Norway: Hardangerfjord, Jostedalsbreen and the Flåm Valley on Foot

1. Day 1: Arrive in Bergen

   Bergen Airport Flesland to your hotel in central Bergen, then Bryggen

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Bergen
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Bergen Airport Flesland (BGO), about 20 km south of the city, and a driver brings you to your hotel in central Bergen, a short walk from the harbour. Plan to land by about 2 pm to join the afternoon walk; the latest arrival for the evening briefing is confirmed with your final itinerary. Your See Sight Tours guide meets the group at the hotel at about 4 pm and walks you down to the Vågen harbour: the fish market at Torget, then the wooden Hanseatic wharf of Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, and the narrow passages between its leaning warehouses, which are quieter once the day's cruise passengers have gone back to their ships. Back at the hotel we go through the week ahead: boots and rain gear, how the walking days are paced, and the choice between the blue-ice walk and the glacier-front walk. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Norwegian seafood at a local restaurant.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Bergen Airport Flesland (BGO)
   • Late-afternoon walk with your guide: Torget, the Vågen harbour and Bryggen
   • Welcome briefing
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the 4 pm meeting

   Activity: About an hour on foot on cobbles and wooden boardwalks.

   

2. Day 2: Fløyen, Steinsdalsfossen and the orchards of Lofthus

   Bergen up Mount Fløyen, then east along the Hardangerfjord to Lofthus

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Lofthus
   Day 2 details

   After breakfast we ride the Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen, about 320 m above the city, for the view over Bergen's harbour and the islands beyond, and walk back down through the woods on easy paths, about 45 minutes. Then we drive east through tunnels and along the Kvamsfjord to Norheimsund, where a path takes you behind the curtain of Steinsdalsfossen, a waterfall you can walk under without getting wet if the wind is kind. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Norheimsund. We cross the Hardanger Bridge, opened in 2013 with a main span of 1,310 m, and follow the Sørfjord south to Lofthus, our base for two nights. In the late afternoon, when the light is low across the water, we walk through the orchards above the village with a local fruit farmer: apples, pears, plums and cherries grow in rows down towards the fjord. The walk ends with a tasting of Hardanger cider at the farm, and dinner is at the hotel.

   Included

   • Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen and the walk down to Bergen
   • Steinsdalsfossen, walking behind the waterfall
   • Sit-down lunch in Norheimsund
   • Orchard walk above Lofthus with a local fruit farmer
   • Hardanger cider tasting
   • Dinner in Lofthus

   Easier option: Ride the funicular back down from Fløyen instead of walking.

   Free time: Early evening free before dinner

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot in total, on easy paths and farm tracks.

   

3. Day 3: Husedalen's waterfalls and Vøringsfossen

   Lofthus to Kinsarvik and the Husedalen valley, then Eidfjord and Vøringsfossen

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Lofthus
   Day 3 details

   The first big walking day. We drive ten minutes to Kinsarvik and set off up Husedalen, a steep valley where the river Kinso drops in four waterfalls on its way down from the Hardangervidda plateau. The path climbs through birch woods past Tveitafossen, Nyastølfossen and Nykkjesøyfossen to Søtefossen, the highest of the four, with views back down the valley to the fjord. Allow four to five hours there and back, with a trail lunch by the river. Mid-afternoon we drive past Eidfjord and up the Måbødalen valley to Vøringsfossen, which drops about 180 m from the edge of the plateau into its gorge. We go late in the day, when most of the coach and cruise visitors from Eidfjord have left. Walk the viewpoints at Fossli and cross the stair bridge over the gorge, opened in 2020, for the view down onto the falls. Back in Lofthus the early evening is free until dinner.

   Included

   • Guided walk up Husedalen to its four waterfalls
   • Trail lunch
   • Vøringsfossen: the Fossli viewpoints and the stair bridge over the gorge
   • Dinner in Lofthus

   Easier option: Walk only as far as Tveitafossen, the first waterfall, about an hour there and back, then spend the rest of the morning by the fjord in Lofthus before Vøringsfossen.

   More active option: Before breakfast, climb the Monks' Steps (Munketreppene) above Lofthus, a steep stone stairway towards the Hardangervidda plateau said to have been laid by medieval monks.

   Free time: Early evening free before dinner

   Activity: About 4 to 5 hours on foot in Husedalen, with a steady climb of several hundred metres on rocky, sometimes wet paths. Good boots needed.

4. Day 4: Over Vikafjellet to the Sognefjord

   Lofthus to Voss, over Vikafjellet to Vik, the Vangsnes to Hella ferry, then Sogndal

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Sogndal
   Day 4 details

   Today we move north from the Hardangerfjord to the Sognefjord. It is the one day over our four-hour driving cap, about 250 km and four and a quarter hours at the wheel plus a short ferry, because there is no shorter road between the two fjords. We break it into pieces of an hour or so. First, back over the Hardanger Bridge and through Granvin to Voss, a lake town known for its outdoor sports, for coffee and a walk by the lake. Then up the mountain road over Vikafjellet, past late snowfields and grey-green lakes, and down to Vik on the shore of the Sognefjord. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Vik, and just outside the village stands Hopperstad stave church, one of the oldest stave churches in Norway, built of timber in the 1100s. A ferry of about 15 minutes carries the minivan across the fjord from Vangsnes to Hella, a chance to stand on deck, and the last stretch follows the north shore to Sogndal, our base for two nights. The late afternoon is free, and dinner is together at the hotel.

