Queen of Fjords

Our morning breakfast view:



The farm hotel is on a hill and our room was in this building:



More of our hotel with eggplant colored-benches:



Our hotel shuttle dropped us off back in town and to kick off our second Norway in a Nutshell self-guided tour called Hardangerfjord in a Nutshell. The itinerary below, but we forwent the Bergen to Voss segment as we stayed in Voss last night:



We boarded our 1 hour bus to Ulvik which included passing this waterfall on hairpin turns and overlooking the valley:





Then in front of Ulvikfjord, the flag was flown at half mast due to the passing of the beloved King Harald V. The hotel owner was in tears this morning as he was well-respected for his over 3-decade reign. We saw tributes to him throughout the day:



Then we boarded a boat for 30 minutes to Eidfjord to transfer to a bus for Vøringsfoss, Norway's most famous waterfall in the Måbødalen valley:











A unique stairway bridge allows visitors to cross the canyon which we did after taking pictures from afar. The top part of the waterfall:





And then looking over it:







We returned to our bus, thoroughly sweating from the trek. The day was cloudy and very windy, but the walk to all the platforms was definitely a good workout. After returning to Eidfjord, I enjoyed a curry chicken wrap and an apple cider while Rachel ate a chicken burger.



Then we boarded a 3-hour boat that journeys across Hardangerfjord, which is part of the national park and considered the “Queen of Fjords”. The boat captain pointed out this waterfall:



He also advised we could possibly see seals, but we did not. We went under Hardanger Bridge - one of the world’s longest suspension bridges:





We arrived in Norheimsund and popped into a pub where I enjoyed cider and a fish soup and Rachel ordered a beer while we waited for our bus back to Bergen…



In about 80 minutes, we were back in Bergen and said goodbye to the elderly couple we kept running into. So many folks do versions of the Nutshell tours which were really easy and accessible. My ears have thoroughly popped from the elevation climbs and descents through these beautiful valleys.

At the bus station, we boarded the tram back to our hotel and retrieved our luggage from self-storage and checked back into the Moxy Bergen. We celebrated the successful two days with welcome (back) drinks and a taco flatbread pizza. As Rachel said, we did a lot in just two days in Norway! Indeed, we celebrated the king by being on the king and queen of fjords…