Fjords of Vestlandet (Westlands), Norway

We rented a car to get around in Norway.  It was a Hyundai ix35, which is an SUV much bigger than we paid for, or expected. It was a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, it had heated seats that we actually used in mid-August.  On the other hand, it used a lot of that $12/gallon gas!  Besides driving, we also took ferry rides, mostly to get our car where we needed to go, but once we just rode the ferry for fun on a 4-hour round trip through the Nærøyfjord (Narrow Fjord).  So, we got to see the fjords from land and from water.

This is Aurlandfjord, where we stayed in a cute little hotel with a water view.  There's an early-morning panorama of it further down.

Here's the Google map of the road/tunnel leading out of Aurland and up onto the highland plateau.  As you can see, the road actually crosses itself when seen from above, but that's not a problem when you're tunneling through solid rock.  We went through other tunnels like this, where you actually drive a sort of corkscrew through the inside of the mountain.

A view from the top of the incredible road/tunnel that took us out of Aurland and up into the highlands.  It's softly raining, so the picture looks pretty hazy, which gives it a quiet mood I like.

Another view from the ferry on the Narrow Fjord.  

From our Narrow Fjord ferry ride.  Little church on the fjord.  Doesn't seem like they have any roads to this village.  Maybe it's hiding.  

Morning view of Eidfjord.



Morning view of Eidfjord from the dock in front of our hotel.  Don't let this picture fool you.  It was raining most of the time we were there.

View of the morning mist over Aurlandsfjord from the dock at our little hotel in Aurland.  What a peaceful spot.

Photo of Sognefjord, on our way back to Bergen.  This is the main artery fjord.  The other fjords are branches off of this one.  Sorry about the ragged edges.  I couldn't bring myself to give up any of the view.

Click here to see our first Norway glacier hike, which first required kayaking a few miles!.

Click here to see our second Norway glacier hike, with lots of blue ice!

Click here to see those snake-like Nowegian fjord clouds in motion.

Click here to see photos of the fjords of Norway.