   Included

   • Coffee stop in Voss
   • The mountain road over Vikafjellet
   • Sit-down lunch in Vik
   • Hopperstad stave church
   • The Vangsnes to Hella ferry across the Sognefjord
   • Dinner in Sogndal

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Sogndal

   Activity: The longest drive of the trip and the one day over the cap, about 4.25 hours at the wheel, broken by coffee in Voss, lunch and Hopperstad in Vik and the ferry.

5. Day 5: Blue ice on Nigardsbreen

   Sogndal up the Jostedal valley to Breheimsenteret and Nigardsbreen, and back

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Sogndal
   Day 5 details

   Jostedalsbreen is the largest glacier on mainland Europe, an ice cap protected as a national park that sends long arms of ice down into the valleys around it. We drive about an hour and a quarter each way, via Gaupne and up the Jostedal valley, to Breheimsenteret, the glacier centre near the foot of one of those arms, Nigardsbreen. Here the group chooses. The active option is a guided blue-ice walk with certified local glacier guides: they fit you with harness, crampons and an ice axe and lead you onto the glacier, after a short boat ride across the glacier lake and a walk over rock slabs polished smooth by the ice, among blue crevasses and meltwater channels. Allow about four hours including the boat and the approach, with roughly one to one and a half hours on the ice itself. The easier option takes the same boat and path to the glacier front, close enough to feel the cold coming off the ice, then returns for the exhibition at the glacier centre. Lunch is packed for the trail. We drive back to Sogndal for a free late afternoon and dinner together.

   Included

   • Breheimsenteret glacier centre
   • Boat across the glacier lake to Nigardsbreen
   • Guided blue-ice walk on Nigardsbreen with certified local glacier guides, crampons, harness and ice axe provided
   • Trail lunch
   • Dinner in Sogndal

   Easier option: Walk to the front of Nigardsbreen without crampons, about 1.5 to 2 hours with the boat, and spend the rest of the morning in the glacier centre exhibition.

   More active option: The blue-ice walk on Nigardsbreen is the active option and is included; minimum age and fitness rules are set by the glacier guides.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Sogndal

   Activity: Blue-ice walk: about 4 hours including the boat and approach, of which roughly 1 to 1.5 hours is on the ice with crampons; minimum age (8 to 12 depending on the hike) and the season are confirmed with the glacier guides at booking. The glacier-front path crosses smooth rock that is slippery when wet.

   

6. Day 6: Stegastein and the Flåm valley on foot

   Sogndal by ferry and the Lærdal tunnel to Aurland and Stegastein, then Flåm, the Flåm Railway to Myrdal and the walk down

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Flåm
   Day 6 details

   We leave Sogndal early, cross the Sognefjord on the short Mannheller to Fodnes ferry, and drive through the Lærdal tunnel, 24.5 km long and one of the longest road tunnels in the world, to Aurland. From there a hairpin road climbs to Stegastein, a viewing platform that juts out about 650 m above the Aurlandsfjord. We aim to be there by about 10 am, before most of the day's tour coaches. After lunch in Flåm we ride the Flåm Railway up the valley, about an hour to Myrdal at 867 m, with a stop at the Kjosfossen waterfall. At Myrdal we start walking down: the old construction road zigzags down the Myrdalsberget hairpins into the green upper Flåm valley, past waterfalls and summer farms. Most of the group walks about halfway, to Berekvam station, in around three hours, and rides the train back to Flåm; strong walkers can carry on all the way down to the fjord. The evening in Flåm is free.

   Included

   • The Mannheller to Fodnes ferry
   • Stegastein viewpoint above the Aurlandsfjord
   • Lunch in Flåm
   • The Flåm Railway from Flåm to Myrdal, and the train back from Berekvam
   • Guided walk down the upper Flåm valley from Myrdal

   Easier option: Ride the train both ways and walk only the first stretch below Myrdal, or stay in Flåm and take the short path up to Brekkefossen above the village.

   More active option: Walk the whole way back to Flåm, about 20 km and more than 800 m of descent, around five to six hours.

   Free time: Evening free in Flåm

   Activity: About 3 hours on a gravel road and tracks, mostly downhill. Poles help on the descent.

7. Day 7: Gudvangen, Stalheim and back to Bergen

   Flåm to Gudvangen, Stalheim and Voss, then Bergen and Bergen Airport Flesland

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 7 details

   A last morning in the fjords. We leave Flåm after breakfast and drive through the tunnel to Gudvangen at the head of the Nærøyfjord, part of the West Norwegian Fjords UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the cliffs close in on both sides of the water. A short stop, then up the Nærøy valley to the viewpoint at Stalheim, where the valley falls away below you between two waterfalls, and on to Tvindefossen, a broad cascade beside the road just before Voss. From Voss the road follows the river and a chain of lakes west to Bergen, about two hours, and we arrive for lunch together in the city centre. The early afternoon is free for Bryggen, the fish market or the KODE art museums, and at about 4 pm the minivan takes you to Bergen Airport Flesland. Book a flight leaving after about 6 pm. If you would rather stay on in Bergen, we drop you at your own hotel instead.

   Included

   • Gudvangen at the head of the Nærøyfjord
   • Stalheim viewpoint over the Nærøy valley
   • Tvindefossen
   • Lunch in Bergen
   • Drop-off at Bergen Airport Flesland (BGO) or your Bergen hotel

   Free time: Early afternoon free in Bergen

   Activity: Book a flight leaving Bergen after about 6 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: June and July bring very long days and the waterfalls at full flow from snowmelt; August is usually the warmest month for walking; in September the orchards are picking apples, the evenings draw in and the glacier-walk season nears its end, so late-September dates are confirmed case by case.

• Bergen1 night
• Lofthus2 nights
• Sogndal2 nights
• Flåm1 night