Åndalsnes, Norway

We changed up our strategy for Norway, we chose three places to spend a couple nights at each. Our first stop in Norway was Åndalsnes. Our first day in Norway began with an early morning flight from Iceland to Oslo. We caught a train out of the Oslo airport heading to Dombas where we transferred to the Raumabanen which took us in to Åndalsnes. The train ride is often rated as one of the most scenic in Europe and it did not disappoint. After we arrived to the train station, we had a 2km walk in the rain and the dark to our cabin at the Åndalsnes Camping and Motell.

Day two in Åndalsnes was spent exploring the little town. Åndalsnes is a very popular destination for climbers and mountaineers and they have a huge mountaineering center in downtown called the Norsk Tindesenter. The building has a massive indoor climbing wall and the building sits right on the harbor. After we had a really good lunch there, we heading out to a beach at Kammen park. The views surrounding the city were absolutely beautiful! That evening we got word that there was a high chance of seeing the Northern Lights. Unfortunately we couldn’t see the Aurora Borealis but I got some great pictures off the bridge next to where we were staying.

Our third day was for hiking. There is a one way bus that will take you up to the trailhead at Romsdalseggen and the hike eventually ends in downtown Åndalsnes. Its a 10km hike that starts with 800m (~2400ft) of vertical covered in the first 3km and ends with a 1200m descent over the last 3km. It was a rough hike. But it was so totally worth it! It might be the most beautiful hike I’ve ever been on, the views were freakin’ nuts! The hike took us about 6 hours and we finished it with beers and ice cream at the Sødahlhuset Cafe.

(Also, please excuse all the repetitive pictures of the mountains around our campground, the light was different every time and I had trouble picking favorites)