70 Best Sights in The Western Fjords, Norway

Focusing primarily on local heritage, the Hardanger Folk Museum is one of the largest and best of its kind in western Norway. Here you can walk around a cluster of old houses and get an idea of what life was like in Norway in the 1800s. Hardanger is home to many national symbols of Norway, such as the Hardingfele (an eight-stringed fiddle that inspired Norwegian composers like Edvard Grieg), Hardangerbunad (traditional dress from the region), and Hardangersaum (an intricate type of embroidery), and you can see examples of them here.

At an average height of 3,600 feet, Hardangervidda is Europe’s largest (almost 3,300 square miles) high-altitude plateau. It’s also part Hardangervidda National Park, Norway's largest national park, which stretches from western to eastern Norway across the three counties of Vestland, Buskerud, and Telemark. The Norwegian Nature Centre acts as the park's official visitor center. It has exhibits and information on Norway’s nature, climate, and environment.

In the center of the village of Hellesylt, this waterfall is the main sight. It is wedged between two bridges: Høge Bro and Hellesylt Bro, both from the early 1900s.

This beautiful house of worship stands on its original foundation from around 1130, making it one of Norway’s oldest. It was restored in the late 19th-century by Norwegian architect Peter Andreas Blix, who used Borgund Stave Church, with its triple nave, as inspiration and who discovered the remains of an older, 11th-century church on the site. Visitors in the summer months can join a guided tour around the interior and learn about how it has changed throughout the centuries.

Dating back to the Middle Ages, this parish church is a prime example of Roman architecture. It was built in 1170, and Peter Andreas Blix, who restored it in the late 1800s, is buried below the nave. The church has a capacity of only 35 people.

Covering the mountains between the Sognefjord and Nordfjord, Jostedal Glacier is not only the biggest glacier in Norway, but it's also the largest glacier in continental Europe. It stretches across almost 200 square miles and has dozens of branches. One of the most popular is Briksdalsbreen, which is near Olden and is accessible on guided tours in “troll cars” (aka buggies). There are also about 100 known routes for crossing the glacier, but traveling by car is the easiest. If you want to hike it, you must have a qualified guide; contact the Jostedalsbreen National Park Centre ( visitjostedalsbreen.no) for guide recommendations. Express buses run in the summer months.

Housed in an eye-catching building topped by a graceful turret—it opened as Swan Pharmacy in 1907—the Jugendstilsenteret tells the story of how Ålesund became the art nouveau capital of the country. After the great fire of 1904 left a huge swath of the population homeless, city planners had to rebuild quickly. Europe happened to be in the middle of a love affair with art nouveau architecture, so the city ended up with a blend of this ornate style with the occasional Viking flourish. The KUBE Art Museum is part of the same complex.

Dotted around the steep hillsides flanking the fjords are a number of small, seemingly inaccessible farms. Farmers who originally settled here would often use a system of ropes and pulleys to haul up supplies. One of these farms, Kjeåsen, became accessible when workers built a narrow switchback road to the top of the cliff. Because the road is a single lane, traffic goes uphill for the first 30 minutes of every hour, downhill for the last 30 minutes. A more strenuous but more rewarding way up is via the footpath the inhabitants used to take. Starting at the parking lot near the Sima power station, it's a fairly strenuous 90-minute walk each way, with ropes and ladders helping you navigate the more difficult portions. The view from atop the cliff is your reward, and if you’re lucky, the proprietor will offer to give you a tour.

In a branch of Norges Bank dating from 1906, this museum aims to promote the work of contemporary Norwegian artists. It is part of the complex that holds the Jugendstilsenteret.

One of Kristiansund's most beaten hiking paths is to this well-preserved World War II submarine base and fortress built by German forces. At its height, it housed 5,000 soldiers, who left several bunkers, a battery of artillery guns, and a submarine, all of which are visitable today. Tours and exhibits tell the fort's story. The pristine setting among wooded seaside hills is the second highlight and attracts many locals for fishing and barbecues.

