Travel notes: Walking Norway’s spectacular scenery

Years ago my Norwegian relatives took me on a driving trip from the capital of Oslo through waterfall-laced mountains to the coastal city of Bergen. This is the route many visitors take on tours when visiting Norway.

Returning, I wanted to see much more of Norway, including above the Arctic Circle. Walking Adventures International (WAI) offered a tour that proved ideal for my active inclinations. Our small group of 24 started in Bergen and then did a coastal and inland loop to experience spectacular scenery such as Geirangerfjord and Jotunheimen National Park.

Per its name, WAI involved daily walks, some qualifying as hearty hikes in Norway’s mountainous terrain. We also visited historic sites, stave churches and an ice tunnel on Norway’s highest peak.

Sixteen of us continued on WAI’s extension trip above the Arctic Circle to explore the Vesterålen Islands and experience Norway’s Andøya and Senja Scenic Routes en route to Tromsø. We visited a salmon farming operation, watched puffins soar around Bleiksøya Island and learned about indigenous Sami culture.

Beginning in Bergen, our first walk was along its historic Bryggen waterfront. Here during medieval times, the Hanseatic League controlled trading, mainly of cod fish. We also explored the waterfront’s lively fish market, Gamle (old) Bergen and the Bergenhus Fortress. Many of us took the Fløibanen funicular from city center to the top of FløyenMountain (a six-minute ride) for spectacular views.

Then we traveled north by local ferry to Smørhamn/Kalvåg and inland by motorcoach. Each day our walks provided impressive views of soaring mountains, plunging waterfalls and dramatic fjord overlooks. A section of the historic postal road near Geiranger offered a more strenuous and memorable hike. Originally built to connect Bergen and Trondheim in the 1700s, this portion zigzags up one side of a mountain and then down to the Geirangerfjord. Here we boarded a local ferry to cruise this UNESCO-protected fjord and marvel at its surrounding mountains and numerous waterfalls.

With so many mountains, Norway has lots of winding roads and more than 900 tunnels through its rugged landscape. The longest is the 15-mile Lærdal tunnel – also the longest road tunnel in the world.

The highest peak in Norway is Galdhøpiggen at 8,100 feet elevation in Jotunheimen National Park. There we crossed barren-looking permafrost on boardwalks to enter an ice tunnel at about 6,000 feet. It measures almost 4,000 square feet total, carved into 7,000-year-old ice by the artist/sculptor Peder Istad. Side tunnels lead to rooms with sculptures such as The Globe.

The surrounding permafrost looked barren, but our guide pointed out tiny plants tucked into crevices. More than 700 artifacts linked to ancient hunting traditions have emerged from the melting ice in this area. We saw some in the Norway Mountain Museum in the nearby village of Lom.

Lom also features a beautifully preserved stave church from 1170 AD. Later we toured the inside of the Borgund stave church (1180 AD), which is surprisingly small. These stave churches are among 28 that remain from the more than 1,000 built in Norway in the late 12th century. They mark a time when Viking paganism was yielding to Christianity. Detailed carvings reflect both Christian motifs and Viking themes such as dragons.

Arriving in Oslo, we walked from the Royal Palace grounds to the medieval Akerhus Fortress and by the dramatic Opera House (walk up to the rooftop for a great view of the city and harbor). Vigeland Sculpture Park is a must-see with more than 200 sculptures in granite, bronze and wrought iron; it is the life work of Norway’s most famous sculptor Gustav Vigeland.

The Fram and Kon Tiki Museums proved fascinating. The first showcases the polar ship Fram and early arctic exploration. The second features Thor Heyerdahl’s balsa wood raft on which he crossed the Pacific Ocean in 1947 to prove his South America-to-Polynesia migration theory. The National Museum and Munch Museum each contain extensive art – and both feature one of Edvard Munch’s famous “The Scream” paintings (he did several versions).

Then 16 of us flew north above the Arctic Circle to explore the Vesterålen Islands. There we toured Akvakultur i Vesterålen – by small boat in survival suits – to learn about salmon farming and how it has evolved since beginning in the 1970s. Today Norway is the world’s largest producer of farmed salmon. Factoid: Norway introduced salmon sushi to the Japanese in the 1980s.

Another highlight was a sea safari by zodiac boat to Bleiksøya Island, among Norway’s most famous bird rookeries. Here more than 80 000 pairs of puffins come to breed from mid-April to early August. White-tailed eagles soar overhead, seeking to snatch unwary puffins. Many other seabirds also nest on Bleiksøya Island, and whales can be spotted in the area, too.

We did walks along the Arctic Ocean on the Andøya and Senja Scenic Routes, two of Norway’s 18 such designated routes. Whether traversing sand, rock or meadow grass, we had spectacular scenery surrounding us. Our walk from Mefjordvær offered amazingly jagged mountains as a backdrop.

Our final Arctic destination was Tromsø, one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights – from September to March. In June, we marveled at the midnight sun instead, as we explored this colorful town’s waterfront.

Tromsø is home of the world’s northernmost university and its Arctic University Museum of Norway. Here we saw exhibits on indigenous Sami culture; later a Sami woman performed a traditional joik chanting song for our group.

Another highlight was the Polar Museum, which documents Tromsø’s role as the gateway to the Arctic for explorers, hunters and researchers from the 17th century to the present. And then there is Tromsø’s Troll Museum…

This “first and only troll museum in Norway” documents the country’s different trolls according to legend and traits. Tromsø has a rather benign sea troll, for example; other trolls can be quite awful. Visitors can try out the museum’s Augmented Reality technology – I did and put a Tromsø troll face on my head!

Learn more at Walking Adventures International.

— By Julie Gangler

Julie Gangler visited Norway on Walking Adventures International’s tour, No Place Like Norway. She is a freelance writer who has worked as a media relations consultant for the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau. She began her career as a staff writer at Sunset Magazine and later was the Alaska/Northwest correspondent for Travel Agent Magazine.