Avdalen Gard was the last outdoorsy stop on our Norway stop, and it was great. We saved the best for last. Trolltunga was great and Vettisfossen was cool, but Avdalen? Words can’t even describe how magical it was to me, and photos don’t do it justice. It was stunning!
The next stop after Bergen was Årdal to visit my friend Kris at Utladalen Camping and explore a tiny fraction of Jotunheimen National Park. First on our list was Vettisfossen.
With a drop of 275 meters (or 902 feet), Vettisfossen is the tallest unregulated waterfall in northern Europe—meaning it doesn’t go through a hydroelectric power station. The trail begins on a tractor road that follows the Utla river. It winds around and crosses the river several times before ending at Vetti Gard.
I did some expensive couch surfing (read: stayed in a spare Airbnb room in a host’s home) in Bergen which turned out to be an awesome idea. Our host, Tor Martin, was really cool and gave us some neat suggestions on what to do on our way out to Årdal. Stegastein was one of them.
Modalen is a magical little valley just an hour outside of Bergen. This quiet little valley is so quiet that you can actually get paid to live here; they need more people. We stopped by Bergen kaffebrenneri in Bergen and the barista suggested we head out here for a drive. It was a beautiful destination.
Låtefossen is one of Norway’s most famous waterfalls. Located in Oddalen, or Odda Valley, this is one of the most accessible waterfalls. It’s right off of Norwegian National Road 13 (E13). This waterfall begins as two separate streams coming from Låtevatnet cascading down the rock wall before joining and flowing underneath the road. It’s seriously a spectacular sight.
Trolltunga was the first thing that was on my list in Norway. It’s basically the Norwegian version of Half Dome, except easier and about a hundred times less scary.
After flying into Oslo Thursday morning, we made the scenic drive out to Odda to snowshoe Trolltunga on Saturday with Trolltunga Active (formerly known as Opplev Odda). Trolltunga Active operates a number of trips in the Hardangerfjord area including climbing Trolltunga, zipline adventures, kayaking, and more. They’re some really cool and patient people if you ever need a guide!
