Drive: Oslo - Bergen/Voss

Here is a route description we made for some of our prior guests at Høgelibu. Hopefully you will find it interesting as well. Welcome to Høgelibu!

The eastern and western parts of Norway are divided by the "Langfjella" - "The long mountains" - that you would have to cross to get from the east to the west. There are several routes you can follow, with different sights along the road.

The northern route is “Filefjell”. It is simply E16 all the way from Oslo to Voss. I will try to update this page with a more detailed description of this route when I’ve got time. :)

In short, the common trunk of the other routes, is going up Hallingdalen and choose between different mountain passes from Hallingdalen to arrive at E16, namely (from east to towards west) Hemsedal, Holsfjellet and Hardangervidda.

Hallingdalen

Start out from Oslo to Hønefoss along the E16 (the main road from Oslo to Trondheim). At Hønefoss follow Rv 7 from Hønefoss towards Geilo. Now you'll be driving up the Hallingdalen (Halling-valley).

You can now choose between different routes:

• A: The Rv 52 through Hemsedal

• B: Crossing the Holsfjellet

• C: Hardangervidda

A and B will take you through Flåm, as opposed to C, which on the other hand will let you stop at Vøringsfossen.

A. Gol - Hemsedal - Aurland.

You can cross the mountains from the Rv 7 northward to E16. Either by leaving the Rv 7 at Gol on to the Rv 52 through Hemsedal (one of the larger winter destinations of southern Norway, lots of ski lifts, etc.) - you may want to do a stop in Hemsedal and take one of the lifts to the top of the mountains (http://www.hemsedal.com/en/A/Skistar-Hemsedal/Sommerapen-heis/) and maybe do a short hike. After Hemsedal, you cross the mountain pass (Hemsedalsfjellet) and arrive at the E16.

As you continue west on the E16, you pass through Borgund, where you'll pass by one of the stave churches of Norway, Borgund (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borgund_Stave_Church). It would be worth a stop! After Borgund, you'll pass through the longest tunnel in Norway, Lærdalstunnelen (24,5 km). - OR - you may want to go over the mountain instead of through it, and cross the Aurlandsfjellet (one of the National tourist routes in Norway) - read more here: http://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/aurlandsfjellet

At the other side of Lærdalstunnelen you might do a detour up along the Fv 50 - at least up to Vetleli parking (https://goo.gl/maps/a53ok1AWmJu) or maybe up to Østerbø (https://goo.gl/maps/anTiC7PRPoP2) and then back down again - it's probably the most scenic part of the route crossing the Holsfjellet.

If you had more time, you would definately want to do a hike down the Aurlandsdalen (or you could leave Oslo 1 day earlier, and actually do the hike!) - be tempted, have a look here: http://www.fjords.com/hiking-the-aurlandsdalen-valley/

You would then park the car at Vassbygdi, and go by bus to Østerbø, and then hike down to Vassbygdi. You could sleep over in Aurland or up at Østerbø fjellstove (Østerbø mountain hut - http://aurlandsdalen.com/index.php/en/). If the weather forecast is good, this hike would be a very unique experience for you! :)

Borgund Stave Church

Lærdalstunnelen - almost 25 km long

B. Hol - Holsfjellet - Aurland.

You could also continue west on the Rv 7 instead of going north up the Hemsedalen. You'll then follow Hallingdalen until you reach Hol. There, you can cross the mountainpass Holsfjellet, along the Fv 50. Then you'll end up in Aurland at the western end of Lærdalstunnelen, and you'll pass by the Vetleli parking with it's great view before the descent to Aurland. At Aurland, you may want to go back east crossing the Aurlandsfjellet (http://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/aurlandsfjellet) and then back west again through Lærdalstunnelen.

Continuing on westbound on the E16 from Aurland, you'll reach Flåm. It's worth a short stop. The Flåmsbanen (Flåm railway) departs from Flåm and up to Myrdal, where it connects with the Oslo-Bergen railroad. It's one of the steepest railroads in the world, and maybe one of the worlds most beautiful railroads as well? - Read more here: https://www.norwaysbest.com/flamsbana/experience-flamsbana/

Nærøyfjorden, is on the Unesco's world heritage list - it's a beautiful fjord, and it's possible to do a Fjord cruise here, between Gudvangen and Flåm.

https://www.fjordnorway.com/en/inspiration/experience-the-naeroyfjord---the-worlds-narrowest-fjord

Continuing west, you may want to do a quick detour (it's just a couple of extra km) along Stalheimskleiva. This is an old road, and one of the steepest of roads in Northern Europe, built in 1842-1846. It's fun to drive, and provides a very nice view, and you'll also pass by a couple of nice waterfalls. The road is now a one-way road downward. After passing through the Sivletunnel and then the Stalheimtunnel, take a right turn against "Stalheim Hotel". Then you'll end up down at the E16 just before the Sivletunnel.

http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/norway/1054-stalheimskleiva-norway.html

For detailed route description for your travel between Voss and Bergen, I have made a separate page.

The Hardanger Bridge