An Independent Tour of Norway on a Modest Budget!

Neither my husband nor I are huge fans of visiting museums, however, whilst in Bergen, at the end of our holiday around Norway, we made an exception and took a trip to the Old Bergen Museum (Gamle Bergen).

To get to this museum, you need to take a bus out from the main city centre. The tourist information centre near the fish market was extremely helpful and told us the various buses and their numbers that would take us out to this museum, however it is worth telling the bus driver that you wish to stop at the museum, so he can be aware. There is a bus stop right outside the tourist office which is extremely handy. The bus fares themselves are not expensive.

On the day we visited it was raining, quite typically in Bergen, so when we arrived at the museum, which is only a very short walk from where the bus leaves you at, there were very few visitors there, probably because this is an open air museum. However, we came prepared with our raincoats and umbrella's, and in fact as the day went on, the rain clouds dispersed, and we were able to walk around the museum area and keep dry.

Our first port of call when we arrived was the information centre to purchase our tickets for a guided tour. It is only through a tour guide that you can gain access to some of the 40 houses in the museum. Adult tickets, as of last summer, were 50Nk (£5) and a child's were admitted free. We felt this was quite reasonable by Norwegian standards.

The Old Bergen Museum is made up of 40 wooden houses that represent the architectural style in Bergen during the 18th and 19th centuries. The houses are built around narrow cobbled streets and squares, though be very careful when it is wet as walking down the cobbled stone street can be lethal, as it becomes extremely slippery.

There is a wide variety of houses on show, such as a bakery, dentist's, jewellers and even a sailor's house. Depending on the tour guide, you will have access to different houses.

Our tour guide, who spoke wonderful english, and was extremely knowledgable, showed around 4 or 5 houses. The first of which was the Krohnstedet, an extremely grand house, which gave a real feel to the luxurious lifestyles of some norwegians at that time.

We also visited the Baker's house and bakery, as well as the sailor's house (one of the smallest in the site, and which housed a large family in a very very small space). Getting up and around some of the houses was quite tricky and yet again, we were shocked at how little norwegians seem to have to cater for those with disabilities.

Nonetheless, we found the musuem to be very interesting, with the only downside being, that we didn't get to see more of the house interiors to appreciate even more about the lifestyles of norwegians at that time. It is also worth noting, that on site there is restaurant (although we didn't try this out) as well as restrooms. In better weather, there are several lovely picnic areas around a little pond/lake that would be very relaxing.

For anyone visiting Bergen, it really is a worthwhile attraction to take a trip to. The bus from the city centre takes just over 5 minutes, and the admission fee is qutie reasonable. It really does give you a feel for the architecture and lifestyles of those living at that time in Bergen. A great attraction in Bergen!

When we were originally planning our trip around Norway last summer, one of the pictures in our guide book was of Bryggen, with its beautifully coloured buildings all lined up. At the time, I was unsure as to where in Norway this was located, but it was a definite on our list of must sees in Bergen, when we discovered it one in the centre of this popular city.

Bryggen, like the Urnes Stave Church and Geirangerfjord, that we visited on our trip, is part of the UNESCO world Heritage List, and in fact the city of Bergen, is a World Heritage City.

Bryggen means 'wharf' in norwegian, and it is the location of the first buildings in Bergen, along the 'wharf', and the city was once a very important trading centre. The wooden hanseatic buildings, all sea facing, reflect traditional building techniques around the time, and are seen as important image of the Middle Ages.

Originally the buildings of Bryggen where used mainly for the trade of dried, however others contained offices and living accommodation for many of the merchants. Today, these old buildings are used as shops and eateries for the public.

On closer inspection however, despite much of the original buildings of Bryggen being destroyed by fire and then rebuilt during the 11th century, the back alleyways are often even more interesting and give visitors much more of an opportunity to look closer at the wooden architecture, as well as some of the overhanging balconies.

Unfortunately, as I have said before, Bergen is an extremely wet city, and when the rain comes, you don't have the same opportunity to appreciate the beauty of this area, or sit outside and enjoy the atmosphere, however it is still a very worthwhile place to visit, even if it has become home to lots of souvenir shops. Do take the time however to explore the back alleyways behind the main wooden buildings, and this will take you right back in time, and help you understand better the historical significance of the site.

All in all, a must for any visitor to Bergen, as it is right in the centre of the city, around the corner from the fish market. Do be warned however that the eateries around the Bryggen area are some of the most expensive in Bergen, so don't be fooled, there are some more reasonably priced restaurants in Bergen, you just have to look beyond the immediate centre!

Even though Bergen held up to its title of the wettest city in Europe when we arrived there, after seeing no rain on our trip in Norway for almost two weeks, it did not dissuade us from taking a trip on the floibanen funicular up to Mount Floyen to get some superb views over Bergen.

The Floibanen funicular is apparently Scandinavia's only cable railway, and is an extremely popular attraction in Bergen. This funicular was first operated in 1918, and continues to take visitors all year round up Mount Floyen. In the peak season from May to August, the funicular runs from early morning to Midnight, where you can enjoy those long long evenings, when the sun hardly goes down. During the remainder of the year, the funicular operates from morning until 11pm. The train itself runs approximately every 15 minutes, but this is usually increased during peak season, with the journey only lasting 7 minutes.

If you arrive in the centre of Bergen, the floibanen is very easy to find and walkable to, even in the pouring rain. It is situated only 150 metres away from the famous Bergen fish market, and close to the coloured houses/shops of Bryggen.

As of last summer, tickets for the Floibanen cost 70Nk (£7) for a return ticket for an adult. Child return tickets cost 35Nk (£3.50), but there is also a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children) costing 175 NK (£17.50). In comparison to a lot of attractions in Norway, this is actually quite reasonable value.

There are two funicular carriages taking visitors up and down from Mount Floyen, each able to carry 100 passengers. It is also worth noting that the trains are designed in such a way as to have easy access for both wheelchair users and those with prams, which is a first for many of the attractions we visited in Norway.

The funicular trains take you 320 metres above sea level, where when the rain clouds clear (which thankfully they did for us for a little while) you get panoramic views of Bergen and its surroundings mountains and fjord. At the top there is a very modern looking viewing point allowing visitors to get those terrific shots, and pick out some of Bergne's other key attractions.

There is also a little souvenir shop at the top of the Mount which sells alos sells hot dogs etc. A restaurant is also located at the top (Floien Folkerestaurant), however be warned this is pricey. with an a la carte menu. During the day, I think that they offer more reasonably priced food with a snack menu, but unfortunately the evening menu was a little out of our league in terms of budget. The restaurant does however offer visitors clean free restrooms, and ist is worth making use of these, because Norway is notorious for not having many public restrooms, or ones that you don't have to pay for.

If the weather is good or simply dry (!) you can take advantage of some of the beautiful walks that are marked out around the area through forests and lakes. The ticket office at the bottom of the funicular with give you a free map of these walks. We managed to walk around a small lake on one of the marked footpaths before the rain came on again, and we decided to take the funicular back down and try and find some reasonably priced eatery for our dinner that evening, if one actually existed in Bergen.

All in all, the floibanen funicular is a must for any visitor to Bergen. The train journey is very comfortable and pleasant, and young children will be sure to love it, but it is really the views that most people come up to Mount Floyen for. You will be disappointed if the weather is bad, because you will not see anything, however you could be lucky enough like us, leaving the city centre in rain, but by the time we got to the top, the clouds have cleared, somewhat temporarily, and we saw some of the views Mount FLoyen had to offer, albeit not in glorious sunshin,e but you have to make the best of it. We would have loved to have walked more around some of the marked paths at the top, and if you are in to walking, and have all the right waterproof gear with you, even the wet climate of Bergen, shouldn't stop you from exploring these paths more. A great attraction with a reasonable ticket price!

We concluded last summer's trip around central and eastern Norway by exploring Bergen for a day before flying out of the city airport, and we opted for yet another Clarion hotel, this time the Clatrion Hotel Bergen Airport, an award winning hotel, which is literally a stone's throw from the departures entrance at the hotel.

Although, like most of the Clarion Hotels we stayed in during our trip, we paid a little more for the privilege but in return got the same wonderful service and lodgings that we had come to expect from the company.

There were two main reasons why we chose this hotel.

Firstly, our flight home left at the crack of dawn, and if we had had a hotel in the centre of Bergen, we would literally have no sleep that night and no breakfast, since we would have had to catch the bus to the airport in the early hours of the morning. The hotel is actually within the grounds of the airport. We were dropping off our car hire at the airport, and so we were able to simply walk across to the hotel. The airport also offer breakfast for early brids catching flights from 4 am. which was terrific for us.

Secondly, we may have paid a little more for this hotel than some others, but it was still on a par with some of the city hotels in Bergen. The flybussen is literally at the front door of the airport, and with departures every 15 minutes, we were able to get into Bergen for around 80NK (£8) each, without any hassle. The bus drops passengers at a selection of popular attractions in the main city centre of Bergen, and takes about 40minutes to get to the centre through often busy traffic. We found this a very handy way of exploring Bergen, and stayed in the city for the day before getting the bus later in the evening back to our airport hotel.

The Clarion Hotel Bergen Airport, really is luxurious and ultra modern. In fact it is one of the most modernly designed and decorated hotels my husband and I have ever stayed in.

The hotel offers conference facilites, 200 guest rooms, a spa, sauna, jacuzzi and a fitness area. Each of the rooms at the hotel are triple glazed to insulate against flight noise, however, although our room faced the side of the hotel, we did not hear any sound of flights coming in or taking off during the duration of our time at the hotel.

Our room came with a flat screen tv, leather armchairs, air conditioning, an enormous and extremely comfortable double bed, as well as a very stylish bathroom. The room was also extremely clean, and finished to an excellent standard, with luxurious curtains and bedding.

The only downside that may bother some people was the bathroom. This again was a very modernly decorated room, however the shower was clear the entire way round and faced the bed in the room, therefore allowing your other guests in your room to see you whist showering. It didn't really bother us, however I understand how some may feel uncomfortable with this arrangement.

Breakfast is, as I said, served early for those catching early mornign flights, however there are more general breakfast times that vary according to it being weekday or weekend. Breakfast itself is wonderful, with a vast selection of hot and cold on offer. The hotel also offers a restaurant for evening meals and lunches, however we ate in restaurants in Bergen for both of our nights stay.

All in all, this is a wonderful hotel. Yes, it is particularly great if you are catching an early morning flight, and can literally roll out of bed, grab some breakfast and walk to the departure area. We also found it terrific as a base to explore Bergen, since the flybussen stop is just outside the hotel and takes you into the city centre without any fuss. I would highly recommend this hotel, and it deserves all the awards it gets.

