Trollstigen and on to Ålesund

Thursday, June 20, 2024

We woke up to a breezy and partly sunny morning at our fjord-side hotel. We continued our drive on the Geiranger–Trollstigen scenic route, even though we knew the road would be closed at the summit, so the trip would be one way up and then back down. Our first stop was a small walk along a river canyon called Gudbrandsjuvet. We then continued up a wide valley along the river. Eventually we went above the tree line and the mountains were quite remarkable, barren with sharp peaks. 

Below are several photos from the drive up to the Trollstigen viewpoint, with the waterfall at Gudbrandsjuvet shown above.

We arrived at the Trollstigen visitor center at the summit and found out that not only was the road closed, so were the cafe, visitor center and bathrooms! The wind was still howling, but one of us walked to the end of the scenic boardwalk and got a fantastic view of the mountains, the waterfall and the Trollstigen Road, winding down the hillside. There was visible evidence of the rock slide two days ago, but we couldn’t see any work on repairing the road (later we saw a notice that the road would be closed the rest of the year).

Below are some photos showing the portion of the road closed due to the landslide.  In the third one, you can make out the

area where the rocks slid across the road.

This shows the far platform at the viewpoint.

We turned around and went back down hill to the fjord and then turned west and drove to the town of Ålesund. We got there in the early afternoon. It was raining pretty hard by this time, so we looked for something to do that was (mostly) inside. We drove a few miles past the center of town out on an island that houses the Aquarium of the Atlantic. We saw many interesting exhibits about the local ocean and Norwegian fisheries. We had seen trout on many menus in Norway and learned something new. Rainbow trout is actually a salmonid from North America. It is the result of breeding from 200 families over several generations, with a color similar to salmon. Farming rainbow trout was common in Europe from the 1890s, but started in Norway around the same time as salmon.

The highlight of the aquarium was the playful otters in the outdoor exhibit. The rain mostly stopped by that point, but the wind was still pretty fierce (although less severe than at the top of the Trollstigen).

Humboldt Penguins above, and the charming otters, below.

Friday, June 21, 2024 (“Midsummer” the longest day of the year)

Because we are staying in an apartment, we decided to go out for breakfast this morning; the earliest we could find one open was 7:30. We had our first Norweigan kanelboller, a Scandinavian cinnamon bun, of the trip at a local cafe, and they were excellent. 

There were three cruise ships in the Ålesund port unloading passengers this morning. We feared for overcrowding in town, but it was not too bad. We strolled around the old part of Ålesund, admiring the art nouveau buildings. 

We then took our car to the nearby Sunnmore Open Air Museum. We toured the outdoor exhibits, which include old buildings from the region with their histories. There is also an inside exhibit which tells quite a bit about how the people in the area have lived over the past several centuries. Here is one photo from the museum showing the Sunnmore Alps in the distance.

We then drove back into town and up to the Aksla viewpoint, which offered a 270 degree view from the mountains, around the port, and to the island with the airport. It was not clear, but still a nice view. 

We then drove back into town and had lunch. Then we got in the car and drove out to several neighboring islands. After taking several tunnels and a small bridge, we got to the first island, Giskę. There we parked the car and took a walk through a nature reserve at Makkevika, where the rocky shore had many sea birds. At the point, we could see several seals off the shore. 

From our coastal walk.

We returned to our car and went through another tunnel to the next island, Godøya. This island is dominated by a large stone mountain. At the northwest part, it has a famous lighthouse in the small fishing village of Alnes. After walking around the lighthouse, we drove back to Ålesund, parked the car and enjoyed walking around in an old part of the city. Today it did not rain!

The Alnes lighthouse.

Tomorrow we will head back away from the coast and spend more time amongst the fjords. A map of our route down from the Trollstigen viewpoint to Alesund as well as the places we visited in Alesund is next. Below that, a photo from tomorrow morning, showing how much more attractive the port is in the sun.

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