance part, and I was sliding down the mountain, but we made it back to the car and then faced the twists and turns of the road down the mountain to Lysebotn. We stopped for a warm soup at the Lysefjorden Tourist Cabin before taking the ferry and drove to Tau for the night to pick up a friend arriving later. She took the ferry from Stavanger to Tau to meet us.

Day 4: Hike Trolltunga

August 20, 2019

Quite possibly the highlight of any trip to Norway is standing atop of Trolltunga. The Trolltunga hike takes between 10-12 hours, 28km or 16-17 miles.

We decided that 16 miles was long enough for a day so we took the bust from the second lower parking lot, Skjeggedal (P2) to Mågelitopp (P3) which only has room for about 30 cars. This saves 15 hours and quite an incline going up. Though, we skipped quite a bit of incline, there's still a steep climb early on in the hike before it turns more rolling until arriving at Trolltunga.

The most important advice is to bring layers. You might think you're one of the few to hike 16 miles, but when arriving at Trolltunga, you'll learn that you're not. When we arrived, there was a 20 min per person wait to get a photo taken, and because both my friend and I had to wait, we were standing in the cold rain for 45 minutes.

After the long hike back, including the road back from the upper parking lot because we only paid for the way up, we were happy to return to the hostel, take a warm shower, and drive into Odda for some warm Chinese food.

We spent the night in the hostel in Tyssedal again.

Day 5: Kayak in the Bergen Fjords

August 21, 2019

We started the day with a 3-hour drive from Tyssedal to Bergen to make a 10:30am kayak tour picking us up from Bergen, but it was so hard to not stop along the way. We passed quaint small town and fruit stands with jars of plum jam.

In Bergen, we were able to grab a quick bit at the fish market, and make the shuttle just in time. After a 45 min trip on the shuttle to Herdla we geared up in provided dry suits and started our kayak tour. We paddled across the channel to an island to picnic on. After paddling back and actually staying dry - in our dry suits while taking a dunk, we headed back to Bergen.

From there, we drove to an airbnb Oppheim to get close to our next day activities.

Day 6: Flåm/Gudvanger cruise

August 22, 2019

Day was all about exploring the most famous fjord of Norway, the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Nærøyfjord. It was down-pouring when we arrived in Gudvangen, so we took the bus to Flam, and planned the ferry for the return.

Flam has a small area for tourist with gift shops and restaurants we took refuge in during the severe downpours, but we had a chance to climb up the hill for a better view of the fjord. Soon it was our ferry's time to leave, so we enjoyed the views on the ferry as the sun began to peak out.

Back in Gudvangen, there was a Viking Village I would have like to explore, but we settled for a quick look at a viking boat, and then started a hike to the village of Bakka 4km down a quiet road. The village had a campground, church, and fantastic views, but the hairy cows were definitely a highlight!

We ate at the Gudvangen's hotel's buffet dinner, where we were able to try all of the delicacies and then made our way back to the airbnb in Oppheim.

Day 7: Explore Bergen

August 23, 2019

On the way to Bergen, we first stopped at the Dale of Norway in Dale factory and bough matching Norwegian sweaters. Dale is a famous wool knitwear brand in Norway that supplies the Norwegian olympic teams. It may be the most expensive clothing item I own, but I'll be wearing it for years to come.

Bergen is a fantastic city to explore and easy to spend a day in. We had a great fresh fish lunch at the seafood market and hiked up to the top of Fløyen. There's multiple paths from the city center up the mountain, or for those still resting their legs, there's a funicular from downtown. Up on the mountain, there are fantastic views of Bergen, a playground, a smiling troll to take a photo with and a restaurant. We grabbed a beer and some dessert from the restaurant overlooking the city in our new sweaters.

We spent the evening bar hopping and making friends in Bergen.

Day 8: Explore Bergen

August 23, 2019

We spent the last morning of our trip shopping and exploring the colorful building of Bryggen, and then took the train to the airport.