During last summer's trip around Norway, my husband and I encountered and photographed many of the beautiful waterfalls that this country has to offer - to the point that it became somewhat of a joke between my husband and I, that we had a photograph of yet ANOTHER waterfall, and we wouldn't be able to tell them apart when we got our photographs developed. However there is no mistaking the beautiful cascading waterfall that is Steinsdalsfossen, and there was no way that we wouldn't remember this one!

As we were on route to Bergen, we travelled through the town of Norheimsund, before coming to the Steinsdalsfossen (just off Route 7). I have to say that if it wasn't for our guide book mentioning the place, we would have known nothing about it, since surprisingly it doesn't even get a mention in much of the Norwegian literature we picked up in tourist offices on our travels.

The day we visited Steinsdalsfossen was the first day of rain that we had had on our holiday that far, but it was an ominous sign that Bergen would live up to its name as the wettest European city, when we arrived there later that day.

Anyway, we parked the car at the smallish car park near the waterfall, and waited until the rain eased somewhat, but after ten minutes, we decided to put the raincoats and head up the short path to the waterfall.

At the foot of the waterfall are a few small souvenir and craft shops, as well as a small cafe and toilet.

The Steindalsfossen is a rather unusual waterfall, in that visitors are allowed to walk behind it and watch the water seemingly cascade over their heads. The walk up is gradual and short and it isn't long before you reach the edge of this powerfuol waterfall. Steindalsfossen is actually 50m high, and is part of the river Fosselva.

There is plenty of opportunity and room along the path that takes you behind the waterfall to get lots of terrific photographs, especially of those with the water coming down behind you, making you feel safe and sheltered. Do be careful however, as the path behind the falls can be quite muddy and slippery in places.

If you look up at the waterfall from the bottom of the path you will notice the silver sword attached to a rock on the right hand side of the waterfall, despite my best efforts I do know however know what this symbolises or who placed it there.

As I said, this has to be my favourite of all the waterfalls we saw on our trip in Norway. Being able to walk behind the waterfall was not something that I had ever done before, and a avery memorable and worthwhile experience. Even though the rain stayed on for the duration of our visit to Steinsdalsfossen, it didn't matter, as this waterfall was really breathtaking!

We used our stay in the little village of Ulvik as a stop over point, breaking up the journey between Flam and Bergen. Although it is quite a popular place for tourists, largely due to its beautiful location on the edge of the Hardangerfjord, when we arrived on a Saturday afternoon, a lot of the shops had already closed and the town itself seemed to be shutting down, although we did manage to hire bicycles from the tourism office for an hour and return them before it too closed.

When pricing around for suitable lodgings in town, there were several options to choose from, some a lot more expensive than others. Having already bought our fjord pass, we thought we would make even more use of it by booking a room at the Ulvik Fjord Hotel which reduced the rate to just over 700NK (£70), including breakfast, for a double/twin room. This was the least expensive accommodation during our trip around central and eastern Norway.

We found the hotel without any problems, and although situated a little outside of the main village, opposite a camping ground, the location of the hotel was very nice, overlooking the fjord.

We knew beforehand that this accommodation would not be as fancy as some of the other lodgings we had stayed in during our journey, and in fact the hotel is named 'Ulvik Fjord Hotel and Pensjonat' and from our previous experience of a pensjonat, we knew they could be rather sparse and hostel like, but due to the price and the fact that we were only going to be staying a night we took the chance.

When we drove up to the hotel, we followed the signs that implied guests to park at the side of the hotel, which meant driving in front of the main hotel building. Outside on the front grass of the main building was a group of people, some of which were smoking. Now, that didn't bother us at all, assuming it to be guests, but what did bother us, was that after we parked, one of those in the group rather casually got up and walked in ahead of us - she turned out to be the receptionist. Now to some this may seem rather petty - but I do not feel that it set the hotel in a good light from the very beginning. Yes, they may wish to create a relaxing atmosphere, but to have staff sitting out relaxing on the front grass, some of whom were smoking, to me does not send out the signal that this is a well run establishment offering good service.

Once inside, and checked in, we had to carry out bags up the stairs, as like some other Norwegian hotels we had stayed in, there was no lift. Despite a rather negative start to the hotel, we were pleased when we found that we had a room overlooking the fjord, at the front of the hotel. The room was very large with wooden floors, and very sparten, like we had encountered at a previous pensonjat. The bathroom was small and cramped and with rather outdated decor, although everything was clean. We had two twin beds in the room which we pushed together, but unfortunately they were not the most comfortable of beds to lie on that night. From the minute we arrived there was a stench from the bathroom, which lingered until the next morning, but since we weren't spending a lot of time in the room, and were only there for a night, we did not bring up the matter at reception.

Breakfast the next morning was average. There was quite a lot of choice, or so it seemed, however only certain types of food were restocked, and many other previously filled food trays lay empty, never being restocked the whole time we were at breakfast.

As far as I can recall, although we did not take the option up, the hotel offers dinner as well upon request. There were no prie lists up about this, so I am not sure as to what they offered or at what price. Do be warned however, that they are few eating options in town. We thankfully had had our main meal earlier in the day, and simply enjoyed eating our maded up lunch by the edge of the fjord, which was very relaxing and enjoyable.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend this hotel in Norway, unless you are in desperate need of somewhere simply to rest your head and don't mind the lack of service or hostel like accommodation. Although the other hotel options in the village seem to cater for a lot of the tour bus guests, I an understand why this is, as I think many would be disappointed staying in the Ulvik Fjord Hotel. This may have been our cheapest accommodation on the trip, but I don't even think it deserved the £70 odd pound we paid for the night, compared with accommodation you would get elsewhere for the same money. Disappointing.

Norway is expensive - no one would quibble with you over that fact. When we travelled to Norway last July (2008) we had a modest budget to play with. We weren't at the point of staying in hostels along route or hitching rides to the next town, but we did try to save money where we could along the way.

Here are some of our tips for travelling to Norway on a small but modest budget.

1. Bring you own plastic cutlery, sandwich bags and packets of biscuits/cereal bars/snacks.

- Buying food at the supermarket to make your own lunch is a great way of saving money in Norway, however, do come prepared with your own cutlery, sandwich bags, and even snacks that will keep. Everything costs dear in Norway, so anything that you can bring with you that you won't have to buy with be an advantage.

2. When possible have your main meal in the middle of the day, with a smaller dinner/snack in the evening.

- We found quite a few restaurants/cafe's had better deals at lunchtime than at dinnertime for the same dish on the menu. We also planned ahead, reading up in our guide book to see whether there were many eateries in the next town we were heading to. If there weren't, chances are they wouldn't be as many reasonably priced restaurants, and so we would have stopped somewhere earlier in the day, and taken up a meal deal at lunchtime.

3. Stock up on the breakfast at the hotel.

- A lot of the hotels that we stayed in did not stop guests from taking fruit with them from the breakfast room, and we watched numerous people do this. Some hotels have signs up asking you not to do so, and therefore we didn't at these places. We were usually able to take enough fruit for our lunch/dinner that day, as well as little disposable packs of butter, which we used to make up our own sandwiches, rather than having to buy a large tub of butter. Hotels all offer fresh cold water in the breakfast room, so we usually just refilled our own bottled of water daily at the hotel rather than buy a new bottle every day, since even this will set you back about 18Nk (£1.80). Don't be fooled either when some of the hotels offer to make you up a pack lunch, as these will usually cost you a lot more than you simply going to the supermarket and making you own up.


4. Buy a fjord pass

Most tourists to Norway who are independent travellers arranging their own accommodation will have read about the fjord pass. You should research the type of accommodation you will be staying in to see if Fjord pass offer discount. We found that we were able to get discount at a lot of the hotels we stayed at, particularly the smaller hotels, and even though you have to pay for the fjord pass, we saved a lot more than we paid for it, making it good value for money. Do be careful however that you book through the fjord pass website, as we nearly got caught out. A hotel told us they didn't have any fjord pass rooms left and we would have to pay the full amount, but we instead booked it through fjord pass and got the cheaper deal.

5. Check out the price of car ferries as a means of getting somewhere.

In most cases in Norway, you have to take a ferry, however sometimes when it isn't essential it is still worth checking the car ferry out as a potential means of getting somewhere quicker and cheaper.
A typical example of this, is the summer car ferry between Fjaerland and Balestrand, stopping at Hella. To travel on this ferry with our car, it cost us 520Nk (£52) which is a lot of money for a 1 and 1/2 hour trip. However, when you look more closely, the road we would have had to travel on to get to Balestrand entailed one of the heftiest tolls on a Norwegian road, not to mention the cost of fuel in doing the trip, and the time it would have taken to get there by road, compared to ferry.

There are other ways of saving money in Norway, such as staying out at an airport hotel, and getting the very efficient and very frequently running Flybussen into city centres.

Hope this is of use to anyone wanting to see Norway, without spending a small fortune doing so. We never once stayed at a hostel, and neither did we stay in 5 star accommodation, but we managed to stick to our budget whilst there and see this wonderful country at its best.

Both my husband and I like to think of ourselves as being very organised, so not being one to simply look for a hotel upon arrival, I had done my research and decided upon the Clarion Collection Hotel Bakeriet for our three night stay in Trondheim last summer.

There were several key reasons for picking this hotel option, as Trondheim offers many, and in actual fact, there were several that I would quite happily have stayed in.
Firstly, the location of the hotel is superb. Our flight arrived in at Trondheim airport, and we were able to get the Flybussen into the 'downtown' part of the city. You can get off at the Radisson SAS stop and simply cross the road, through the concert hall building, and the hotel is right in front of you. The flybussen drivers were extremely helpful with this information. The hotel itself is situated in the Midtbyen quarter, part of the old city quarters, and in fact there is a cobbled road in front of the hotel. The hotel is literally only a five to ten minute walk to nearly all of the attractions including the Fish Market, Nidaros Cathedral, the old square etc, so you couldn't ask for much better. We did not have our own transport at this point in our holiday, however, I believe that the hotel offers a parking garage, but it is worth checking this out before booking, as there may be a potential fee.

Secondly, the hotel offers both a large substantial breakfast, like most Norwegian hotels, but even more importantly, they offer free make your own waffles in the afternoon, and an evening buffet, which should fill up the stomachs of most people. Even though it is classified as a complimentary evening buffet, you are of course, paying more for your accommodation, but baring in mind the often eye watering cost of dining out in Norway, we felt that we could save on the cost of meals this way. In actual fact, between the free breakfast, waffles and evening buffet, we rarely needed to buy any other food during the day, except for water and the odd piece of fruit.

The hotel itself offers 109 rooms, all with wireless internet connection although this was of little use to us, but worth noting for those on business or with their own laptop. As mentioned, this hotel was a former bakery that housed all of the 100 bakery staff. it was converted into a hotel in the 1980's, but it still retains an historical feel, and keeps some of the old artefacts and signs from its bakery days on view for guests to see.

When we arrived at the check in desk, we were greeted with extremely pleasant staff, and were shown our room on the 1st floor. The corridors are bright and airy with pictures of the old bakery adorning the walls.

Our double room was quite small but very pleasantly decorated, with the same bright airy feeling as the corridors. Walls and bedding were all in white. The room was extremely clean, as was the bathroom, which housed a shower and bathtub. The room also had its own iron, which came in very handy. We had a wonderful nights sleep on a very comfortable bed.

If I had one complaint however is the lack of air conditioning. Whilst in Trondheim we experienced 28C- 30C heat during the day, with hot sticky nights, and although like the UK, Norway doesn't usually have such warm continual sunshine in summer, it was at times unbarely hot in the room. We did open the window which faced onto a side street during the night, but unfortunately this meant we heard a lot of noise from local bars etc.

The breakfast that was offered in the large bright eating area was terrific. Although some of the choices remained the same during our visit, other food for breakfast was altered. There was a large selction of cereals, cold meat, fish, cheese, hot food such as scrambled eggs and always fresh fresh bread, which you could cut yourself.

The free waffles in the afternoon between 3pm and 6pm were delicious, and there was a variety of preserves and cream to accompany these. Tea, coffee as well as some cold drinks were available as well with the waffles.

The light evening buffet, as it is referred to, was actually rather substantial. Much of the food, bar the cereal, that was offered in the morning breakfast was replicated, however, there was always a different choice of hot meal such as a salmon bake style dish. It is self service at the buffet, and therefore you are able to refill your plate as many times as you like.

There were waitors on hand to clear tables, and restock food, and this was always done very quickly and efficiently. Rarely if ever during our stay, did they run out of any food, and tables that had dishes on them from previous guests, were cleared in a matter of minutes.

I couldn't speak highly enough of this hotel, and even though our stay was a little pricier than other hotels, it was well worth it since I am sure that we actually saved money on the cost of food on our visit to Trondheim. The hotel was clean, bright, airy with pleasant friendly staff, and if we are ever in Trondheim again, we would stay there in a flash.

When we arrived in Trondheim last summer on our tour of some of the main places in Norway, we were greeted with hot, sunny weather, quite unlike what we were told to expect. So due to the fabulous weather, one of the first things that we did after checking into our hotel was a visit to Munkholmen island.

This little island had been mentioned in our guide book, but it wasn't until we arrived at our hotel in Trondheim, that we picked up a map which had more information about visiting the island.

Munkholmen, or 'The Monk's Island' is actually situated in the fjord, and small ferry boats leave hourly between May and September from Ravnkloa (the fish market at Trondheim) and sometimes more frequently during peak season. The ferry journey lasts no more than 10 minutes from what I recall, but on a beautiful like the one we had, there were long queues to board, although the ferries are quite spacious. The ferry's first departure is at 10 am and this usually runs to 6 pm.

Whilst on board the ferry, employees come around passengers and take the money for tickets. A return ticket last summer cost 55K each (that is approx £5.50)

You may wonder what is so special about a little Monk's island and it appears to be popular with both locals and tourists for several reasons.

Firstly, it seems to be a hotspot for bathers during hot weather, and we found on the day we visited that many locals were simply getting the ferry over to spend the day sunbathing, picnicing with their family or bathing in the fjord waters. There is also a small stony beach like area.

Secondly, the history of the island is what attracts most tourists to the island, as well as the spectacular views it offer of Trondheim, as you look back from the island.

Whilst on the island, you can take a tour costing 30K (£3) each. These tours are offered in both Norwegian and English, and the tour guide that we got that day was excellent in terms of his fluency in English and his knowledge of the history of the island.

The island itself has been home to many different activities and people. Benedictine monks built a monastery on the island in the early 11th centure. It has also been used as a prison, a fort and even a customs house, but before all this, in ancient times, it was used as Trondheim's execution ground.

Besides the tour offered on the island, visitors can also drop into the cafe, the gift shop selling lovely crafts and there are washroom facilities as well.

We were very pleased that we had chosen to visit Munkholmen island as one of our first visits in Trondheim, as it gave us a feel for the city as we looked back from the island and it was an excellent choice for a beautiful summers day. Unfortunately we hadn't realised how well catered the island was for bringing your own picnic, otherwise, we could easily have relaxed with a picnic lunch. However, all in all, we really enjoyed our visit, and if the weather if good, or even just dry, visitors to Trondheim should make the effort to take the short ferry over to the island.

On a visit to Trondheim in Norway, most people will take the time to visit the Nidaros Cathedral, quite a well known attraction in the city. If you're guide book doesn't mention it, don't worry - you'll probably find that if you ask for a map in your hotel (like we did) you will be informed of the positives of a visit there.

Nidaros Cathedral have been described as 'Norway's national sanctuary' and the cathedral itself has been built over the grave site of Norway's patron St Olav- which therefore attracts countless visitors each year.

The main 'downtown' part of Trondheim is very easy to navigate around, and you will most certainly not get lost if you have a local map (provided free by local hotels and the tourist office), and in fact if you have found the tourist office in Trondheim, you couldn't miss the towering spire of the Nidaros Cathedral which lies just beyond the town square and location of the tourist office in Trondheim.

Building work on the cathedral began in 1070, and this work continued until sometime in the early 14th century.

One noticeable element of the outside of Nidaros is its copper green spire and roof. The cathedral also still holds weekly services for locals.

Alongside the Nidaros Cathedral is the Archbishops's Palace, which acts as a museum detailing some of the historical events that Trondheim has witnessed over the years.

On our visit there however, we decided to opt for a ticket permitting entrance to the Cathedral, rather than a ticket allowing entrance to both the cathedral and the archbishop's palace and even the crown regalia, kept in a wing of the palace. A single ticket for the Nidaros Cathedral cost 50K (approx £5), although from September to April, entrance to the cathedral itself is free. Worth remembering!

From the blistering 30C heat outside in Trondheim last summer, the refreshing coolness of the cathedral is one thing I remember most. Inside the cathedral, lighting is dim, and photography is not permitted.

When we entered the cathedral, there were few signs bar one informing us of an english guided tour of the cathedral tower. There were also tours in german and norwegian. Our guide made us aware that to climb to the top of the tower, required a reasonable standard of fitness as steps were steep. One thing that they didn't tell us, and I believe that it wouldn't be allowd to happen in a country that was a member state of the european union, what the lack of lighting in the staircase. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't expect bright flourescent lighting to guide me up the stairway, but I did expect it to be lit enough to see the step in front of me. On certain parts of the steps if was near impossible to see one step ahead of you - and with steep spirallying narrow steps, one could easily lose their footing and break a bone falling on hard concrete steps. We found with a lot of Norwegian attraction, health and safety rules were virtually non existent.

Despite that however, we made it to the top of the Cathedral tower, where we were met with beautiful scenery of the city of Trondheim on a beautiful summers day. I didn't hear anyone complain about the steepness of the steps once they arrived at the top and were greeted with terrific views.

Unfortunately, during our visit to the cathedral we were not part of any other guided tours around the building, and unless we missed them, we weren't aware of any signs informing visitors of tours. That said, on closer reading of my guide book after visiting, there do appear to be tours available, but we were not aware of who to ask.

Without a guided tour, a lot of the ornate carvings etc on the walls of the cathedral, although beautiful to admire and look at, were somewhat lost on us, since we had no one to tell us about the history of these carvings or structures.

One of the most beautiful parts of the cathedral, that you could photograph were the sculptures on the west front of the cathedral. These sculptures include those of the Old testament prophets and kings, as well as Norwegian saints and the apostles. It is worth taking time to really study and appreciate the magnificient work that has went into these sculptures.

All in all, a visit to the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim is highly recommended. Despite us missing out on a tour of the inside of the cathedral and thus not really understanding the importance of some of the artefacts that lie inside, we were extremely glad that we had took the time to visit this beautiful church. Even if you are not interested in historical sites, the quietness and peacefulness of the cathedral, as well as the views that the Cathedral tower offer of the city, are worth a trip alone, and with a relatively low entrance fee, compared to some other attractions in Norway, you have nothing to lose by visiting.

The trollstigen, also known as the Troll road, is one of Norway's somewhat less known attractions, and one that we found, many guide books failed to make mention of, even though it claims to be Norways most visited road.

Now, you may wonder why people would flock to travel along a road. Well, this is not an average road. Instead, this road contains 11 hairpin bends, as it winds up the side of some looming mountains. The road has been cut into the rockface in places, and in other sections, simply built upon the natural stone foundations.

In fact, the road climbs almost 3000 metre, before levelling out and then taking drivers down another windy road on the other side of the mountain.

The road itself is closed in winter, and reopens in May, right through to mid October.

Although the road is drivable in both directions, you must be prepared to stop quite frequently to allow tour buses and caravans more room to maneouvre up or down the road bends. Well, when I say prepared, you don't really have a choice. If you are unlucky enough to meet a tour bus heading in the opposite direction, all you can do is pray that they will get past in the space allowed without touching you car. In our case, a hire car.

As you climb up the road, appraoching from the town of Andalsnes, there is a layby, where drivers can stop and take photographs. At this point, a very grand waterfall can be photographed, that goes behind the road. There are warning signs about the steep gradient of the road, and if you look closely you will even spot a red triangular warning sign with a troll in the middle.

As you slowly climb the mountain, you will gradually be able to look back (you the passenger - not the driver!) and see the winding bends that you have just driven up- quite frightening really.

Further along the road, you come to a bridge, a spot where some tour buses decide to stop to allow for pictures of the waterfall that cascades behind it.

Upon reaching the plateau of the moutain, you will encounter numerous tour buses. If you are lucky enough to find somewhere to park, you can visit a little eatery, a gift shop and the washrooms (there is a fee though!). If you look carefully you may even spot the local troll Stig, who lives at the top of the mountain, and he will pose for pictures with visitors if you ask kindly!! There are also little short walks out to view points from where you can take photographs of the hair pin bends, and take shots down the valley.

If you enjoy the legends that the norwegians tell about Trolls, and you aren't particularly scared of heights, then a little trip along the Trollstigen is definitely worth it!

The summer holidays are fast approaching and I am reminiscing about my holiday last year to Norway and so I thought I would review on of Norway's famous tourist attractions - the Flamsbana (Flam) railway.

