Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The tiny, barrel-vaulted
village church (adult/child Nkr30/free; noon-5pm mid-
May-mid-Sep)
, originally built as a stave church in 1147 and seating 40, is the smallest
still-operational house of worship in mainland Scandinavia. Look up at the roof with its
charmingly naive roof paintings of angels, Christ on the cross and other biblical figures,
surrounded by stylised stars.
Undredal's other claim to fame is its cheeses. Well, not exactly fame, as you'll only
find them in a few specialised cheese shops and delicatessens within Norway. Around 500
goats freely roam the surrounding grassy slopes and between them they provide the milk
for around 10 tonnes of cheese per year (work it out: that's a hugely impressive yield per
nipple). Farmers from the valley supply the village's two remaining dairies - once there
were 10 - which still produce the firm yellow Undredal cheese and its brown, slightly
sweet variant, made from the boiled and concentrated whey. You can pick up a hunk of
each at the village shop; it's the light-blue building beside the shore.
Undredal is 6.5km north ofthe E16 downa narrow,steeply threading road (until its con-
struction in 1988, the only access was by sea). If travelling by bus, get off at the eastern
end of the 11km tunnel that leads to Gudvangen. Best of all, take the bus out, walk down
the spectacular valley along the lightly trafficked road and return by boat (press the switch
beside the yellow blinking lamp on the cafe wall beside the jetty to alert the next passing
ferry).
Gudvangen & Nærøyfjord
Nærøyfjord, its 17km length a Unesco World Heritage Site, lies west of Flåm. Beside the
deep blue fjord (only 250m across at its narrowest point) are towering 1200m-high cliffs,
isolatedfarms,andwaterfallsplummetingfromtheheights.Itcaneasilybevisitedasaday
excursion from Flåm.
Kjelsfossen waterfall
tumbles from the southern wall of Nærøydalen valley, above
Gudvangen village. Notice too the
avalanche protection scheme
above Gudvangen. The
powerfulavalanchesheretypicallyprovideaforceof12tonnespersqmetre,moveat50m/
second and, local legend reckons, can bowl a herd of goats right across the fjord!
The approach by boat is wondrous but Gudvangen itself, like a mini Flåm only more
constricted, is very missable. Boats belch diesel fumes at your feet, coaches back up at the
rear and the cafe-restaurant plays the Viking card for all it's worth.
A pair of campgrounds flank the road, 1.3km from the ferry port. Each is well equipped
andbeautifullysituatedatthebaseofsheercliffs-butoh,thenoisefromtrafficpassingon
the busy E6 if you're sleeping in a tent!
Gudvangen Camping
CAMPGROUND €€
