Heisann, I'm Pål from Norway, and in this episode
i'm gonna drive from Oslo to Bergen. The road from Oslo to Bergen stretches for
about 465 kilometers. From the east to the west. Along the way I'll be stopping and exploring some
of the best sights. Such as the Kistefos museum just outside Oslo. And an open air folk museum in Nesbyen. I'll be driving over the vast Hardangervidda mountain plateau. Past the stunning Vøringsfossen waterfall,
and along the idyllic Hardanger fjord. Before arriving to the capital of the west, Bergen. The van i'm driving is a Volkswagen
Camper van from 1986 And it'll be my mobile home for
the next few days. First i start driving out of Oslo. It doesn't take long before i'm out of
the city driving among forests and fields heading north west towards the town of Hønefoss. And make a stop to fill up some diesel. Prices for fuel fluctuate a lot in Norway. And generally
it costs more the further you get out of the bigger cities. Here i pay 14 kroner (USD 1,63) for one liter
of diesel, which is on the cheaper side nowadays. Just before i arrive to Hønefoss I've
decided to do a little detour. So i take a right and head towards the Kistefos Museum. I've been driving for about an hour north of Oslo,
and it's time to go in and check out the Kistefos museum Kistefos is one of northern Europe's
largest sculpture parks for contemporary art. There are more than 45 sculptures by significant
contemporary artists. Several of the sculptures are made specifically for the museum, and are inspired
by the area here, the nature and the history. At Kistefos you also find the remains of an old
wood pulp mill which was in use up to the year of 1955. And there is an industry museum where you
can study the turbines and how the wood pulp was produced for the European paper industry. This is
actually Scandinavia's only intact wood pulp mill. The biggest attraction perhaps here
at Kistefos is called The Twist. And this is world-class architecture designed
by the danish architect Bjarke Ingels. The Twist is a sculpture in itself. It's also an art gallery
and a spectacular view hovering over the Randselva river. At the midway point it twists and
crosses the river in a 60 meter span Inside there are art exhibitions and it's a real
treat to see art in such an exciting environment. Even a trip down to the restrooms offers a fun
experience with this guy standing and peeking in I've just spent the whole day here
at the Kistefos museum and I have to say that i'm very impressed. This
museum has a lot of cool things to look at So definitely a place to
visit when you come to Norway. Heading over to my van here now i'm going to
sleep right on the parking lot here tonight Then i'm going to drive on
further towards Bergen tomorrow The next day i turn back and drive past Hønefoss And finally i'm on the national road seven
where I will stay for a good portion of the trip. About an hour later i make a stop by
lake Krødern just north west of Hønefoss It's lunchtime and i'm having some pølse i lompe And there are many different ways that
you can take to Bergen. To get there you can drive the E16 and
go through Flåm and Voss. You can go even further north, and drive over the Sogne mountain on
national road 55. Or you can go further south on the road E134 On this trip i'm choosing to drive
the national road 7. This is one of the fastest ways to get from Oslo to Bergen,
and at the same time it's also very scenic. The next part of the drive goes up Hallingdalen.
One of the major valleys of eastern Norway. And i follow the Hardanger river, same as the train
going from Oslo to Bergen. Hallingdalen is a region with a rich cultural heritage. And is especially known for the Hardanger fele (hardingfela),
the Hardanger fiddle. My next stop is at a museum in Nesbyen. Right now i'm at the Hallingdal open air folk museum I'm going to go and check out some of these old buildings. The Hallingdal folk museum was opened in 1899. In the museum you can find 30 historic buildings, and
it's a great way to see how people lived in rural Norway back in the old days. An interesting part of the museum here is
about the Svensen family who emigrated from this area here back in 1862.
