We didn’t love this hotel, but it’s probably the best option in the area! I didn’t realize when booking that you have to pay “per person” because the room includes a buffet dinner. Overall I recommend it as long as your expectations are set appropriately.

Pros: Great location, right on a fjord, and less than 10 minutes’ walk from the Lown skylift. Our room was spacious, with a balcony that had a beautiful view! It also has indoor and outdoor pools/hot tubs- we didn’t go in them but they looked enjoyable.

Cons: Outdated (common areas and rooms). The buffet dinner (which was required as part of the booking) was not really our thing, not great quality food and a lot of tourists! The buffet breakfast was better :)

Activities:

Loen Skylift: One of the world’s steepest gondolas! Views from the top are amazing and well-worth the steep price for the ride up. There is a restaurant and coffee bar at the top, and several hikes that are accessible from the top (ranging from easy to hard).

To get to our next destination, Loen, we took a tourist ferry from Hellesylt across the famous Geirangerfjord. Geirangerfjord is one of the most-visited fjords in Norway and we were lucky to get a beautiful sunny day to admire it from the boat.

If you’re planning your own trip, you can book the ferry here. We had 2 people in 1 car and ended up overpaying, but we couldn’t figure out the right tickets to buy online (we bought “Car package & driver” which was apparently for 5 people, according to the ticket-taker on site).

There are hikes, kayaking, and additional boat tours available to do in Geirangerfjord, but we didn’t do any of them as we’d had plenty of active adventures already. We drove up to a viewpoint- it was nice for once to enjoy some views with no effort!

We had considered staying in Geirangerfjord as part of our itinerary, but were advised against it by locals. I think it was the right call as it’s a lot more touristy than the other places we stayed.

Another scenic drive took us to another fjord-side town: Loen!

We arrived in Loen around lunchtime, and checked in to Hotel Alexandra. What I didn’t know when booking was that I had to pay per-person, because the rate includes dinner and breakfast, this led to a slightly awkward exchange at check-in which was quickly rectified.

I actually didn’t know much about Loen, but had booked it as a partway stop between Union Øye and Bergen. We spent most of our day up a mountain (but this time, let a gondola do the work!). The Loen Skylift is one of the steepest in the world, and at the top is a visitor center with stunning views and a decent restaurant.

Views on views from the top of the Loen skylift

We had some lunch and decided to do one of the many hikes that are accessible from the top. I thought the hike was going to be way easier than it was (after three mega-hikes, I was tired!), and didn’t bring enough water or a good attitude! It was a lot more uphill than I expected, and we ended up seeing it through, but after the stunning vistas we’d seen earlier in our trip, it was hard for this hike to compare.

Reached the end of our hike (I’m so thirsty at this point!)

We discovered that the top of the skylift is a popular spot for paragliders- it was so nerve-wracking to watch them jump off a mountain, and a big relief to see them effortlessly glide down to a safe landing.

After our little hike, we decided to enjoy a rare sunny Norwegian day by soaking up some rays on our lovely balcony. Then, it was time for a weird buffet dinner! I suppose it wasn’t weird, exactly, it just was a buffet, and we are not really dinner buffet people. However, it was definitely fun to try ALL THE DESSERTS.

Loen made for a great little stop and I’m glad we ended up there. From here, it was back to Bergen for our last night of vacation (crying face emoji).

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