Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
bus and ferry connections north to Balestrand. Bus and ferry schedules are avail-
able at the Voss tourist office (
&
56-52-08-00
) and the Flåm tourist office
(
&
57-63-21-06
). From Bergen there are daily express boats to Balestrand; the
trip takes 3
1
⁄
2
hours.
VISITOR INFORMATION
The
Tourist Office
(
&
57-69-16-17
in winter,
or 57-69-12-55 in summer) is in the town center. From June to August it's open
daily from 8:30am to 10pm; May and September, daily 9am to 8pm; October
to April, Monday to Saturday 9am to 4pm.
SEEING THE SIGHTS
The staff at the tourist office can help you plan a tour of the area and put you in
touch with local craftspeople. There you can pick up a list of constantly chang-
ing excursions and buy tickets for one of the scheduled 1
1
⁄
2
-day tours—for exam-
ple, a taxi plane across the
Jostedal Glacier.
If offered, the taxi plane, which costs
700NOK to 800NOK ($100-$114), is the most dramatic ride in the area.
If you'd like to do something less arranged, and if it's a summer day, we sug-
gest a leisurely stroll south along the banks of the fjord. You'll pass many 19th-
and early-20th-century homes and gardens along the way. Less than 1km (
1
⁄
2
mile) south along the fjord, you'll come to two
Viking Age burial mounds.
One mound is topped by a statue of the legendary King Bele.
If your appetite's whetted by all the apple trees dotting the landscape, you'll
also find several idyllic spots for a picnic.
Want still more walks? Take the small ferry that leaves Balestrand and crosses
Esefjord to the Dragsvik side. At this point, you can walk along an old country
road that is now abandoned but was in use during the early part of the 20th cen-
tury. This is a scenic stroll through “forgotten” Norway that goes along for 8km
(5 miles).
Kaiser Wilhelm II, a frequent visitor to Balestrand, presented the district with
two statues of Old Norse heroes, King Bele and Fridtjof the Bold. They stand in
the center of town. Another sight is the English church of
St. Olav,
a tiny
wooden building that dates from 1897. The church is closed to the public, but
its construction can be admired from outside.
You can explore the area by setting out in nearly any direction on scenic coun-
try lanes with little traffic or a wide choice of marked trails and upland farm
tracks. The tourist office (see above) sells a touring map for 70NOK ($10).
There's good sea fishing, as well as lake and river trout fishing. Fishing tackle,
rowboats, and bicycles can all be rented in the area.
Back in Balestrand, near the ferry dock, you can visit the
Sognefjord Aquar-
ium
(
&
57-69-13-03
), with its exhibition of saltwater fish. Especially interest-
ing is the marine life from the world's deepest fjord. The cast of denizens of the
A Boot for the Kaiser
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany was on holiday in the village of Balestrand,
visiting a friend, when World War I broke out. Norwegian authorities gave
the kaiser an ultimatum to leave their territory by 6pm that very day. Not
being a man to have his pleasures cut short, Kaiser Wilhelm took his jolly
good time drinking his tea and savoring impressions of the surrounding
landscape before heading full steam out on the fjord aboard his yacht,
minutes before the deadline expired.
Fun Fact