This 20km long train ride takes passengers between the mountain station of Mrydal and the little village of Flam, all year round - quite a feat when you consider some of the weather conditions that Norwegians would experience in the heart of the Winter, particularly in the mountains regions. In fact, this rail line becomes some what of a life line to those living in the area.

You may wonder however, why so many tourists would flock each year to take a trip on this normal gauge railway. Well, the reason lies in the fact that the journey from Flam to Mrydal takes you through some spectacular scenery including waterfalls, tunnels, mountain farms etc at an extremely steep climb of nearly 900m. In fact, according to the website -www.flaamsbana.no - where you can find out more about it, the gradient is 55/1000 on almost 80% of the line.

Most tourists begin their trip on this rail line at Flam, purchasing their ticket at the Flam station. Flam itself does not have a lot of recommend itself in terms of eateries, lodgings, shops etc, but relies on his beautiful location, at the edge of the aurlandsfjord to attract visitors. Timetables and ticket prices are available on the previously stated website, although reservations are not necessary unless you are in a party of 10 or more, when booking in advance is then essential. The number of departures vary at different seasons of the year, so it worth looking ahead to check the number of departures on that day. A single ticket for a adult currently costs 230Nk (approx £23) whereas a return ticket costs 330Nk (approx £33). Many go for the single ticket option and walk or cycle back down the mountain route following tracks, and can even jump back on the train if they start to tire early.

There are 11 main stops along the line. Starting from Flam, the first stop is at Lunden, where you start to get a glimpse of some beautiful mountaineous scenery. It was at this early point in our trip that one of the locomotives on the train failed, however with 5 brake systems, you can be sure that you are highly unlikely to start descending back down the track involuntarily. It wasn;t long however, before the problem was sorted and we were on our way again.

The next stop is at Hariena, where you get to see some of the mountain farms, as well as the lovely Rjoande Waterfall. You are already at 48m above sea level.

The journey continues to Dalsbotn, where you enter two tunnels, followed by a stop at Berekvam. You are now at 343km, so quite a climb. This is actually the half way point on the line, between Flam and Mrydal. At Berekvam there are also double tracks, so the trains returning from Mrydal came pass.

Continue on to Blomheller, where you can see the location of the dangerous Trolla Avalanche that plummets down the mountain each winter.

Next up is a stop at Kardal where yet more waterfalls are in view, as well as a tiny hamlet. The train is now at 556m above sea level.

The next stop is the main stop that passengers off load the train at, and in fact the train stops for longer at this location to allow time for photographs of the breathtaking Kjosfossen Waterfall - and in fact the water from here flows down to the nearby power station- providing hydro electric power for the railroad. As you get off the train, apart from the noise of the thunderous waterfall and its spray, you here some soft celtic like music. As you listen on, you can then see a 'dancing maiden' appearing near the rocks at the falls.

After maybe 10-15 minutes, enough time for photographs, passengers are beckoned back on the train for the rest of the spectular journey. Just beyond Kjosfossen, the train makes its first sharp bend through yet more tunnels. There are windows cut out of the tunnel walls, giving fleeting glimpses of the Flam valley.

Past Reinunga, and then on to Vatnahalsen, where you can start at the Vatnahalsen hotel and enjoy yet more views over the Flam Valley. At this point the train is at 811m above sea level.

The final destination is then reached at 866m at Mrydal, where passengers can, if they wish, link to the main Oslo Bergen rail line.

Obviously, this railway line took a remarkable amount of engineering know how and hard labour. Work began on the Flam railway in 1923, taking 20 years to complete, with all but two of the twenty tunnels being excavated by hand. One of the very clever features of the rail line was in the way the train criss crosses the river near the bottom of the valley three times in order to avoid thre risk of avalanche.

All in all, the scenery that you will see both on the way to Mrydal and on the return journey to Flam, (if you select a return ticket) is spectacular and you are continually surrounded by breathtaking views, waterfalls, clifftop farms, zig zag hair pin mountain roads between villages etc. You will not want to take your eyes off the side windows as you climb up through the Flam Valley. Like all things Norwegian, the rail ticket is expensive, but it is well worth it, since the journey itself takes around an hour, and in my opinion an hour well spent. A great and well deserving tourist attraction in Noway - one not to miss.

Valldal (pronounced Walldal) is situated between two of Norways major attractions - the Troll Road (Trollstigen) and Geiranger. As you spiral down the mountain from the Troll Road, on route 63, you with automatically drive through the Valldal valley.

One of the first things we noticed as we drove into the valley was the rows and rows of strawberry fields, and in fact, Valldal is famous for apples, cherries and raspberries as well, due to its mild climate.

If you are approaching from the Troll Road side, you will eventually see a large white building on your right, with white wooden panels and a brown roof. This is the Jordbarstova Restaurant, that I highly recommend you stop at. There is a resonable sized car park beside this restaurant, where you can watch the local strawberry pickers out in the fields.

The restaurant has a rustic feel to it inside, as well as a large fireplace, that wasn't in use naturally during the summer months. We were seated by a very friendly waitress at one of the front windows which faces the road and the strawberry fields. Since we arrived at around midday, we were offered the lunchtime menu. Prices were quite typically norwegian, however, we decided that we would have our main dinner during the day, and a lighter meal at nigh, and so we opted for a large pizza with its cost approx 200NK (£20), which was quite reasonably when we were able to share the large pizza between and feel well filled.

We couldn't however not sample some of the dishes on the dessert menu that used some of the fresh local strawberries, and we both agreed that the strawberries were delicious.

Service at the restaurant was terrific and extremelly efficient. Staff spoke excellent english. There were very modern and clean washroom facilities inside the restaurant, which were useful when we had been travelling in the car for a while.

After we had paid, and left the restaurant, we noticed signs for the souvenir shop around the back of the restaurant, so we thought we would have a look. This souvenir shop, a coverted cow shed, which offered homemade Valldal jam and applejuice for purchase, was unfortunately not open at the time of our visit, for unknown reasons.

All in all, stopping at Jordbarstova whilst travelling through Valldal, was a real treat, in terms of the fresh local strawberries that we got to try, as well as the friendly efficient staff. A great way to break up the journey to Geiranger.

The Trollveggen, also known as the Troll Wall is the highest vertical moutain Wall in Europe. If you are approaching from the town of Andalsnes and heading to the Troll Road, you will be able to see this amazing sight, and you can pull in, in the designated layby to appreciate the scale of this mountain face.

This troll wall, is part of the 'Troll Peaks' mountains in the Romsdal Valley, and there is even a camp site at the bottom, with plenty of room for motorhomes and caravans and with excellent facilities from what we could see.

Unfortunately on the day that we decided to stop and visit, there was low cloud, which somewhat obstructed our view of the mountain summit, however, this did not take away from the notable sheer vertical drop that the troll wall is known for.

Unless you are an experienced climber, you would be extremely foolish to attempt to scale this vertical mountain face, however there have many successful attempts before by professionals. In fact, it was climbed for the first time in 1958, where climbers had to spend the night on the mountain, although it is difficult to imagine, where or how they actually managed to find somewhere to rest on this mountatin face. Nowadays, there are however, 14 different routes for climbers to follow along the wall, depending on experience and ability. The Trollveggen, was previously a popular site for base jumpers, but due to teh number of casualties this was banned in the 1980's - understandably!

At the base of the Troll Wall, where, as previously mentioned, there is a lay by to allow visitors to pull in and get a few shots of the famous Troll wall, there is a picnic area, where you can enjoy the views as you lunch.

The Troll Wall is best appreciated on a clear, sunny day, where the craggy mountain peaks are in uninterrupted view, however, with Norway's unpredicatable weather, it is hard to plan such a trip.

So, if you are in the vicinity of Andalsnes, or on route to the Troll Road, it is worth taking the time to stop and appreciate this spectacular vertical mountain face. There is nothing else to do at the site itself but simply to see the sheer scale of this vertical face it well worth stopping for.

Our main reason for stopping in the town/village of Andalsnes was its location and proximity to the Troll Road. It is not a town that is really worth stopping long in, because there is simply very little to do, and very few places to stay.

We arrived in Andalsnes on a Sunday evening, and had pre booked the Grand Hotel Bellevue, using the fjordpass ( a card giving discounts on hotels in Norway ), the main reason being that there was no other available accommodation in town. We paid around 980NK (around £98) for a double room, and even though that price is the norm for a reasonable hotel, we were very disappointed.

Free parking is available outside the front of the hotel, although you would be well advised not to move your car once you get a space, particularly in the evening, as they fill up rapidly, especially with those frequenting the hotel restaurant at night. The main area of the town is a short walk away, and not worth moving the car for.

The hotel offers 86 rooms, as well as its own restaurant, nightclub, pub and conference facilities.

When we had parked outside the hotel, we had to climb the front steps, hauling our heavy luggage. Now, this was not a major problem for my husband and I, but we were conscious of the fact that it someone in the party had a disability, the access to the hotel would prove rather difficult. We noticed this a lot in Norway, and assume because it is not a member of the EU, it does not have to meet general health and saftey standards, as well as providing appropriate access for people with disabilities.

The check in area was rather dated and dark, and the staff neither friendly nor too helpful, when we enquired about eateries that would be open on a quiet Sunday evening.

Our biggest disappointment however was with our room. As we walked along the corridor to our room, we couldn't help notice the dingy, peeling wallpaper adding to the already shabby feel to the hotel. When we opened the room, we were disappointed to find an extremely dated and worn out room, in dire need of renovation. We felt we had walked in to a room that had not be modernised since the 70s. Now, neither my husband nor me were expecting grandeur, but for the money that we paid, albeit the norm in Norway, we expected to have a better room. I cannot comment of some of the other rooms, and it is possible that some may have been more modern, but ours, which was facing the back of the hotel, would not win any awards for style.

Our biggest gripe with the room was the bathroom. Again this was dated and worn, but the major problem was with the shower. There was simply a shower curtain which you pulled around you and a grate on the floor - which meant that after use, the entire bathroom floor was covered in water, and there wasn't a big enough gradient to allow the water to all flow down the grate. We ended up covering the floor in our bath towel after use simply to be able to use the bathroom safely. Now, again this is a major health and safety flaw, as it would have been very easy to slip and fall with the amount of water that was lying on the floor.

That evening we did not eat at the restaurant in the hotel, and it looked very empty, but also with a rather expensive a la carte menu, so we looked elsewhere, and used our guide book to help us, since the hotel staff were not in the least helpful when it came to suggesting places to eat outside their own establishment.

There was one major plus to the hotel though and this was the breakfast. The breakfast room was extremely large and spacious, and there was ample food to select from, including hot and cold, which were well continually well stocked. We were even able to take with us some of the fruit that they had available, that did us later that day.

The hotel is also in close proximity to a small supermarket, where we were able to pick up some food to make up our own lunch for the journey that day.

All in all, I was very disappointed with this hotel. It is in dire need of renovation from what we witnessed, and staff at the reception were not particularly friendly nor helpful. The only positives that this hotel has to offer are the good breakfast and the fact that is the only main hotel in town. Unless you are wanting to visit the Troll Road, I would avoid this hotel, and would only make a fleeting visit to the town itself.

Having stayed for three nights in a Clarion Collection Hotel in Trondheim, we were confident that the quality, service and food in this hotel would be as good. We had done our research beforehand, and booked this hotel, knowing that it offered a 'light buffet evening meal' as part of the package as well as the customary breakfast.

We arrived late that night, being extremely tired after travelling for some 8 hours (more than we had envisaged) and although we struggled to find the hotel, when we did we were impressed by its look and location.

We drove up the cobbled street to the hotel. Being already aware that the hotel did not offer parking, but that there was likely to be a parking garage somewhere closeby, I ran into the hotel to ask for information about parkling facilities whilst my husband remained in the car. I explained to the receptionist that we had a booking but we wanted to park the car first. She informed me that there was an exceptionally close parking garage, literally around the corner from the hotel, where you could park your car all night for a reasonable charge.

So, after parking the car, we walked the short length with our luggage to the hotel. The entrance to the hotel if very modern, and there is a warm homely feel as you walk in, almost like a wooden chalet in the Rockies.

Check in was straightforward, and after putting out bags quickly into our room, we headed down to the food area to catch the free evening buffet, that included soup and fresh bread, cold meets, cheese, fish, fruit etc. and this was served between 7pm and 10pm As we had experienced in Trondheim, the food was again excellent, always efficiently restocked and you could go up as many times as you wished, meaning we were happily full for the evening.

As with the Clarion Collection hotel in Trondheim that we stayed in, although the evening meal, as well as breakfast and afternoon waffles, were all included in the price, you do pay a little more for your room. However, with the prices of eating out in Norway, you will probably find that you still save by doing this, and if like us you arrive in the evening, you don't have the hassle of trying to find a decent affordable restaurant closeby.

After we had had our meal, we had more time to appreciate the hotel and our room. The hotel offers free internet access in its main lobby, although this was always quite busy.

Our room was one of 85 on offer in the hotel, and located on the first floor. Although not facing the harbourside, and rather having a view over the quiet cobbled streets, our room was extremely large. We booked for a double room, but like a lot of hotels in Norway, this instead was two single beds, which we simply put together. The room itself has everything at hand - refridgerator, television, ironing board etc, and everything was spotlessly clean. The bathroom, with a shower, was also very clean. The only thing missing, and I suppose this is a typical British thing, that is lacking in nearly every Norwegian hotel was tea/coffee making facilities. However, this was only a minor quibble.

As I mentioned the location of the hotel is excellent, and you can get a feel for the art nouveau style of the buildings from a simple short walk from the hotel. The hotel itself used to be an old warehouse, and its yellow painted walls are unmissable at the harbourfront, looking back at the hotel.

We had a wonderful quiet nights sleep, despite having the window ajar (since there was no air conditioning in the room), and the beds were very comfortable. Breakfast was a grand affair in the morning, and there was ample amounts of fresh produce to select from - cold meets, cheese, fish, fresh bread, cereal, crackers, hot food etc.

We checked out later that morning, feeling very pleased that we had experienced another wonderful stay at a Clarion Collection Hotel, and worth every penny!

On our near two week holiday touring some of the major towns and places of interest in Norway, we spent a day and a night in the beautiful 'art nouveau' town (as it is referred to) of Alesund.

In fact, it is such a lovely town, that back in 2007, it was voted Norway's most beautiful town. To appreciate that layout and wonderful setting of the town a trip up Mount Aksla is a must.

Now, there are a few ways to do this, and it is dependent upon two main things. Firstly your fitness, and secondly the weather.

It you are reasonably fit you should attempt the 418 step climb (the shortest way up) to Fjellstua, the restaurant at the top, where you get the most magnificient views. Don't be put off by the number of steps though, as with each flight of steps, there is usually a bench to rest on, and there is plenty of room for the fittest to get by, without making you feel pressurised to keep climbing.

The base of the steps is actually in the midst of a little park/wooded area, and you will then see the signposts pointing you in the direction of the 418 steps to Fjellstua.

If you are not as fit, or is the weather is not at its best, you can always get a taxi, drive or take the little town train (quite expensive!!) up to Fjellstua.

Once you have made it to the top, you will be rewarded with some spectacular panoramic views of the town of Alesund, the surrounding fjord and even the sunmore alps on a clear day. If you look closely you can get a better look at some of the beautiful architecture in the town, as well as the harbour, and you realise that the town centre itself is situated on an island.

After you have admired the town and surrounding area from every possible angle, you can enjoy either the cafe, where you can have a drink and a snack whilst enjoying the views outside, or enjoy the menus on offer in the Fjellstua restaurant. Unfortuntaly the restaurant was not open on the day we visited the site, I'm not sure whether this was due to it being a Sunday or if it was simply closed. There are however washroom facilities, although there is a charge for use.

All in all, for the absolutely stunning views that Fjellstua offers to those who have either climbed or driven up, it is a place that you should not miss out on visiting whilst in Alesund. You really cannot appreciate the layout of this town from simply walking around it, and those panoramic views easily explain why this town was voted the most beautiful town in Norway a few years ago.

Of all the attractions and sights in Trondheim, the Kristiansten Fort, was the one that I found most disappointing.

The Kristiansten Fort is situated in the Bakklandet quarter of Trondheim, and although we walked to it, I would not recommend those who are not of a good standard of fitness to attempt it. You can drive to it and there are buses that will take you so far. It is easily found if you cross the old town bridge (Gamble Bybro) and then literally follow the very steep hill up to the fortress. Now, in the strong sun, both my husband and I even struggled, and we like to think of ourselves as quite fit. So bare this in mind if you are setting out for a visit.

The fort itself is a landmark in Trondheim, and in fact, on the day that we visited they had actually been firing some of the artillery earlier that morning, to commenorate some event, which unfortanetly I can't recall.

When we had climbed the hill we entered the fortress area through a small arched gateway, which lead us to the large towering white fortress that is Kristiansten. Tours are offered regularly during the day, and when we arrived, a tour had just commenced, so we bought our tickets for the next tour and waited in the shade offered in the nearby cafe which was once the old commandent's residence.

Even though we were there during the peak summer season, there were only about 6 of us on the tour, which was conducted in English.

We started off at the main tower (the keep), the majority of which was built in the 17th century, after the Trondheim city fire. This tower holds the main artillery, as well as two powder cellars, however we were not able to visit some of the floors of this keep, and had to contend with looking at some of the old maps of the fortress from the 18th century, as well as artefacts from its time.

After finding out a little more of the history of the fortress from our guide and hearing how it protected the city from the intruding swedes, we were then allowed to see some of the old batteries. The tour guide took us into what was once the place of execution during WWII. Inside there was a list of those Norwegians who were executed here by the occupying forces at the time.

Once the tour was over, we took time ourselves to walk around some of the artillery that was on display, as well as taking in some of the views offered from the top of the hill, beside the fortress, of Trondheim city, the fjord and teh surrounding moutains.

As I said earlier in my review, I was disappointed with our visit to Kristiansten fort, and felt that despite the views of Trondheim that it offered, the tour itself didn't really allow us to see much of the fortress, and seemed to be over rather quickly. I know there will be some that disagree with me, but I found that this attraction was my least favourite in Trondheim, and if time is short, I think it is one to miss, with the exception of the fine views it offers.

On route from Geiranger to Balestrand last July, we broke the journey up by staying the night in Skei. We had already pre booked the Best Western Skei Hotel, over the internet for just over 1000NK (£100) via fjord pass, the hotel discount pass, and we were pleased that we had, since when we arrived late afternoon, the hotel was already being swamped by three large coaches letting their passengers deboard for their night's lodgings at the hotel.

The town of Skei is not particulary large and with not much in the way of attractions. However, the setting of the town is beautiful, and the hotel itself faces the tranquil waters of Lake Jolster. The hotel is very popular as a stop over point, due to its location, approximately mid way between Alesund and Bergen, and is often used as a base allowing tourists to explore nearby sights and attractions.

The Best Western Skei, was established in 1889, and although parts of the hotel are very modern, other parts, including our room are in need of some modernisation. An extension has been added to the hotel, allowing it to offer 129 rooms, as well as large conference facilities, a swimming pool, laundry room (which we found extremely useful - but which is very popular!!), games room, sauna etc.

The entrance to the hotel is rather grand, and the reception area is large with very friendly and hepful staff. Our room was up on the second floor and we took one of the glass elevators, situated at the front of the hotel, allowing you to appreciate the views over the lake as you are taken up to your room. Unfortunately our room faced the side of the hotel rather than overlooking the lake, however, the room was spacious with two single beds, and was clean and comfortable. As I said, our room could have done with some modernisation, as its decor was rather outdated, however, I cannot comment on other rooms, and it is possible that some of the rooms which are part of the added extension, may be more modern in style and furnishings. We were only there for one night and so we weren't too bothered about this.

Although we did not sample any, the hotel appears to offer an evening meal, however we got the impression that this was at the request of the tour companies and their passengers, who were also provided with entertainment in the main dining area in the evening. The breakfast that was offered to all guests was excellent and continually well stocked out with both hot and cold food. Despite the huge number of guests that must have been staying and thus needed to be catered for, there was an ample amount of seating in the breakfast/dining room, and we were lucky enough to get a window seat looking out at the lake.

We had our evening meal at a nearby cafe, recommended by our guide books, however, be warned, that eating places in town are scarce, and because we arrived on a Sunday evening, supermarkets were closed. There is however, a large souvenir shop just below the cafe that we ate in, and opposite the side of the hotel. This was one of the best souvenir shops we came across in Norway, and was in fact, the place we found some of the most unusual gifts for friends and family back home. Later that evening, we were able to walk some of the way around the lake and admire the glass like water on the lake.

Overall, we were delighted with the hotel and all that it offered. The laundry room was a great perk of the hotel, since we were away from home for two weeks and dirty washing was fast building up. The room itself, although outdated, was large and comfortable, and we were impressed with the breakfast offered by the hotel as part of the price. I would certainly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a base to explore some of the attractions between Alesund and Bergen, or simply as a stopover to break up a journey like we used it as. Skei is a beautiful town with a great hotel!