And you can sort of go through their whole journey from when they left Norway, and until
finally ended up settling in North Dakota. The story about the Svensen family
tells the tale of many Norwegian immigrant families back in the 1800s who went over to
North America. Gro and Ole Svensen first went to Estherville in Iowa And got 10 children together. After the 10th child Gro passed away. And Ole resettled with the family in Hatton in
North Dakota. The house that they lived in there was taken apart a few years back and shipped
over to Norway. The house which is created from solid oak logs is standing here at the museum
today and it gives you a glimpse into the life of a Norwegian family who left everything
behind and started a new life in the US I leave the museum and continue my drive up
the Hallingdalen valley on national road 7. At this point i have about
310 kilometers (192 miles) left to Bergen. Towards the end of the day i make a stop
at the Herad church from 1934. I also make a stop at the Torpo stave church, and i'm
impressed by the wood carvings on the main door. And the fact that the church
was built back in the 1160s I end the day by driving
to Ål, finding a nice spot for the van and I jump in the water
for a rather ice cold evening swim. It's another beautiful day to wake up to. Did i
sleep well? I discovered just after i had parked the van that the train that goes between Oslo and
Bergen it runs about 10 meters behind the van so I woke up a couple of times but all in all
i'm well rested On my other side here now i the town of Ål. And today i'm going to start driving up
onto the Hardangervidda mountain plateau I continue driving in these idyllic rural
areas, with its many farms covering the hillsides and sheep are grazing along the road. I'm
still on national road number seven and driving straight west towards Bergen. The Hallingdalen valley is known for its crafts and i stopped by a local antique
store to see what he has to offer Rosemaling or rose painting as you can see here
is a decorative folk painting which was popular in Norway in the 1700s and well into the 1800s it's
inspired by baroque and rococo art and each region had their own styles. Fften you see it painted onto
furniture and kitchen utensils. After this short stop i keep on driving along the Stranda fjord to
my left, getting closer and closer to the mountains. I stop by a couple of more churches.
This is the new church in Hol from 1924. And this is the old one where the back part is a
remain from the old stave church from the 1200s and the rest has been built
throughout the centuries From here i begin climbing
up towards the mountains passing by many cabins and farms. And zig zagging
my way through the back country of Norway. I've come up to a place here now which is called
Haugastøl. And this is where the railroad tracks with the the train that goes from Oslo to Bergen
sort of separates from the main road. So the railroad tracks they go a little bit further north
towards Finse and Myrdal, where you can change train and go down to Flåm for example. While the
main road, the national road seven continues over the Hardangervidda mountain plateau towards
Bergen. After a short waffle stop in Haugastøl I finally enter Hardangervidda. This area is one of the biggest mountain plateaus
in northern Europe. You find high mountains, glaciers in the far
distance, waterfalls, fjords and vast plateaus. Tt almost feels as if time
is standing still up here. And when no cars around all you can hear
is the wind blowing and the water running. The national road 7 stays open all year. In winter
the road conditions can change from hour to hour and you can notice the wood sticks next to the
road. Making it easier for the snowplow to remove the snow. I'm extremely lucky with the weather
this day. Sun, blue skies and a great view of the surroundings. There are many places where you can
pull over and make a stop. One attraction is the Stone Monument, next to the Ørtern lake. These cairns have been built by
bypassers throughout the years. There's a long tradition in Norway
of using cairns for marking the path in nature and especially in the old days they were of great
importance showing safe passage over the mountain About halfway over the mountain I stop at
a small cafe for a late lunch. Up here they serve traditional Norwegian food. And i order
a plate of rømmegrøt, sour cream porridge. Which is always served with cured meat, flatbread
and red fruit juice. One of my favorite Norwegian dishes. That was one incredible meal
there's something special about eating rømmegrøt sour cream porridge up in the mountains. A bit later in the day i find a spot to park
for the night. In Norway you're allowed to do so called wild camping. Meaning you can park on
