We stayed at the Grand Fjord Hotel which is just outside of the village of Geiranger which lies at the end of the famous fjord, a world heritage site. We had hoped to take a bus back to Åndalsnes over the famous Trollstigen but we were exactly one day too early! So we had to take an early morning bus and get back to Åndalsnes by a roundabout route. That route was spectacular too. I will upload photos from that portion of our trip one day soon. I need to consult a map so I can name the fjords we saw that day as well as the day before. Norway has some great bus rides ... and ferry rides ... and train rides. We did all three. The Rauma line (Raumabanen) from Dombås to Åndalsnes is one of the world's best train rides. I will upload photos from our train rides one day soon, too.
Andalsnes was destroyed in World War 2 and the replacement buildings are not very aesthetic compared especially to towns like Alesund. But ... what a fantastic location! We hiked up the mountain which you can see in photos of Åndalsnes and vicinity. A nearby mountain is the Trollvegen which is world famous for mountain climbers but has possibly seen its better days since it could be falling apart.
Here's a blurb about it from trollveggen.net:
Trollvegen (TrollWall) is the highest vertical mountain wall in Europe . It is 5950 feet from the valley to the top of the wall. Out of this, 3300 feet are vertical together with a 150 feet overhang.
Somebody said the whole nation of Norway would be declared a National Park if it were located here in the USA.