Whilst on route to Skei from Geiranger, we decided to take a 'little' detour, or so we thought, to see the Kjenndal Glacier. My husband had studied geology at university and was extremely keen on getting up close to an arm of Europe's largest glacier the Jostedalsbreen. Our guide book had suggested that this arm of the glacier was the quietest and least visited of the all, and I can understand why.

As we travelled through the town of Loen, we followed the signposts leading up to Kjenndalsbreen. Since we needed to get to the town of Skei, where our lodgings for the night were booked, our time was limited. However, we decided to go the 20km long road through the Lodal valley, to see this arm of the glacier, which our guide book so highly recommended.

As we drove down to the glacier, we were surrounded by beautiful scenery, passing little hamlets and driving parallel to the stunningly glacial blue waters of Lake Lovatn, however, we did not get the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful scenery properly. The road down to the glacier is extremely narrow, with continual twists and bends, and with often no room for two cars. On our trip around Norway, we thought we had become familiar with the drivers, who seemed to like to come round corners on the wrong side of the road and with great speed. Nothing prepared us for the hair raising journey that we experienced simpy to see the Kjenndalsbreen. I spent the journey literally clinging on the seat, and we appraoched another corner only to see a car speeding around towards us. At times there were litte lay bys to allow cars to pull in and let other traffic through, yet we seemed to be the only ones to use these. What was a 20km journey, seemed to last a lifetime, and at many points, we would have turned and went back, only there was no room to do so, and for fear that a car would come round the car into us.

Eventually, we arrived at an unmanned toll booth, where you simply put in a small payment into a box and took a ticket, which you were to display along the front window of yoru vehicle.

Not long after passing the toll booth, the road splits and you can drive down to the Kjenndalstova, a little cafe beautifully situated on the lake side. Unfortunately we only stopped briefly to use the restrooms and didn't get very long to absorb the tranquil surroundings.

The other road leads on eventually to a rough stonned car park, where you can leave your car before walking the final part of the journey, a 15 minute trek along paths and over boulders. Do bring good footwear, particularly for this last leg of the journey, as the ground is very stoney and could cause many a nasty stumble.

The Kjenndalsbreen is spectacular, and it is disappointing to find out that over the last few years, these glacier arms have actually been retreating. The blue tinted ice stands out against the dark rocks surrounding it twists down the rock face. Even if you are not interested in the goelogy of glaciers, like my husband, you will still find the scenery wonderful to look at and admire.

Although the glacier arm itself was terrific, I certainly would not travel voluntarily along the narrow twisty road that leads to it. I'm afraid, that being in a hire car like we were, only added to the pressure of avoiding accidents along the road. Depending on your experience of driving in Europe, and whether you have a daredevil approach to life, you may want to consider whether the long 20km drive down to one of four viewable arms of the Jostedalsbreen glacier is really worth it, when you can more comfortably, and more safely see some of the other arms of the glacier, albeit with a few more tourists competing for the perfect photograph.

A beautiful sight, but in my opinion not worth the dangerous drive to see it.

Most visitors to Geiranger, will want to explore the surrounding Geirangerfjord, that has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Unless you are part of a cruise, which already sails through this particular fjord, you can see the this wonderful place for yourself via a trip on the M/S Geriangerfjord which takes visitors on a 1 1/2 hour tour of the fjord.

Aware that the sightseeing boat trip would probably be busy we tried to pre book tickets on the night of our arrival for a journey the following day, however, we were informed at the tourist office, where tickets can be bought for the trip, that this was unnecessary as long as we were there early.

During the peak season from June to August, the main sailings on the boat commence at 9.30, with the last cruise at 5pm. Earlier sailings are available upon request. There are also less frequent sailings during the month of September, however if you wish to take a tour at any otehr time of the year, you would need to contact the tourist office or the sightseeing company to ask about sailings.

At the time of our visit (July 2008), ticket prices stoof at 130NK (£13) per adult, and 55NK (£5.50) per child, although these prices are likely to have risen slightly over the year.

We opted for the 9.30 cruise, and were there at 9am at the ticket office desk to book our tickets. It is worth noting, that the queue for tickets got longer nad longer very quickly, so being early is a sure fire way of ensuring you are getting on the sailing you desire. On busy days when the weather is fine, it is also worth buying yoru tickets and then directly joining the queue at the back of the tourist office for the boat itself, as the day we were there, manners seemed to go by the wayside, as people scrambled and pushed to get a seat on deck.

The M/S Geirangerfjord has both indoor seating , and on deck seating, and thankfully on the day of our trip the weather was mild with some cloud, meaning everyone was wanting the outdoor seating. The M/S Geirangerfjord also has an approved safety management system that complies with regulations - a little peace of mind.

On board, you will not have much time to be idle, as the boat commentary (in both Norwegian and english) provides almost continual coverage of the sights and attractions along the fjord.

There are many impressive sights along the fjord, the majority of which are to be seen better as you sail out of Geiranger, but on the return journey, it is nice to appreciate the scenery from a different angle.

One of the first sights you will see, that will bring all the budding photographers to the right hand side of the boat, is the Seven Sisters Waterfall, so called because upon closer inspection, you can see seven small waterfalls cascading over the same area of cliff face. The highest of these falls is 250m.

As you pass the Seven Sisters fall, you are invited to look back and see, on the other side of the fjord, the 'suitor' waterfall. The legend goes, according to our boat commentary, that the suitor tried to woo all seven sisters, but was refused by them all, and therefore took to the bottle. Now, if you look closely at the suitor waterfall, you will be able to see that the water cascades dow nteh fjord face in such a way as to leave the outline of a bottle on the rocks.

One of the prettiest waterfalls on the journey in my opinion is the bridal veil, best photographed from a side angle just after passing it on the boat. The water falls so delicately from it, that is resembles a thin bridal veil. Beautiful!

Others sights along the way include the Devil's canyon and several remote fjord farms, nearly all of which are no longer in use. Some of these farms seem to sit perilously close to cliff edges and you do wonder how easy daily likfe could have been, being so remote.

The boat also stops on several occassion to allow passengers to get off the boat to go and explore some of these remote fjord farms, although I would suggest that a good level of fitness be necessary if you are to venture on this excursion. We unfortunately did not have the time to do some a walking trip, but several of the passengers on board our sailing did take the option. You can also then wait for a boat on a later sailing to return to pick you up from the same point.

Although we didn't partake of any, light refreshments were available to purchase on board the boat.

The Geirangerfjord is often referred to as the 'pearl of Norwegian fjords' and is clear why, with such specatular scenery all around you. The boat trip was over in a flash, and were extremely impressed with the trip and the commentary offered, and felt that is was worth every penny of the ticket price.

This is a highly recommended trip for anyone visiting Geirangerfjord

There are two wonderful places either side of Geiranger village to get those picture postcard photographs of the beautiful Geirangerfjord. One being the Ornevegen road approaching Geirganger from Valldal, and other being the Flydalsjuvet, as you drive up the spiralling road out of Geiranger towads Grotli. The site itself is approximately 5km out of Geiranger, and it signposted.

The Flydalsjuvet is a purpose built viewpoint overlooking the village of Geiranger and giving those outstanding views of the fjord that you so often see in guide books or postcards. The viewpoint was finished in 2006 and now houses washroom facilites on the lower of two levels, as well as extremely modern seating and waste bins, which almost seem too modern and out of place for the natural surroundings.

We visited only one of the two levels at this viewpoint. We parked in the lay by off the main road and brought our own sandwiches and had a wonderful picnic whilst we overlooked the breathtaking geirangerfjord. If you are going to visit this viewpoint by yourself, I would suggest you travel up to it in the evening time, when it is much quieter, and most of the tour buses have already taken their guests to their hotels for the evening. When we visited there were only a few cars around and we were able to get some terrific shots of the fjord undisturbed.

On many of the picture postcard views of Geirangerfjord, you will see someone dangling their legs, or standing forward on the edge of the protruding cliff, overlooking Geirangerfjord. It is possible to walk along a little path heading downwards from the main viewpoint and stand out on this 'hanging rock'.

Being somewhat afraid of heights, my husband was none too keen on visiting this particular spot, however, we were delighted with the views we got at the car park level.

Even if you are arriving in Geiranger by cruise, this is worth a visit by taxi if it is not already included on your trip. The views that his site offers are unbeatable and one of the best in Norway.

When looking for accommodation at a reasonable price in Gerianger, I could hardly believe the rates being quoted for the Grande Fjord Hotel, particularly when I looked at its own website, and saw its wonderful location and interior style.

Geiranger village is an extremely popular visitor attraction in Norway due to its location at one end of the beautiful geirangerfjord, and even though most visitors arrive via the enormous cruise ships and thus aren't looking for lodgings in the village, accommodation prices are still high.

The Grande Fjord Hotel is actually located about 1/2 mile to 1 mile outside of the village, and if you are approaching Geiranger from Valldal/Andalsnes, the hotel is actually at the bottom of the famous Ornevegen road comprising 11 hairpin bends. Well the Grande Fjorde Hotel is at the bottom of these bends, withs its front looking out onto the serene waters of the Geirangerfjord.

The hotel offers free parking, however this is quite limited, and fills up quickly in the evening. Parking is at the front of the hotel, however, to get to the main entrance, you must take a narrow signposted slip road on your right, as you approach from the Ornevegen. This road will take you down past a beautiful campsite, offering the most amazing views of the fjord, and then to the front of the hotel, however do take this little road slowly, as there is little to no room should you meet a car etc going the opposite way.

The hotel itself somewhat resembles chalet style lodgings, only much bigger, painted yellow and brown, and with plenty of glass windows at the front.

The reception area if very large, airy and quite 'grand'. The receptionist was extremely helpful and very friendly, and once we were checked in, we were given to key to our room which was at the back of the hotel. When you book the hotel, you can opt for a fjord facing room with a balcony or a room at the back of the hotel (much fewer of these). In order to keep within out budget, we had already booked to stay in a back facing room, since there was a difference of almost 200Nk (£20). That may not seem a huge amount, but with the costs of accommodation/food etc in Norway, we cut corners where we could.

Our room cost 980NK for the night (approx £98) and this included breakfast. You can book this room through Fjord Pass as well. Although we had opted for a room at the back of the hotel, we ended up with a very quiet, quaint little room, which was perfect for us, but wouldn't have suited everyone, since you had to walk up some steep steps to the room. Our room was through the bar area, and then up four or five steps in a sort of annex, facing the road, although we were not bothered by any noise during the night.