any public side road and stay there for the night. I find a beautiful spot next to a lake
with a nice view over the mountains. I had a great sleep up in the mountains here
and woke up to this beautiful landscape. Today I'm going to start driving down the mountain into
the Måbødalen valley, but before that i'm going to visit what is probably one of the highlights of
this trip and that is the Vøringsfossen waterfall. The Vøringsfossen waterfall is
easy accessible from the main road. And there's a parking lot just nearby. There are safe platforms to walk on, and good viewpoints all around. From here
you see down the Måbødalen valley, where i'll be driving later on. And the roaring
sound is of course Vøringsfossen itself I follow a path through the forest going
down towards the river and a new bridge that i'm eager to check out. It's a quite spectacular experience
to walk the 99 steps over the ridge with the roaring
river running wild underneath. Next i start driving down the steep and narrow
Måbødalen valley. The old road that went here was the first road connection between eastern and
western Norway. The new road that i'm driving on now opened in 1986. It's a quite curvy road with many tunnels,
and it's a thrilling ride down to the bottom of the valley. Well down in the valley i arrived to upper Eidfjord. Where I've heard that goats are able to climb
up on a roof, so i make a stop to check it out. Goats on the roof check. A bit further on and i arrive to Eidfjord, and drive
by the old Eidfjord church. And park the van down by the waterfront I always find it interesting in Norway when
you come from inland, and you cross over a mountain you come down on the other side and you
smell salt water. And that's what i smell here because this is a fjord which stretches all
the way to Bergen. So I'm going to enjoy a little meal here now and then i'm going to drive on. And in case you wondered i had a good portion of Norwegian kjøttkaker, meat cakes in a brown
gravy with potatoes and surkål, sauerkraut. I continue my drive west along the fjord,
quickly approaching the impressive Hardanger bridge Which goes across the Eidfjord branch off
of the main Hardanger fjord. It replaced a ferry connection here, and shortened
the time driving between Oslo and Bergen. With its 1380 meters (4527 feet) The Hardanger bridge is the longest suspension bridge
in Norway, also it's quite a spectacular sight. On each end of the bridge there's
a tunnel, and it's actually the longest tunnel to tunnel
suspension bridge in the world. I park my van for the night at what we call for
a rasteplass in Norwegian, a rest area with an info point about the region, a viewpoint of the
Skjervsfossen waterfall, and this one indicates that you're on a national tourist road. You're actually allowed to spend one night at the rasteplass. And they're usually equipped with restrooms
also with a view. Tomorrow i'm gonna drive into Bergen. I have about an hour and a half left,
but that's tomorrow so i'll see you again then. Next day i start driving along the Hardanger
fjord. This is the second longest fjord in Norway, and stretches for 179 kilometers (111 miles). It's a scenic drive on a typical narrow fjord road with the fjord on one side and the mountain
on the other. There are several bridges and I pass by small farms and communities along the way. Which have
been in this area for hundreds of years It's a wild and lush landscape, also known for
its fruit production and some other Norwegian specialties. It's time to go and pick up some local supplies. At a small shop by the road I find some delicious Hardanger apples and fruit
juice pressed that same day. There's Hardanger lefse and of course some real Norwegian
goat cheese brown cheese. I'm in heaven! Before driving into Bergen I make
one last stop at Steinsdalsfossen One of the most popular waterfalls in Norway With its 50 meter drop it's quite beautiful And you can walk behind the waterfall and enjoy the power
of the roaring water without getting wet. And my next stop and last stop will be Bergen. After having drived almost 464 kilometers (288 miles)
I'm on the outskirts of Bergen. Meeting up with civilization, and Bergen
is giving me its authentic weather experience. So i made it into Bergen, you can see the Bryggen
behind me here. I had a really good time driving from Oslo to here. I've spent about four days, but
this is a trip that you can do in one long day. But if you want to see some of the sights that
i have seen. I recommend you to split it up into at least two days. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Maybe this is a road trip
you would have liked to do yourself? Leave a comment below and
I'll see you soon again. Until then take care and ha det bra!
