By road, the trip between Lærdal and Bergen is 200 km and takes 3 hours. The map shows the terrain which turned our day into 12 hours of breathtaking adventure as we explored the Sognefjord aka "The King of the Fjords".
First adventure - driving through the 24.5 km Lærdal Tunnel - Opened in 2000, it's the longest road tunnel in the world and connects Oslo and Bergen without ferry crossings and difficult mountain crossings. It has three illuminated "caves" to break the journey. A business opportunity for a coffee cart operator!
Next adventure - a two hour cruise on the Sognefjord - only 5 of my 200 photos! No spectacular waterfalls with the heat, lack of rain and time of the year. The fires in Sweden are now a big topic of conversation for the locals along with the weather!
The Vikings were waiting for us when we ended our cruise!
Vikings aren't into coffee...so we headed off to Stalheim Hotel with this magnificent view!
Final adventure - 20 km trip on the Flam Railway
This view from the Flam shows the old road scribbling its way up the mountain!
Bergen's the 2nd largest city in Norway and known as "the rainiest city on Earth" - it rains 240 days a year. We avoided it! It's so hot this year that the locals have their own beach!
Bryggen is the oldest area of the city where a maze of wooden dwellings built around courtyards are crowded together with narrow alleys winding between them.
Haakon's Hall in Bergenhus Fortress is 750 years old - another with an upturned Viking ship as the ceiling.
Finally, a visit to the home of Edvard Grieg, Bergen's most famous resident - perhaps best known for the Peer Gynt Suite. Useless trivia - Edvard was 4 feet 8.5 inches and married his cousin!