Named for a friendly cartoon fox, this theme park has a very popular water park, along with ziplines, playgrounds, a small train, and plenty of other diversions for the kids.

Accessible only by train (or foot), Myrdal used to be a small mountain village, but few people actually live there today. The Myrdal train station is located along the Oslo-Bergen Railway, and express trains between Oslo and Bergen stop in Myrdal several times a day, connecting to the Flåm Railway. By foot, Myrdal is accessible from Flåm via the Rallarvegen or Morgedal Road, a series of hairpin turns down the mountainside known locally as the “Myrdalssvingane.” It's a starting point for anyone wanting to hike the Flåm Valley.

This impressive series of 21 hairpin turns takes you from Myrdal to Flåm. It's popular among hikers and cyclists, who are rewarded with spectacular views of the Kjosfossen Waterfall. Most of the trail is made up of gravel and rocks. To get to the trailhead, follow the train tracks out of Myrdal.

Suitable for families and experienced hikers alike, this trail takes between two and four hours, depending on which particular route you choose. Along the way there is information about the local flora and fauna, and from the highest point you get a nice view of the village.

With exhibits that will interest the whole family, this nature center is spread over three floors of a gorgeous glass-and-steel building. Whether you're interested in climate, nature, or the environment, there's plenty to keep you occupied. Don't miss the bird's-eye view of Norway in Ivo Caprino's 20-minute film Fjord Fjell Foss, meaning Fjord, Mountain, Waterfall.

At the end of a dramatic route with 11 hairpin turns called the Ørnevegen, or Eagle Road, Ørnesvingen viewpoint and rest area gives you breathtaking views of Geiranger. One of the first viewpoints in the area, it's still one of the most impressive.

This miniature museum is dedicated to the landslide (or skred) that devastated Vik in 1811. It killed 45 people, a large percentage of the population at the time. Although it's tiny, the museum in a one-room log cabin is surprisingly informative.

Also called the English Church, this Anglican house of worship was the dream of Margaret Sophia Green. The daughter of an English minister who married a local man, she spoke on her deathbed about her vision of an English church in the village. Built in a stave church style, it was completed in 1897.

A 20-minute drive from Aurland, this scenic overlook has panoramic views of the Aurlandsfjord and all the way to Flåm. Designed by the architectural team of Todd Saunders and Tommie Wilhelmsen, the 98-foot-long, 13-foot-wide, steel-and-wood Stegastein viewing platform protrudes from the side of a mountain roughly 2,100 feet above sea level. It's a rather challenging drive along a winding road, but there are also buses running here, and it’s a popular stop for visitors traveling by Flåm Railway.

This open-air museum focuses on the traditions and history of the people who make their home on the Norwegian coast. A five-minute drive from Ålesund, it's spread over 50 acres and consists of 55 well-kept buildings ranging from cow sheds to schoolhouses, giving insight into people's lives in this region.

Near the Hellesyltfossen, this church is said to have been visited by Henrik Ibsen during his trip to Hellesylt in 1862. The white wooden structure was completed in 1859.

Norway’s most popular scenic drive is in Åndalsnes. Starting in 1916, Trollstigen took 100 men 20 summers to build, and they constantly struggled against the forces of rock and water. Often described as a masterpiece of construction, the road snakes its way through 11 hairpin curves up the mountain to the peaks named Bispen (the Bishop), Kongen (the King), and Dronningen (the Queen). The road is open only in summer. 

Dating back to 1859, this cross-shape house of worship is worth seeing for its architecture alone. It was designed by Danish-Norwegian architect Hans Ditlev Franciscus von Linstow, who is most famous for being the man behind the Norwegian Royal Palace in Oslo.

This tiny village is known for two things: goats and goat cheese. The village has only around 60 inhabitants, but more than 400 goats. In the summer, many of the goats herd at Langhuso, an area you will drive through on your way to Undredal. (There are no fences, so drive slowly.) Undredal is also absolutely beautiful, nestled below steep mountains along the fjord. It's a photographer's dream, and perfect if you want to unwind.