The room itself was compact with a double bed, and included a bath with a shower, which was nice as a change. Our room was one of 48 available at the hotel, with only 8 of these not being fjord facing rooms. The room was extremely clean, and quite modern, and we had a very comfortable nights sleep.

A three course dinner is available in the evening in the hotels restaurant, at a cost of 250Nk per person (£25). We chose to eat in the village that evening.

In the morning, we made our way to the breakfast room, which was very close to our room, on the 6th floor, offering near panoramic views of the fjord through huge glass windows. There was plenty of seating at the window, and we took a table for two looking out at the wonderful scenery.

Breakfast runs from 7.30 to 10.00 and there is a large selection of food on offer, including hot and cold. We came away feeling nicely filled and ready for a trip down to geirangerfjord.

All in all, this is a great place to stay whilst in Geirganger. Although it is a little bit out of the village, this can actually be an advantage, as it offers some respite from the heaving crowds that descend upon the tiny village during the day as the cruise ships roll up, and shuttle their passengers on water taxi's into the village. It is actually much nicer to wait until the passengers have all returned to their cruse ships late afternoon, and then venture around the village and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

I couldn't think of a nicer hotel to stay in whilst in Geiranger, and if you have a bigger budget than we had, then take the option of the fjord facing rooms so you can enjoy the breath taking scenery for as long as you like. Highly recommended hotel!

I feel compelled to write about a little italian restaurant that we visited whilst staying in Andalsnes last July. Up until our our visit to Andalsnes, the hotels that we had stayed in had provided us with our evening meal. In Andalsnes, we were on our own!

Unfortunately, we arrived in Andalsnes on a Sunday and so when we went out that evening to find a suitable eatery, we found a lot of the cafes/restaurants to be shut, albeit there wasn't a plentiful supply in the first place.

We did find one however, that was mentioned in our guidebook, as a reasonably priced eatery in town - Piccola Mama Rosa, not far from our hotel, and serving italian fare, which suited us perfectly.

The restaurant is up a flight of stairs from street level. When we got to the restaurant, we were unsure as to whether we were to wait to be seated or simply seat ourselves. Other guests looked similarly confused. After a ten minute wait, with staff walking past completely ignoring us, we seated ourselves near the bar area.

As we waited at our table, situated in the front of the bar where the wait staff were working, we were again ignored, as no one came to offer us menu's. My husband had to go and ask for a menu from one of only two waiters that were serving this rather large restaurant, that was quickly filling up with hungry customers, all with a limited choice of eating places in town.

On a positive note, the menu itself was very good, offering quite a range of pastas, pizzas, chicken etc at reasonable prices.

Whilst we were looking through the menu, we noticed quite a few people who, like us, had been completely ignored by staff, simply walk out in annoyance at the service. We would have done likewise had we not been so hungry, and realised that we had nowhere else to choose from on a Sunday evening.

By the time we were ready to order, a long queue had formed at the bar area, with people looking for menu's, wanting to pay, and ordering drinks, all being served by one of the two waiters who was also trying to serve food ready from the kitchen.

My husband thankfully managed to grab the other passing waiter, and we managed to put in our order, without having to stand in the long queue. He also brought us our cutlery and drinks.

After quite a wait for our food, and noticing more and more people getting up to leave, eventually it arrived. I had ordered lasagne, and my husband had ordered a pasta dish, and they were both good helpings, and both under 120Nk (£12), which is far from terrible in a country as expensive as Norway.

Our worst experience of the evening came when we had to pay. The queue by this stage was even longer, and many had been waiting in line for at least 20 minutes, some simply to order their meal. We joined the slow moving queue, which was never continually manned, because the two waiters were run off their feet trying to serve, clear tables etc. In the queue, we could hear people tutting and shouting at the wait staff for the appalling service that evening. When we eventually got to the front of the queue to pay, a german lady by passed the entire queue to order drinks. The waiter, despite knowing what she had done, was about to serve her, only I stepped in to inform her that she could not jump the queue, and we had been waiting for the last twenty minutes to pay. She was none to happy.

At last we got paying, and left as quickly as possible. We watched people getting up from their meal and not paying that night, due to the long queue, and wait staff just ignored them, and let them leave, which we were aghast at.

All in all, I have never eaten in a restaurant either at home or abroad, with such appalling service. The major difficulty that night was that the restaurant was extremely understaffed with only two waiters to serve a large restaurant, and there was little other choice in town. Despite having a reasonably priced tasty meal, I would never return to this restaurant, particularly on a Sunday night, if you are to experience the kind of service that we saw on offer that night.

This was a disappointing introduction to restaurants in Norway, however, we never encountered such problems again in our travels. Thankfully!

During our stay in Sogndal on our trip around Norway last July (2008) we decided to take the little ferry car ferry across the Sognefjord to Luster, the location of the oldest stave church in Norway - Urnes.

Stave churches are medievel wooden churches with particular types of beam and post constructions that only seem to remain in Norway, even though they were once a familar site in other European countries. Twenty eight of these stave churches remain in Norway, but Urnes is perhaps the best known due to the fact that it is the oldest and is the most highly decorated.

There are various ways of getting to Urnes, however, we chose to drive to Solvorn, where you can park your car for free, and take the little ferry across the fjord. You can take you car on the ferry for a higher price, although if you are of reasonable fitness, it is not difficult to walk up the hill to the church. The cost of the ferry is aroudn 25Nk for a foot passenger (£2.50) or 70Nk (£7) for a car and passenger. The ferry takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes to reach the harbour at Luster.

Do be careful about ferry times however, since the last ferry to leave Luster is late afternoon, and not in the evening. Ferry times are listed at the harbour at both Luster and Solvorn.

On the day we visited, the weather was very hot, and we were able to enjoy the ferry ride across the fjord. When we arrived, we walked up the 1km road to the church, and along the way, we stopped to buy some locally picked strawberries, which were absolutely delicious, so make sure you sample some of these.

The first glimspe of Urnes is spectacular! This stave church was built around 1132, and is the only stave church to be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Unfortunately when we visited in 2008, there were renovations happening inside the church, and all of the ornate objects inside had been taken out, but instead placed in a little 'museum' next to the ticket office. We however, did not have time to look at this, since we had to get the last ferry back to Solvorn in time.

At the time we paid 45Nk (£4.50) to get a guided tour of the church by a young guide who spoke wonderful english. Some of the wonderful ornate carvings were still to be seen on the outside walls of the church and our guide gave us a detailed history of this, and in fact we found out that the church had in fact, been built three times on the same site.

We were also allowed to go inside the church, however with it being under rennovation we could not really explore it, only simply walk up the main aisle of the church.

Obviously when we visited, we would have loved to have seen the ornate decorations and objects that belong in the church, and we were disappointed that we didn't have time to get into the museum to see some of these, however we couldn't afford to be left in Luster for the night, so we had to make our way down the hill to get the ferry back to Solvorn.

Urnes itself, even from the outside, is a beautifullly constructed wooden church. It is situated in a beautiful location, and really needs to be seen to be appreciated. Even though we didn't see it in its full glory, I can still undertand exactly why it has been placed on the UNESCO world heritage list, and I would highly recommend anyone to visit this wonderful place if they are passsing though Sogndal. A great day out!

Whilst visiting Flam to take a trip on the famous Flamsbana railway, we had only a couple of options in terms of accommodation whilst we were there. One was the top end of the scale, which was out of our budget, the other was more reasonable....well in Norwegian terms anyway.

The Heimly Pensjonat, was actually recommended by our guide book as a decent place to lay your head at the end of the day, albeit in basic surroundings. So, we knew not to expect the Ritz. We paid around 900NK for our room, which included breakfast, and this rate included the discount from using our Fjordpass.

When we originally looked at booking this accommodation, I phoned the hotel. I asked about using fjord pass to get discount on a room and was told there were no fjord pass rooms available. This was the first time this had happened, so I went back to the fjord pass website and booked it through that, and this time, hey presto, there was no problem and I got a room using the discount. So it was a warning to me to check before accepting as truth what the hotel tells you.

The Heimly Pensjonat is situated in a beautiful location, overlooking the vast and scenic Aurlansfjord. It within walking distance to the Flam railway, although there is plenty of parking at the station if you prefer to take you car. The hotel has its own lot of free parking spaces at the front, though these seem to fill up quickly and there are only a handful available.

There are 25 rooms available at the Heimly Pensjonat. We booked a double/twin room. The staff at reception were very pleasant and friendly and we were given a room on the first floor, which meant hauling luggage up a flight of steps since no elevator was available. You also had to haul you luggage up the steps at the front of the hotel simply to reach the reception, and again, liek I have made mention of before, many of the Norwegian hotels do not appear to cater well for those will disabilities or in wheel chairs.

Our room reminded me of a hostel room. It was small but clean, with two twin beds, covered very sparely with a thin duvet, a little lamp table, and a chair and that was it. There was no TV, phone, radio in the room, however I do believe there is a tv room somewhere in the hotel for guests. The bathroom was also small, with a hole in the ground for the shower with a pull around curtain, which I detest, because the water seems to go all over the bathroom floor. The shower curtain however was far too small, and wouldn't even go the entire way around, meaning even more water spashed out.

Our room faced the back of the hotel, rather than facing the fjord, so our view was very limited and dull.

The breakfast in the morning was better than expected, not the best we had encountered in Norway, but definitely not the worst either. Food was well stocked out with a selection of cold meats, fish, boiled eggs, cereal etc, but the major problem was the lack of space and seating. Guests were literally holding their breakfast in their hand until tables became free, and it was simply too small for the size of the hotel.

All in all, if you are simply looking for somewhere to rest you head after a busy day and you don't mind accommodation that resembles a hostel, then this is ideal. I wouldn't exactly say it is value for money, but then it is Norway, and it was probably one of the cheaper lodgings that we booked, even though it still cost us aroudn £90 for the night, which I don't think anyone would expect to pay for a room in a hostel! If you are looking for somewhere with a little bit more atmosphere, charm and class, then you are probably better paying higher and staying at the other main hotel in town.

Arriving in the town of Sogndal early afternoon, we decided after having a look around and getting our bearings, to check into our prebooked hotel - the Hofslund Fjord Hotel.

Discount at this hotel is available through using the Fjord Pass hotel discount card, and we booked a double room for aroudn 1100Nk (£110). Our guide book had recommended this hotel as well, so we felt in a town with limited lodgings, this looked like the best option.

Photographs that we saw of this hotel show a very architecturally grand buildings, overlooking the Sognefjord, with long grassy lawns stretching down to the shoreline. We somewhat naively expected the inside to be as grand as the outside, but we were very wrong.

