Norwegian Scenic Routes - unique driving experiences

Eighteen carefully selected roads in Norway have been designated Norwegian Scenic Routes, and ten of the routes are in Fjord Norway!

Picnic areas with exciting architecture have been built along the routes to enable road users to enjoy the views, experience the weather, take photos, have a bite to eat and explore the unique Norwegian scenery.

The 10 Norwegian Scenic Routes in Fjord Norway

Norwegian Scenic Route Atlanterhavsvegen - the Atlantic Road

The Atlantic Road Norwegian Scenic Route runs from Kårvåg to Bud and is 36 kilometres long. It's known as ”the road in the ocean”, with seven bridges that allows the road to follow the islands in the sea like a snake. The world's maybe most beautiful road trip takes you through moorland, fertile cultural landscape, weather beaten bays and islands.

Find more info about the Atlantic Road on nasjonaleturistveger.no.

Attractions

• Storseisundbrua: The longest bridge on the Atlantic Road and the symbol of the road.
• Myrbærholmbrua: Fish from specially built fishing walkways on either side of this bridge.
• Kjeksa: Magnificent view point near the fishing village Bud.
• Geitøya: Short walks to hilltops and down to the water. Fishing spot under the bridge.
• Eldhusøya: Hiking path and nice, easy round trip. Café (open during the summer season).
• Askevågen: View point with glass walls that protects you against the weather and ocean spray.
• Hågå: If you head out to the coastal path at Vevang, you will see pieces of a white columnar shape that meander along the coastal rock, into ponds and between small heath-covered hills. The marble sculpture is created by artist Jan Freuchen.

Norwegian Scenic Route Aurlandsfjellet

This route runs between Aurlandsvangen and Lærdalsøyra and is 47 kilometres long. Aurlandsfjellet is also known as the “Snow Road” between the fjords.

A thousand metres down inside the mountain, motorists are passing through the blue and green light of the three mountain halls of the Lærdal Tunnel, at 24.5 kilometres the world's longest. Both roads connect the pulsating tourist villages of Aurland and Lærdal in the heart of Sogn. Together, they make up a round trip of contrasts and an experience of the mountain from both inside and outside.

Travelling from Lærdal, the view that opens up on the descent towards the dramatic fjord landscape in and around Aurland is astounding, with the award-winning Stegastein viewpoint as the pièce de résistance.

The old buildings at Lærdalsøyri, Flåmsbanen, Aurlandsdalen and Nærøyfjord are all attractions in the area that are well worth a visit. The salmon centre in Lærdal offers cultural history and a taste of salmon.

Find more info about Aurlandsfjellet on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Flotane: Landscape of gentle ridges and wide plains, with peaks and glaciers in the distance. Rest area with benches and service facilities.
• Stegastein: Elegant viewing platform that reaches 30 metres out over the pine trees, 650 metres above the Aurlandsfjord.
• Vedahaugane: A walkway and an long bench curve elegantly away from the road, and you can enjoy the view from a sheltered spot. The bench leads you into a cave in the terrain of the artwork "Den", or "Bjørnehiet".

Norwegian Scenic Route Gamle Strynefjellsvegen

This road, built more than 100 years ago by manual labour, winds its way over the mountains between Grotli and Videsæter and is 27 kilometres long.

Between the mountain village of Skjåk and the fjord village of Stryn there were several ancient routes for the transport of people and essential goods. In 1881 the decision to build a road between Grotli and Hjelle was made. Swedish navvies and local people from both sides of the mountains took part in the hard work of construction. In 1894 the road was ready for use, a masterpiece of road building and engineering.

Nature displays its contrasts along this stretch of road, with the rounded, glacier-scoured forms to the east and a steeper, more precipitous topography to the west.

Gamle Strynefjellsvegen is closed during winter and opens in June. Right up until the 1950s, snowploughing the road was manual labour. These days the snowploughs clear the road in a matter of days.

Find more info about Gamle Strynefjellsvegen on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Hjelle: This idyllic village is beautifully situated on the east side of Strynsvatnet lake at the end of Hjelledalen valley.
• Jøl bru: The old stone-vault bridge can be hard to spot. A new viewing platform is being planned, which will make this road-building masterpiece from 1883 more visible.
• Videfossen: Utsiktspunktet er perfekt for en fotopause og gir deg en opplevelse av å være tett på fossen.
• Øvstefoss: Starting from the road, you can take the 200-metre long footpath and experience the foaming waterfall from a close distance.
• Gamle Strynefjellsvegen: Old, handmade stone walls and long rows of guard stones are the hallmarks of this mountain crossing that dates back more than a century.

