SEVEN WATERFALLS TOUR: Private roundtrip to the Hardanger Fjord, 12 hours

Our tour starts in the city of Bergen - the Gateway to the Fjords. The city, founded in 1070, contains many historical and cultural landmarks. We will pass some of them on our way from the city and also on our return to Bergen.

Sørfjorden or the South fjord is part of the Osterfjord which is a peculiar natural phenomenon: an salt water inlet that surrounds the largest inland island in Northern Europe—Osterøy Island—enclosed by continental land. We drive along the South fjord until we come the crossroads in Trengereid. (Usually we do not stop here.)

From the village of Trengereid we take Route #7 to the Hardangerfjord. (Usually we do not stop here.)

Hardangervegen or the Hardanger Road is Norwegian route #7. This road is a tourist attraction in itself. We will see beautiful sights along the way: mountains, lakes and waterfalls. On the way to the Hardangerfjord we will make two photo stops at 2 waterfalls: Fossen Bratte and Steinsdalsfossen.

We make a stop at Fossen Bratte waterfall – 259 feet (79 meters) tall. The view is great and you can take some memorable pictures here. A short walking tour to the bottom of the waterfall is highly recommended - you simply must feel the roaring freshness and gentle and pure water drops on your face.

The next stop is at Steinsdalsfossen waterfall – 164 feet (50 meters) tall. You can actually walk behind the falling water without getting wet. A walk behind the waterfall to the viewpoint is highly recommended.

After passing through two quaint small towns Norheimsund and Øystese, we continue on to Fyksesundet – a narrow fjord that we cross on Fyksesund suspension bridge, built in 1937.

On the other side of Fyksesundet lies Steinstø – a small farming community with Steinstø fruit farm and fruit kiosk and café. We can stop there for a cup of coffee, a piece of apple pie and a view of the fjord.

The Hardangerfjord is the second longest fjord in Norway. We will be travelling along the fjord to Granvin, cross the fjord on the Hardanger bridge and continue our journey to Eidfjord.

Before we cross the Hardangerfjord we take a short detour on an alternate road and make a stop at Skjervsfossen waterfall, with its twin falls plunging out from a height of 150 metres.

After a while, we come to one of the Hardangerfjord's narrower places. Here we will cross the fjord on the Hardanger Bridge – a suspension bridge from 2013 with a main span of 1310 metres (4300 ft). This magnificent structure is preceded by an 8 km (5 miles) long tunnel. Another tunnel awaits on the other side. We stop at the viewpoint overlooking the fjord and the bridge on the other side.

When we have passed the village of Eidfjord, a popular cruise ship destination, we drive to Øvre Eidfjord, where we will have time for lunch at the cosy yet spacious Hardangervidda Hall Restaurant (open April—October).

There will be other possibilities to have lunch along the way.

While stopping in Øvre Eidfjord, you can also visit the "Norwegian Nature Center – Hardanger", a museum and visitor center of the Hardangervidda National Park, dedicated to flora, fauna, geology and history of the region (open April—October). Entrance fee is not included. There you may also watch a beautiful film on 5 screens (Supervideograph system) by a Norwegian-Italian director Ivo Caprino – a film about the magnificent sights on the Hardangervidda plateau.

Our next stop is Vøringsfossen waterfall, 182 metres (597 ft) tall, located at the very end of Måbødalen valley where the Hardangervidda begins. The viewpoint consists of several secure platforms overhanging the waterfall and the canyon. The view is mesmerizing: raging waters falling to the bottom of the canyon, the rugged valley with a stream meandering below surrounded by lush yet fragile tundra landscape.

In case we have enough time, we may continue farther up into the Hardangervidda plateau above the timberline – where the landscape changes and we find ourselves in bare mountain landscape surrounded by rock and lichen.

After Vøringsfossen waterfall, and possibly a short ride up the Hadangervidda plateau, we return to the Hardangerfjord and continue our journey to the Sørfjord.

Our next stop is Husedalen valley – the valley of waterfalls. We ascend the valley and make stops at Tveitafossen waterfall and—if the road is open—at Nyastølfossen (a short hike i required). If we have enough time, and you are up to it, we can take a longer hike up the valley to the third waterfall—Nykkjesøyfossen—before we return to the fjord.

We get on with our journey in the southern direction and reach the town of Odda: the largest settlement on the Hardangerfjord, an important town for tourism and industry, recently made popular by the Netflix series Ragnarok. We can stop here for a cup of coffee and a snack before we drive to Låtefossen waterfall.

Låtefossen is a 541 feet (165 meters) tall raging waterfall flowing into the river Opo. Actually, the waterfall is a merging of two falls: Låtefossen and Skarsfossen. Both are fuelled with water from Lotevatnet Lake uphill. This waterfall was one of the most favourite attractions among cruise ship tourists in the 19th century. This stop is our southernmost. From here, we start our return to Bergen.

We drive back to Odda and through the Folgefonn Tunnel to the main Hardanger fjord. The Folgefonn Tunnel is Norway's fourth longest tunnel, as of 2020: 11.15 km long, dug under 4500 feet of rock and the Folgefonna glacier.

On the other side of the mountain awaits the Maurangsfjord: a cosy and secluded narrow fjord branching off the main Hardangerfjord. We drive along this fjord until we reach Furebergsfossen waterfall.

Furebergsfossen is the last of the main 7 waterfalls on our journey. The fall is 295 feet (90 meters) tall and flows not into a lake or a river, but directly into the salty waters of the fjord.

We cross the fjord on a car ferry and travel along the fjord to the village of Mundheim and head towards the neighbouring fjord – the Eikelandsfjord. From here we drive directly to Bergen.