Now, I cannot comment on all the rooms, however ours, although we had a nice view looking out at the fjord, was terrible, and one of the worst we stayed in during our Norwegian holiday. To get to our room, we had to park at the side of the hotel, and walk around the front, reaching our room on ground level, with a little terrace on the lawn. Arriving at the room, you couldn't help notice the peeling paint and the terrible outdated decor, worse that we had seen elsewhere.

The front of the room, as I said, had a little terrace, though the seats were so dirty, we never once sat out, and the back of the room opened up onto the corridors. We had two single beds in the room, and TV that resembled one from the 60's, and a horribly dark bathroom, that although clean was small and cramped. Even though this was a terrace front facing room, little or no light got into it, making it seem continually dark and dank.

The hotel has a total of 49 rooms, as well as a heated swimming pool (which we didn't try out) and its own private jetty. There is no elevator in the hotel, which I think is a disgrace for the size of the hotel, and the fact that guests whose room is not on ground level, have to drag their luggage up flights of steps without help. Thankfully for us, with there being ample free parking inside the hotel grounds, we didn't have to take our luggage too far.

When we checked into the hotel, the reception staff were in a middle of a rather heated discussion with some german sounding guests who seemed to be unhappy with their room. However, on the whole we found the staff to be helpful and friendly.

The breakfast room is particularly large, though this somewhat makes it seems very cold, rather than warm and homely. It was nearly too large for the small number of guests having breakfast on the morning we were there. We got a table at the front, overlooking the fjord. Breakfast, included in the price, was just okay. There was no hot food on offer, and a limited selection of other breakfast foods, although these were generally well restocked. We did however manage to get enough to set us for our journey that day.


All in all, I was extremely disappointed with this hotel, and would not recommend it to anyone staying in Sogndal. It is possible that other rooms in the hotel may have been more modern and cared for than ours, although the general corridors and feel of the hotel is dark and dowdy. The entire hotel is in dire need of renovation, including the installation of an elevator, and I feel for the price we paid, albeit that this was a standard price for Norway accommodation, the room and breakfast was far below average.

As I said in the title, the outside of this hotel is very misleading. The outside decor and charm of this hotel is not replicated inside, and thus not recommended!

The town of Balestrand lies at the edge of the Sognefjord, known to be the longest fjord in the world, and despite its pretty location, it does not offer a huge amount to do. It is howeve,r an ideal stop over location for those wanting to break up a long journey, which is exactly what we used it as.

We had taken the summer ferry that day from Fjaerland, and arrived in Balestrand late afternoon. We had already prebooked the Balestrand hotel for our one night's lodgings, and coming off the ferry, it was not difficult to find, especially since the owners of the hotel, give good directions on both their website. The owners also offer to meet you at the harbour or bus stop and take you to the hotel at no cost.

The Balestrand hotel is one of only a handful of hotels in town. The best known hotel is the Kvikne's which I admit did look lovely, however it also had a lovely price tag as well, abnd being on a modest budget, and only needed somewhere to rest our head, we felt the Balestrand Hotel would suit our needs and our wallet much better.

This hotel is a family run business, offering 30 twin rooms, all with their own private bathroom facilities. The front of the hotel faces the beautiful waters of the Sognefjord, and the rooms at the front of the hotel offer balconies allowing guests to sit out and enjoy the terrific views.

The rates charged per person are average for Norwegian hotels, and we paid just over the 1000Nk (£100) again, for our twin room plus breakfast. To pre book a room, you have the option of emailing the hosts or phoning them. We decided to phone the owners at their winter home in California (phone numbers on the hotel's website) and book the room, since we wanting to check about parking facilites etc. (Parking was available in the hotel car park for no cost) Due to the fact that the owners spend half of their year in the US, the hotel is only open for business between May and September.

The hotel itself is very homely but modern. Our room was on the second floor, and these rooms looked to have just recently been refurbished. We had a room facing the back of the hotel, which I think was slightly cheaper at the time of booking, but we had our own little terrace with outdoor seating.

The room was extremely clean, as well as being bright and airy. There are no televisions or phones in the rooms, which to be honest we didn't miss since we weren't in the room that much.

The breakfast too was wonderful, with a great selection on offer, including some delicious jams and warm boiled eggs in a nice size breakfast room. You are not allowed however at this establishment to take any food from the breakfast room.

We found the owners extremely helpful, particularly Unni Marie. Whilst there we had trouble with our rental car. The car manual was not in English, so Unni Marie very kindly tried to translate some of it, which wasn't even in Norwegian! She was very kind and helpful, jsut as we found all of the family we came in contact with to be.

The hotel itself is also very well situated, with only a couple of minutes walk to the beautiful St Olav's Church. Although under reconstruction whilst we were there, visitors were able to walk through the small church, which even had its own resident cat! English speaking services are also held there, and times for these are listed inside the church. The hotel is also a short walk to some nice little cafe's/ restaurants, and there is a little supermarket in town as well.

All in all, the Balestrand Hotel is an ideally situated and priced place to stay whilst visiting this little town, whether as a stop over or as a base to explore further. Although there is little to do, Balestrand's location and scenery make it a wonderful place to visit and stay, and the Balestrand Hotel offers guests all they should need whilst visiting, providing a warm, homely, family atmosphere with the best of service.

Having already visited the Kjenndalsbreen arm of the Jostedalsbreen Glacier, the largest glacier on the European continent, we decided to visit another arm of this glacier- the Boyabreen, since it was on route to Fjaerland where we would be getting the ferry to Balestrand.

This is a much easier way of seeing an arm of the Jostedalsbreen, and a much safer way than driving the perilous road to Kjenndalsbreen. Be warned however, that a consequence of this, is that the place is swarming with tourists, and frequent bus loads of them!

Like Kjenndalsbreen, this glacier arm is stunning to look at and admire, and after parking the car, you only need to walk for approximately 5 minutes until you arrive at the glacier waters, at the foot of the Boyabreen.

However, one of the most memorable parts of our trip to Boyabreen was having lunch at the Brevasshytta restaurant, which offers panoramic views of the glacier. OUr guide book described the restaurant location as being like a giant 'Imex' cinema, as you were so close to the glacier arm, you feel that you could reach out and touch it.

The Brevasshytta restaurant is however very busy, especially when a coach load of tourists arrive. The restaurant is open from May until September, with btoh inside and outside seating. On the day we visited, a large tour group had just finished their lunch, and luckily enough we got a table outside in the beautiful summer sun, with perfect views of the glacier as we ate.

The Brevasshytta restaurant has been serving food since the turn of the century, and inside the decor is made from mostly natural materials, for example walls are made from pine, the floor is made out of slate, and there is a huge stone fireplace inside as well.

There is also a small souvenir shop within the restaurant, where visitors can stock up on gifts for their family and friends.

The food itself resembles that found in a cafeteria, offering both hot and cold at quite reasonable prices. We decided that day to take our main meal of the day at lunchtime, and we were pleased with the size of the platefuls that we got and the service which we received. The restaurant serves a lot of typical norwegian food most of which we had never heard of, but there was still plenty to choose from.

All in all, if you are looking for an easy way to see an arm of the Jostedalsbreen glacier, Boyabreen is one of the best places to go, and is accessible to older people, since it is only a very short walk to the waters edge at the foot of the glacier arm.

If you do visit, be sure to stop at the Brevasshytta restaurant, you will not get 5 star food, but you will get a decent value meal, but more importantly with views that top restaurants would did to have at the doorstop.

Norway is without a doubt expensive. We were prepared for this somewhat by reading our guide book in the run up to our trip, however, we were still shocked when we saw food prices, hotel bills, and prices for attractions, and realised that you weren't always getting a great deal for the money you paid.

One of the attraction, which we liked, but thought was very expensive for all it really entailed, was The Norwegian Glacier Museum - Norsk Bremuseum. This museum is situated in Fjaerland, very close to the Boyabreen glacier arm, and even closer to the Fjaerland ferry taking you to Balestrand.

From the outside, this glacier museum is a very impressive looking building, and in fact was designed by aware winning architect Sverre Fehn. The museum is also situated amongst beautiful scenery, with the glacier in the background, and the looming Fjaerlandsfjord ahead.

There is ample free parking outside this glacier museum, which much room for the coach tours that often descend upon the small museum. The museum is open between April and October, with slightly longer opening hours of 9am to 7pm during the months of June to August. Visits to the museum can be arranged between November and March, but are on request only.

When we visited in July, last year (2008), admission prices for adults was 110Nk (£11) and a child was 50 Nk (£5). Students, families and large groups can get substantial discount. Now, for a single floor museum, with limited exhibitions, I felt paying the 220Nk for both my husband and I was quite expensive, compared with some museums we have visited in other countries, offering a lot more for you money, and had my geologist husband not been so keen to visit, I think the price would have put me off.

Inside the museum there is a small souvenir area to the right, beside the reception/ticket desk, as well as a little cafe. When we arrived, a showing of Ivo Caprino's film about the Jostedalsbreen Ice Cap was about to commence in the cinema. This specatular film set to various music, gave panoramic views of this huge glacier, and lived up to the saying ' a picture speaks a thousand words' as there was no commentary for this film, and there really didn't need to be.

After the film finished we were escorted from the cinema into the relatively new 'climate exhibition' , opened in 2007, allowing visitors to experience past and future climates, as you travel through time starting 4.6 billion years ago, up until the present day. Both the film and this exhibition were my favourite parts of the museum, and of the most interest to me.

You can then return to the main exhibition hall, offering some 20+ exhibitions translated in Norwegian, English and German. However, at the reception desk, you are able to pick up a good guide to the exhibitions in one of 9 different languages including French, Japanese, Italian, Russian and even Spanish.

Exhibitions included those related to the Mammoth, weather, the fjords, Otzi (the 5300 year olf man found in a glacier in the Alps in 1991), and climate changes.

There are numerous exhibitions which explain in detail more about glaciers, what they are, getting energy from them, glacier waters etc. There are also some 'hands on' experiments to try out such as the ice experiment, watching ice melting under extreme pressure and then refreezing.

My husband found a lot of the exhibitions more interesting than I did, however, as I said previously, I much preferred watching the film of the glacier and walking through the climate exhibition. The museum tries hard to provide something for all ages, and it is certainly a place that is worth visiting if you are interested in finding out more about the glacier located not far from the museum. However, I think the museum is grossly over priced for the amount of exhibitions it offers, and really quite expensive if you are on a tight budget travelling around Norway. If money and budgeting are not a problem, then it is worth a visit, but in my opinion the ticket price should be half of what it is, to make this museum really good value for money, and accessible to more visitors.