Norwegian Scenic Route Gaularfjellet

The road over Gaularfjell takes you into Fosseheimen from the mighty Sognefjord, which is the world’s longest and Norway’s deepest fjord. The route runs between Balestrand and Moskog and is 84 kilometres long. The section over Gaularfjellet between Mel and Mjell is normally closed in December and reopens at the end of April.

The protected Gaular waterway, with its many lively rapids and waterfalls and shining lakes, is like a string of pearls along the road. The drive is exciting and varied, along narrow fjords, on twisting roads up steep mountainsides, over high mountains to sheltered valleys. Here, children and adults can experience trout fishing at its best and wander on good paths beside waterfalls and rapids.

Find more info about Gaularfjellet on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Eikelandsfossen: One of the mightiest waterfalls in the Gaula river system.
• Fossestien: Hiking path that follows old trails and mountain routes. The path extends 21 km and passes fourteen waterfalls and seven lakes.
• Hestad kapell: This little sun-browned church and the surrounding area are listed. A stave church stood at Hestad from 1327 until 1805, when it was replaced by the present chapel.
• Likholefossen: A walk over the flexible steel bridge across the Likholefossen waterfall makes for a close encounter with the forces of nature.
• Utsikten: The viewpoint is one of the spots that offer fine views of the scenery along the road. The viewing platform balances on the edge of the mountain, 700 m.a.s.l.
• Vallestadsfossen: A scenic cascade with a total altitude of nearly 90 metres.
• Torsnesstølen - Malawi: The artwork of Marianne Heier consists of ten wells. One of them is located here at Gaularfjellet, which is a very wet area. The other nine are located in Malawi, where there is a short supply of clean water.

Norwegian Scenic Route Geiranger-Trollstigen

Norwegian Scenic Route Geiranger-Trollstigen runs between Langevatn on Strynefjell and Sogge bridge in Romsdal and is 106 kilometres long.

Steep mountainsides and blue-green fjords make Geiranger and the Trollstigen Road national icons. Enjoy dizzying view of sheer mountainsides, deep fjords and fertile valleys. Since the childhood of tourism, Geiranger and Trollstigen have been visited by tourists from all over the world.

Trollstigen has been a magnet for tourists since the road opened in 1936. We can thank the skills of engineers and road builders that we are able to drive up these steep mountainsides from Trollstigfoten to Stigrøra. They also set their mark on Geiranger, where Ørnevegen, Geirangervegen and the road to Dalsnibba offer some elevating drives to unique viewpoints.

Find more info about Geiranger-Trollstigen on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Trollstigen: The largest viewing platform juts out over a ledge to hover 200 metres above the Trollstigen road that snakes up the steep mountainside. The platform has various viewing points suitable for both the bold and the cautious visitor.
• Gudbrandsjuvet: The viewing point at Gudbrandsjuvet gorge is beautifully located in the Valldalen valley, with precipitous mountainsides, the river and the gorge at close range. Over millennia, the Valldøla River has cut large potholes and intricate formations into the rock.
• Juvet: The Juvet Landscape Hotel lies in Valldal. It is built as nine small, detached rooms, all different and adapted to the landscape. Walls made totally of glass facing the river and the birch forest erase the distinction between outdoors and indoors.
• Linge fergekai: The ferry quay has an airy waiting room with bays and large windows looking out over the fjord, as well as its own orchard.
• Ørnesvingen: Ørnesvingen viewing point has its own waterfall. From here the view opens towards Geiranger, across the Geirangerfjord with its near-perpendicular mountainsides, the “Seven Sisters” waterfalls and the Knivsflå mountain hamlet.
• Flydalsjuvet: This rest area lies near the steep mountainside at the inner end of the Geirangerfjord and is one of many locations that offer spectacular vistas over the fjord.

Norwegian Scenic Route Hardanger

The landscape along the Scenic Route Hardanger is for many the very essence of the national romantic nature of the west country, where the lush green, the waterfalls, the mountains and the glaciers have been attracting tourists for more than a hundred years. Hardanger is also home to a very rich arts and handicraft tradition, where boat building and textiles are at the forefront.

The Scenic Route includes the stretches Granvin–Steinsdalsfossen, Norheimsund–Tørvikbygd, Jondal–Utne and Kinsarvik–Odda–Låtefoss. Total length: 158 kilometer.

