Norway was our home for an incredible 3 weeks during summer. We fell in love with the country, from the natural beauty, to the Nordic architecture, Norway overdelivered. One of the best parts from out visit to Norway was our 5 day road trip around the stunning Vestland region. This is the heart of the popular fjord country, and home to many of the amazing towns and locations you have likely seen on social media, promotional videos and travel shows. The gateway to the Vestland region is Bergen, and includes picturesque towns like Odda, Aurland, Laerdal, Undredal, Norheimsund, Stryn and more. This guide details the road trip we took, including a proposed Bergen fjord itinerary that we recommend. We’d love to hear your suggestions as well!
Start: Bergen
Located in the heart of fjord region, Bergen is perfectly placed as the start/end of your road trip adventures. You can easily fly in, catch the train from Oslo, get a ferry here, or drive to Bergen. Plus, hire cars are affordable in the region. Bergen itself is a picturesque town that needs 1-2 days to explore (see our Bergen guide here). Pick up you car in Bergen, and head on your road trip adventures.
Day 1: start road trip
- Start: Bergen
- Steinsdalsfossen Waterfall
- Norheimsund
- Ferry
- Bondhusvatn Lake
- Odda
- Consider: Woodnest
- Finish: Odda
Day one of the road trip begins on the scenic road between Bergen and Norheimsund. This road is dotted with waterfalls, so be prepared to stop on the side of the road to take some photos and explore.
The road trip will then take you to one of the most impressive waterfalls in Norway, the towering Steinsdalsfossen. Located around 1.5 hours inland of Bergen, it’s a great early stop on your road trip.
From Steinsdalsfossen, you’re probably getting hungry, or keen for a coffee. Head 10 minutes up the road to the fjord town of Norheimsund. Home to a great coffee shop, a few restaurants and a cute promenade which is great for a picnic.
After Norheimsund, drive down to catch the ferry between Torvykbygd and Jondal. The ferry itself is an easy process and a fun experience to be out on the water.
Head down from Jondal to Bondhusvatn, which is home to the beautiful Bondhusvatn Lake. The hike to the lake should take 1-1.5 hours each way. From Bondhusvatn, head to Odda where you will spend the night. Odda is a cute town close to waterfalls, hikes, and great accommodation. It’s the perfect stop for 1-2 nights.
We recommend booking in advance to stay in the incredible Woodnest treehouse (see our stay here), however there’s lots of options in Odda.
Day 2:
- Start: Odda
- Consider: Trolltunga (full day required for this – see below)
- Opo View Point
- Tjornaldalsfossen
- Sandvin
- Latefossen
- Odda fruit orchards
- Consider: Eidfjord – including Kjeasen farm
- Skjervsfossen
- Tvindefossen
- Aurland
- Finish: Aurland
Alright, day 2 is a big one. This will be the most driving of all your road trip days, however you will be rewarded with incredible waterfalls and some cute stops along the way. Start in Odda and head down the road to the Opo View Point (5 minutes out of town).
Snap some pictures and then stop again at Tjornaldalsfossen. This short walk shows you a towering waterfall and it’s another worthwhile stop.
Head a further 5 minutes down the road is Sandvin, another cute town and view. You won’t need long here, but it’s a cute stop for a few pictures.
The next stop is the impressive Latefossen, one of our favourite waterfalls in Norway. The sheer force and power of Latefossen makes it one of the more impressive falls in the region, and a must stop on your road trip! Be prepared for some traffic and narrow winding roads as you head here.
After Latefossen, find yourself a fruit farm or orchard to stop along the way back up the Hardangerfjord. This region is well known for fruit orchards, particularly apples, plums, cherries and strawberries. We stopped on a little family farm for some strawberries. If you don’t want to stop, but still want some fruit stop at one of the roadside fruit stores where local farmers set up shop on an honestly policy.
The next stops on your road trip are waterfalls, and these are some good stops. However, as you venture out of Hardangerfjord, there’s lots of options to stop a fruit farms (see above), cute towns nearby (e.g. Eidfjord), or view points along the fjord. Take your time here as there’s lots more you can see if you want. We recommend stopping at Skjervsfossen, one of our favourite waterfalls in the region. You can walk right up to the falls, and it definitely wasn’t as busy as some waterfalls in the area.
Your next stop is the popular Tvindefossen, located along the road just out of Voss. This will often have tour busses stop, making it busier, but it’s definitely worth the stop.
It’s then time to get back in the car and drive up to Aurland. You will likely arrive later in the day, but that’s alright, we’ve allocated a day to explore the town and the region.
Day 3:
- “slower day”
- Aurland
- Aurland or Flam Sauna
- Aurland Viewpoints
- Start & Finish: Aurland
Day 3 is a planned “slower day” after 2 big days of on the go action and lots of driving. If you were looking to condense your road trip, combining day 3 and 4 into one would likely be possible, but very busy. Spend your day exploring Aurland, get a coffee at our favourite bakery in the region (Marianne Bakeri and Kafe), have a picnic along the waterfront, and check out some of the view points. Book one of the fjord sauna’s either in Flam or Aurland, and had diner in the cute gastropub in Aurland (Vangsgaarden Gastropub). See our complete Aurland guide below.
Day 4:
- Start: Aurland
- Stegastein View Point Aurland
- Drive Aurland to Laerdal along Aurlandsfjellet road
- Laerdalsoya
- Borgund Stave Church
- Undredal
- Finish: Undredal
After a slightly slower day yesterday, we’re back in the car for another road trip. This time we are heading for some incredible views, and a few of our favourite day trip towns in the region. Grab your coffee in Aurland at Marianne’s to fuel your road trip then head up to Stegastein View Point (15 minutes out of town). Get here earlyish to beat the tour busses that go later in the day. Enjoy the incredible view on the drive up (there’s a view point around 10 minutes up) and then the wonderful observation deck.
