Fykse

Geitaknottane

Many travellers between Mundheim and Gjermundshamn are captivated by the expansive view toward Øynefjord, Varaldsøy and Folgefonna. The barren pine forest on the slopes on the upper-side of the road is not seen by many. Who would think that this area is home to rare species of plants and animals, creatures who have made their homes here for thousands of years?

Mundheim

At Mundheim there is a dangerous stretch of the highway. The mountainside has given way several times in this area. Typically, it happens in the spring, when the frost has loosened its grip.

Steinsdalsfossen

Øvsthusfossen, or Steinsdalsfossen waterfall, as it is called today, attracts tourists by the thousands, and always has done as long as there have been tourists in Norway, since the early 1800s.

Vangdal

At Salthamaren in Vangdalsberget it is thought that salt was burned some time in history, and deep layers of coal in the ground show that fire has been made up here several times. But they were hardly salt-burners, the first people who stopped here. Some of them carved figures into the rock. On top of the rocky outcrop, furthest out on the cliff, a group of Stone Age hunters carved animal figures. More than 1,500 years later Bronze Age farmers drew ship figures at the foot of the rock. Both these works of art - some of the oldest in Hordaland – are still visible, carved in the rock at Salthamaren.

Vikøy

Through Adolph Tidemand’s detailed close-ups of smokehouses in Kvam, the vicarage in Vikøy, where he lived during his painting trips through Hardanger, has obtained a central position in the Norwegian national romanticism.

Ålvik

Kalvanes

On the 17th of January, 1993, the area between the towns of Odda and Eitrheimsneset were struck by a giant avalanche. One person was killed, and there was a lot of material damage.

Låtefossen

Låtefossen waterfall, or more correctly, waterfalls, plunge 165 metres down the mountainside, 51 of them in free fall - to the enchantment of the many tourists along the highway below. The spectacular view is mainly seen from the stage of the Storelvi river in the valley below the waterfall.

Røldal

The stave church in Røldal was one of the key pilgrimage churches in West Norway. The church was probably built between 1250 and 1350, and in the high Middle Ages Røldal was the most important destination for pilgrims in the country beside the Nidaros cathedral. It was the crucifix that attracted people to midnight mass on midsummer night. That was when it excreted its miraculous sweat.