The people of Hardanger have grown fruit since the 1300s. The soil gives the fruit a particularly fresh, crisp taste. During the season you can buy fruit at small roadside stalls and eat your fill of apples, pears, plums and sweet cherries.

The drive alternates between the dramatic and the gentle. The area also offers many opportunities for walking, fishing and bathing.

Find more info about Scenic Route Hardanger on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Hereiane: Rest area with a unique service building.
• Hesthamar: The rest area occupies an idyllic spot in a small fruit-growing village. During the season you can buy fruit directly from the growers. From the rest area, trails lead to a monument known as the Stone Cross and to a beach on the fjord.
• Låtefoss: Close to the road the twin cascades of Låtefoss waterfall plunge down the mountainside. The spray showers the road, while the river flows on under the old stone-vault bridge.
• Skjervsfossen: Twin falls plunging out from a height of 150 metres. A nature trail with paths, steps and view points as well as a resting area opened.
• Steindalsfossen: Here you can walk behind the cascade without getting wet. The waterfall is at its fullest and most spectacular in May–June when the snow is melting.
• Steinstøberget: The rest area at Steinstøberget occupies an idyllic spot with a view over the Hardagerfjord and the Folgefonna glacier.

Norwegian Scenic Route Hardangervidda

Norwegian Scenic Route Hardangervidda across the largest mountain plateau in Northern Europe offers a contrast-filled journey from wide expanses and towering peaks, through deep and verdant valleys to turquoise fjords. The road runs between Haugastøl and Eidfjord and has a total length of 67 kilometres.

The Hardangervidda plateau is Norway's largest national park and a key habitat for Europe's largest stock of wild reindeer.

Experience the spectacular Måbødalen valley with its rare and precious plant life, and see the majestic Vøringsfossen waterfall, where the water thunders down in a 145-metre sheer drop. The facilities around Vøringfossen have been developed in recent years. In August 2020, the latest additions to the attraction were opened: a spectacular bridge over the falls!

The Hardangervidda plateau offers resplendent scenery that can be explored from numerous marked hiking trails. Hike across the plateau or try your hand as an angler in one of the numerous mountain lakes. If you intend to cross the plateau in the winter season, the rough weather conditions will sometimes require you to drive in a long column headed by a snow-clearing vehicle. The stretch is occasionally closed during the winter season when the weather conditions are adverse.

Find more info about the Scenic Route Hardangervidda on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Måbødalen: A narrow, steep and scenic valley that reaches from Eidfjord up to the Hardangervidda plateau. In ancient times, a number of roads passed through the Måbødalen valley. To ease the journey for travellers, 1,300 stone steps were added in the 1780s. The road leading through the valley up to Fossli was built with impressive masonry and completed in 1916.
• Vøringsfossen: Vøringsfossen is perhaps Norway’s most famous waterfall. Here, huge volumes of water plunge 145 metres from the Hardangervidda plateau down into the Måbødalen valley.
• Hardangervidda: With its 8,000 km², Hardangervidda is Norway’s largest national park and Europe’s largest high-altitude plateau. Hardangervidda has a diverse fauna and bird life, and is perhaps best known as the home of wild reindeer.

Norwegian Scenic Route Jæren

Jæren - with open skies, wide horizons and endless ocean. Constantly changing weather and light. Mile upon mile of sandy beaches and sand dunes, only broken by boulders and salmon rivers. Norwegian Scenic Route Jæren runs between Ogna and Bore and is 41 kilometres long.

This is Norway's food basket with intensive agriculture in a flat, vast and well-kept cultural landscape, in an area with a mild climate the year round.

The Jæren coast is open to the sea and has always been regarded as one of the most dangerous stretches of the entire Norwegian coastline. Work on constructing lighthouses began in the mid 19th century. The aim was to lead North Sea shipping safely along the Jæren coast in bad weather, darkness and fog. Over the years a number of new lighthouses were built, with the Kvassheim Light, completed in 1912, the last of them.

Side roads down to the Kvassheim Light and other cultural heritage sites, boulders and sand dunes give an exciting glimpse of ocean and history. Jæren's thousand square kilometres or more represent the biggest lowland area in Norway and the long sandy beaches towards journey's end can offer the motorist some relaxation.

Find more info about Jæren on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Orre friluftshus: The recreation centre at Orrestranda beach is an information centre for outdoor life and environmental protection. It is also a cultural centre that offers concerts, art exhibitions and other cultural events.
• Kvassheim fyr: Kvassheim lighthouse was erected in Ognabukten bay in 1912. It remained in operation until 1990. The lighthouse has been restored and reconstructed, and contains exhibitions on the story of marine rescue operations and the Jæren nature, as well as a small café.
• Orrestranda: At nearly five kilometres in length, Orrestranda beach is Norway’s longest sandy beach.
• Varhaug gamle kirkegård: The first church at Varhaug was built in the 13th century. The old church was demolished in 1905 and replaced by a small burial chapel. The scenic cemetery faces the ocean.