The next step is the incredible Aurlandsfjellet tourist road that runs through the mountains. This will take you between 1.5-2 hours to drive, pending how many times you stop along the way. We stopped at pretty much all of the view points, including to walk on the snow, enjoy the waterfall views, and sit in silence and awe at the views. There is a toilet around half way. The entire road is incredible and we encourage you to stop at every opportunity. Want to see more shots? See our drone diaries guide for Aurlandsfjellet here!
At the end of the Aurlandsfjillet road you’ll come to the fjord village of Laerdalsoyri which sits nestled in the Laerdal valley. This is a historic little town that is very well preserved. Filled with brightly coloured houses, good coffee shops, a busy bakery and more, it’s the perfect road trip town (see our Laerdal guide here).
You could optionally extend another 30 minutes down the road to see the impression Borgund Stave Church, a historic viking era church. We think the extension is worth it.
Head back from Laerdal through the underground tunnel, which saves half the time on the return leg. The tunnel is a whopping 20kms in length, one of the longest in Norway. You’ll come out around Aurland, and then head down the road and around the fjord to the tiny town of Undredal.
We recommend you look to arrive in the mid-late afternoon. The general store closes around 6pm, and the only restaurant in town a little after that. We’d encourage you to try and arrive before this if you want food in the town. Undredal can be walked in 30 minutes, but the real charm of this tiny town isn’t walking the streets.. it’s having a coffee or beer by the harbour with incredible fjord views. You wouldn’t need to stay the night here, but we think it’s the perfect location for a one night stay at the end of a big day trip.
Day 5:
- Start: Undredal
- Gudvangen
- Bakka
- Stalheim
- Oppheim
- Finish: Voss
The final day of road tripping is here. Start in Undredal and head to Gudvangen around 30 minutes day the road. There is a cute coffee shop to get your morning fix, and excellent views of the fjord here. There’s also a viking museum which is a popular stop (see our Gudvangen guide here).
From Gudvangen, head down a tiny road to the town of Bakka. This is another tiny town which is cute to walk around. It is also a good base for a couple of popular hikes in the region.
Head from Bakka to Stalheim. This is a historic town with incredible views. The main attraction is the Stalheim Hotel and the Stalheimskleiva road. Stalheimskleiva is a 1.5km picturesque winding road that is no longer open to car but has been repurposed as a walking track. It’s definitely worth a walk, at least part of the way, as you have incredible views, and you can spot the waterfalls. See our visit to Salheim here.
A brief stop through Oppheim for more fjord views is worth it, but don’t expect to spend much time there.
And we finished our road trip in Voss, spending a night here. The town of Voss has a fair few shops, some bakeries and restaurants. It’s bigger than many of the towns in the region, and seems set up mostly for the snow season. However there are gondolas up the mountain, and lots of adventure activities. If you were looking to finish up the road trip earlier, you could do the extra few hours of driving and end in Bergen this night. However, it’s a lot of driving so just weigh up how much you might want to be in the car in one day.
Day 6: finish road trip
- Drive from Voss to Bergen, drop car off
We finished our road trip on this day with a 2-3 hour drive back to Bergen airport, dropping the car there and flying onwards to our next destination. We hope this guide has given you some inspiration for a road trip in the region. See a few of our recommended or optional changes below which might help for further planning or investigation.
Optional Changes:
- Add on Stryn: Spend a night in Laerdal or head up to Stryn and spend a night there. This would add significant increased travel time, and may need another day or packing out the days above.
- Add on Trolltunga: This is a ‘bucket list’ hike on many peoples radar. We decided against doing it, primarily as it takes 10-12 hours, and this is another full day you’ll likely require. If you were to add on Trolltunga hike, spend an extra night in Odda.
- Continue the road trip.. Don’t head back to Bergen. Drive up through Stryn and then head to either Alesund, Molde, Kristiansund or even up to the popular Trondheim and drop the car there. Be prepared, this requires a fair bit more driving and will likely extend the days, and the car hire costs.
- Do some hiking on the road trip: We purposefully chose not to do much hiking on this road trip, primarily due to the fact we were heading up to Lofoten Islands after for a lot of hiking. However, a good addition to this road trip would be adding in hikes around the differing regions e.g. Odda, Bakka, Aurlandsfjord etc. Be prepared that the hikes will change the timelines of the road trip details above.
Keen to travel more around Norway? See a few of our guides below..
- Our guide to the colourful seaside town of Bergen
- Our guide to Oslo, a great Scandi city break!
- Our road trip from Bergen to Odda and Aurland through Vestland fjord country!
- See why the Woodnest in Odda is one of the best accommodation stays in the world!
- Our road trip stop at the picturesque Stalheim!
- Enjoy the natural beauty of Odda.. here’s what to do and why you should visit!
- A road trip stop in Norheimsund – why you should visit!
- See impressive drone shots from our visit to the Woodnest in Odda
- Aurland is one of the best fjord towns in the region – see our guide here!
- See our road trip stop in Gudvangen here.
- Laerdal is a cute spot for a coffee on your road trip in Norway!
- See why we loved Henningsvaer and think it’s a Lofoten MUST visit.
- Want to watch the Midnight Sun in Lofoten? See our guide and experience!
- See what towns in Lofoten Islands we think you should visit!
- 8 things to know about travelling Lofoten Islands in summer!
Enjoying our free guides & travel advice? Subscribe to our blog!
Jump your email into the list below. We won’t spam you! It’ll just keep you updated whenever we post another travel-related adventure, memory or tid-bid!
