There are really not many hotel options in this area, and this was probably the best you could get, though nothing to write home about. The hotel was a totally fine place to rest our head, and surprisingly had a big and modern bathroom!

Activities:

You come here for one reason: to hike Trolltunga! Most people do the hike in one day, but we did an overnight camping trip with Trolltunga Adventures.

Eats & Drinks:

Fjoren - A surprisingly great dinner experience in the tiny town of Odda. Recommend booking in advance (can do so via email)

Stuo Eting og Drikking - Cute cafe in Odda, food was good (not great), except for the potatoes which were amazing!

We drove from Bergen to Tyssedal, home of the famous Trolltunga hike. You may have seen photos of this one before, it’s a big skinny rock that juts out over breathtaking views of a lake and mountains.

Our route had us cruising along the scenic Hardangerfjord. This was where we got our first taste of the beautiful Norwegian countryside (fjordside?). An hour or so into our drive, we reached Steinsdalsfossen, a waterfall right off the main road that you can walk behind!

Along the way, we enjoyed another scenic view at our lunch stop, Øvreviken Pizzeria which had a nice patio looking out onto a fjord, and seemed to be a popular spot for locals. We also stretched our legs in the little town of Kinsarvik, which is also the home of our silverware! The silverware shop was closed, but it was a trip to recognize the name so far away from home.

Since we took the “scenic route” it was about 3.5 hours to Tyssedal, but worth every minute! Our hotel was perfectly serviceable, but nothing to write home about. Since it was my boyfriend’s birthday the next day, and we’d be spending it in a tent, I made us a dinner reservation at Fjoren, a few miles down the road in Odda, which pleasantly surprised us.

It was early to bed for our big hike the next day! While most people do the Trolltunga hike in one day, we opted to do an overnight adventure with Trolltunga Adventures. In addition to trying something different, the benefit of this tour is that you get the chance to see the main photo-op rock twice and without crowds. Because the hike is so long, people all depart to do it around the same time (in order to make it back before sunset). As a result, everyone reaches the end at the same time and there can be long lines to get your photo on the “tongue.”

When camping overnight, you can start later (we started around 11 AM), and reach the rock after everyone else. Then, the next morning, you can be the first one there. You also get two opportunities to see the tongue, which was great for us since we had horrible weather the first day! It’s expensive (about $350 per person), but a very unique experience! If you are up for a night in a tent, I recommend it.

The first day of our hike started out sunny, but quickly the weather turned to rain…which didn’t let up for the entire day! While the hike was undeniably beautiful, the weather made it a lot less enjoyable. Luckily, we were pretty well-prepared with our clothing, with the exception of my gloves, which were definitely not waterproof, resulting in really cold fingers all.day.long.

Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, it was still a breathtaking sight when we reached Trolltunga! Our group took some hasty photos, eager to make our way to the shelter of camp.

The camp itself was perched on a mountaintop, with amazing views all around. Each couple had their own personal tent, stocked with warm sleeping bags. The guide’s tent had a full stove inside, where they cooked a very-welcome hot dinner of reindeer stew (perhaps not a meal I’ll recreate at home, but hit the spot after a long day of hiking in the rain). Because it was Nick’s birthday, they gifted him some socks and a game of travel Yahtzy (or Yahtzee, as we say here in the states).

The views were gorgeous, but it was way too cold to keep our door open for long!

After dinner, we retreated to our tent to stay warm, play some Yahtzy, watch Princess Diaries 2 on Nick’s iPad, and hunker down for a night of uncomfortable sleep (we aren’t camping people!!). All in all, quite an adventure for his birthday!

The birthday boy, ready to return to civilization!

Luckily, the next day, the skies had cleared! While it was still cold, we were all so relieved to not be wet. We also got to see a different view from Trolltunga, and took plenty more photos before heading down to the trailhead (~5 hours hike back).

We stopped in Odda again for a bite to eat before hitting the road to our next destination, Aurland.

Aurland

I’d booked Aurland for our next night because it’s only about 2.5 hours away from Tyssedal, but unfortunately there was a rock slide closing the road, so we had to take the long way, making our total commute a lot longer. Since we didn’t really do much in Aurland, I’ll just summarize briefly:

Lodging: Vangsgaarden Gjestgiveri

We didn’t love this hotel, but for us it was just a stop-over on our way further north.

I was really interested in staying here, but it required a 2-night min and was booked for our dates. Hotel Aurlandsfjord is another option in the area that was also sold out for our dates.

We had a long drive ahead of us, so didn’t get the chance to do any activities in Aurland, but the famous Nærøyfjord (Narrow Fjord) is close by, and you can take a tourist ferry through it. Unfortunately for us, the boats were all booked up for the morning times when we looked into booking day-of. There are also kayaking tours that can take you through the fjord!

We did get the chance to enjoy this viewpoint/walkway on our way out of town!

Eats

We ate at the restaurant in our hotel, which was not very good!

Also noteworthy, there was a good grocery store right in town, where we stocked up on some lunch supplies for our next hike.

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