Norwegian Scenic Route Ryfylke

Ryfylke offers the traveller a varied, beautiful and fertile landscape. The Norwegian Scenic Route Ryfylke runs between Oanes by the Lysefjord to Hårå at Røldal and is 260 kilometres long.

Along the way you will pass villages, towns and cultural attractions like old industrial buildings and the abandoned 19th century zinc mines at Allmannajuvet. The smelting plants of the town of Sauda, deep in the mountains and waterfalls of Ryfylke, offer a good starting point for a trip through Norwegian industrial history.

A network of paths with modern architecture has been established beside Svandalsfossen waterfall. Ropeid ferry quay now has a waiting room of daring design and in Allmanajuvet there is an attraction of high international quality and design.

From Lovra in Suldal the tourist route splits into two sections. One section travels across the Sandsfjord Bridge to Sauda (road 520) with a short detour to Ropeid. The other section continues north (road 13) with a small detour to Høse Bridge at Sand, before it continues up Suldalslågen and Brattlandsdalen where the road sections meet at Håra – creating a round trip.

A detour south from the road brings the traveller to the Preikestolen cabin, from where a prepared path goes up to the famous Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock), with its magnificent but dizzying view over Lysefjord.

Find more info about Norwegian Scenic Route Ryfylke on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Allmannajuvet: The Allmannajuvet zinc mines are a disused mining works in Sauda. The mines were in operation from 1881 to 1899. Today, the mining area is a museum.
• Høse bridge: The bridge is a footbridge over the Suldalslågen river. It lights up beautifully on dark autumn and winter nights and leads to the recreational area across the river.
• Lovra: The viewing point Lovra lies hidden in the forest south of Sand in Suldal municipality. Frome here there is a splendid view of the Lovraeidet isthmus and the fjord.
• Lysefjorden - Preikestolen: Preikestolen is a mountain plateau shaped like a large pulpit that towers over the Lysefjord. The plateau, which is almost flat, soars over 600 metres over the fjord.
• Ropeid: The building on this express boat quay has large glass panes that make for close contact with both the fjord and the mountainside.
• Svandalsfossen: This waterfall is a mighty spectacle when the river runs high. The 540 steps bring visitors into close proximity with the powerful waterfall.

Norwegian Scenic Route Sognefjellet

The highest mountain road in Northern Europe winds its way through the Jotunheimen mountains from Lom to Gaupne, and is 108 kilometres long. The highest point is at Fantesteinen, 1,434 metres above sea level.

This mountain pass has long been an important trading route. From the coast and fjords in the west, salt and fish were carried across the mountains. Leather, butter and tar made their way in the opposite direction from the valleys to the east.

The road over the high mountains between the Sognefjord and Bøverdalen opened to motor vehicles in 1938. The pass is closed in winter, but is snowploughed ready for opening around 1st of May. Driving the newly opened road, between banks of snow up to ten metres high, is a wonderful experience.

The rest area at Mefjellet is in the form of an amphitheatre of natural stone, with a panoramic view across mountain and moorland where Knut Wold's stone sculpture stands commandingly. The glass map at Nedre Oscarshaug helps identify the Hurrungane, Skagastølstindane and other mountains.

Find more info about Sognefjellet on nasjonaleturistveger.no

Attractions

• Liasanden: A rather unique rest area. Nature, trees and terrain have been permitted to determine the design of the site down to the minutest detail.
• Mefjellet: A rest area at the Storevasskrysset crossroads in the centre of the mountain plateau. From here you can enjoy the view of the Fanaråken glacier and its surrounding peaks. The stone sculpture by Knut Wold is a motif favoured by photographers.
• Nedre Oscarshaug: One of the best vantage points along the road across the Sognefjellet mountains. A glass telescope gives an overview of the surrounding Hurrungane massif.
• Sognefjellshytta: The lodge lies where the tourist route reaches its highest point at 1,400 m.a.s.l. The lodge has been provided with a new common room that links the two traditional buildings. The combination of wood and glass disperses the light through the room.
• Vegaskjelet: The viewing point has been placed directly off the car park. From here you have a view of the 2,000-metre peaks of Skarsnebb and Steinetind.