National tourist road

The boat was a traditional means of transportation between villages and the rest of the world in olden times. Eventually, wagon roads were built between the villages before postal roads were constructed towards the cities. Then came the first narrow and charming roads that wound their way between rivers, lakes, mountains, and villages, before magnificent year-round roads with gigantic bridges and miles-long tunnels took over the traffic. We still see traces of many postal roads, and several old venerable road stretches are still maintained by the authorities under the concept of the National Tourist Route. In Eidfjord, the National Tourist Route Hardangervidda starts and takes you 6.7 kilometers and 1241 meters up the mountain to the high mountain village of Haugastøl. Parts of the old trail are only open to pedestrians or cyclists and follow the mountainsides up to Hardangervidda, and must be considered as a wild, beautiful, narrow, and very airy experience. The road is a spectacular and contrasting journey, from the lush fjord landscape in the west to the rugged and bare high mountain in the east. On the way, you also pass "Vøringsfossen", which is one of Norway's most important and most visited tourist attractions, and probably the country's most famous waterfall. At the top, you can walk across bridge elements with a great view of the waterfall and down into the deep valley bottom, 182 meters straight below you.