norway Preikestolen western fjords

norway city of bergen norway

norway walking trail western fjords near bergen

norway western fjords, near bergen

Norway - Small farming community in the Western Fjords

If there is one place that truly encapsulates all the finest aspects Norway or indeed even Scandinavia, it absolutely has to be magical and mighty Western Fjords.

Visiting Scandinavia’s greatest scenery, eating Norway’s finest food and trekking mighty ocean carved mountain-scapes steeped with Viking history and old-style stave churches is exactly what goes on here.

Travelling west on the Oslo - Bergen railway line, the country’s most scenic, you will cross the stark and stunning Hardangervidda plateau. .

Bergen is a deeply historical city central to the Western Fjord area and as such a great base from which to explore the surrounds. At the Bryggen wharf area you can immerse yourself in the cities medieval past before experiencing an abundance of world class seafood.

Just north is the Norway’s longest and deepest fjord, Sognefjorden, here sharply formed seawalls rise over 1000 metres out of the glass-blue water below. As the lofty slopes weave downward into more gentle gradients, life appears with small towns and colourful orchard farms appearing along the shoreline.

A ferry heading south of Bergen arrives at the nineteenth century city of Stavanger. From here visit local adrenalin hot-spots like Lysefjord which is home to the very famous Preikestolen - a sky high rocky overhang from which to view the fjords below.

Norway’s Western Fjords are accessed by the Oslo - Bergen railway line or on direct flights into Bergen from the capital.

Image credit: Rob Howes