Southern Norway - Norway - page 264

around Nkr450 one-way. Allow all day for the hike, which leaves plenty of time for
exploring the summit. The tourist office distributes a map of the Fv651, but the
Turkart Gausta Området is a better option and is available for Nkr50.
More-difficult, three- to four-hour routes to the summit also run from Rjukan itself
and from the Norwegian Industrial Workers' Museum.
If you can't make the hike, the soon-to-reopen Gaustabanen service takes you al-
most to Gaustahytta.
Hardangervidda
For something a little wilder, but bleaker, the Hardangervidda Plateau ( Click here ),
the biggest mountain plateau in Europe and home to Europe's largest herd of wild
reindeer, rises up to the north of Rjukan and offers a wealth of fantastic hikes that
vary from easy two- to three-hour strolls to longer day hikes and multiday chal-
lenges. From Gvepseborg, the summit of the Krossobanen cable car, the most re-
warding day hike is the five-hour (without stops) round trip to the Helberghytta
DNT Hut . The route has good way marking and although it can be very boggy in
sections, it's easily achievable for any moderately fit walker (we last did it with a six-
month-old baby strapped to our back). The first section winds up from the cable-car
platform through a forest of stumpy, twisted trees before emerging onto the gently
undulating plateau. The scenery, which takes in icy cold lakes, snow-streaked hills,
barren moorland and views back over towards Mt Gausta, is supremely impressive.
For something more challenging, an eight to nine-hour route, which can also be
used by cyclists, leads from the cable-car platform past the Helberghytta DNT Hut
(following the route described previously) and onward to Kalhovd Turisthytte .
From there you can either catch a bus or hike nine hours down to Mogen Turis-
thytte , where you can catch the Møsvatn ferry (Nkr255) back to Skinnarbu, west of
Rjukan on Rv37; ferry timetables are available from the Rjukan tourist office. Seri-
ous hikers can also strike out north from Kalhovd, deep into the high Hardanger-
vidda.
Alternatively, you can follow the marked route that begins above Rjukan Fjellstue,
around 10km west of Rjukan and just north of the Rv37. This historic track follows
the Sabotørruta (Saboteurs' Route), the path taken by the members of the Norwegi-
an Resistance during WWII (see the boxed text, Click here ). From late June until
mid-August, the tourist office organises three-hour guided hikes along this route
(Nkr200; noon Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday).