The city of Bergen was the start of a four-day journey around a small, but diverse section of western Norway, which stretched from Bergen to Haugesund.
Along the way is the spectacular Hardangerfjorden, snow-drenched ski resorts, and quaint fishing villages, reflecting the rich diversity of landscapes, activities and history of the region.
Picturesque Bergen, a World Heritage city, is relatively small, snuggled around various inlets and at the base of steep mountains.
There are pockets of old, painted, weather-boarded houses that weave along winding streets.
The best example being the Unesco World Heritage site of Bryggen, a picture-postcard scene of wooden buildings, best seen up the mountain above Bergen, via the Floibanen (a funicular railway).
In the evening I head for the waterside, and to the Bryggen to eat at the excellent, understated Bryggeloftet restaurant, which mixes ancient charm with warm hospitable surroundings, serving good food from fresh fish to the Norweigen favourite, reindeer.
Leaving Bergen the following morning, I arrive at Voss, a pleasant alpine town, with excellent skiing conditions, imposing snow-covered mountains and wide lakes. A defining image of the resort is its vintage lift system. I’m joined by some locals who are apparently much more at ease, as we swing about during a creaky climb up the mountain in a gondola dating back to 1963. Six hundred ft higher, and 10 minutes later, I’m delighted to be hitting the slopes.
This small resort, which would be dwarfed by those in the Alps, offers a blend of cruising pistes higher up the mountain, tree-lined runs further down, and competition runs for the experienced skier. Something which sets this region apart from the Alps, however, is the complete lack of hussle and bussle, with little or no queuing, which offers a wonderful sense of freedom, calm and enjoyment.
For learners there is the massive bonus of having no one whizzing past you, and the lift pass is cheap and the slopes challenging enough. The downside of course being advanced skiers will find less to occupy them.
In the afternoon we travel to nearby Fjellandsby, in Myrkdalen, 26km to the north, which is an easy place to miss, so new is this resort. While the area is developing quickly, it is still very much in its infancy, with a mix of basic slopes and one or two more challenging for the experienced skier.
Our hotel, the recently built Myrkdalsstovo, is the focus of the resort. It has a very modern look and feel, offering simple, stylish rooms, and all just a snowball’s throw away from yet more blissfully quiet lifts.
Journeying north, the landscape is dominated by valleys, mountainous slopes and dramatic waterfalls.
A 20-minute car ferry from Kvanndal to Utne takes us across the HardangerFjord, a vast expanse of black ink-like water, surrounded on all sides by imposing white mountains.
The evening is spent in Odda, in the Hardangervidda national park, at the simple, hospitable Vasstun guesthouse.
Next stop Roldal, a 40-minute drive. Røldal, which includes a stave church dating back to the 14th Century, proudly proclaims it has the deepest snow in Europe.
It’s Saturday morning, and for the first time, a flurry of activity not just from the skies. The weekend was here, and as the music boomed all the way up the chair lift, everyone from snow-boarders catching “big air’” to toddlers tentatively making their first snow plough lapped up this winter playground with an infectious sense of fun.
If the skiing was not what I expected, then lunch certainly proved a surprise.
I was whisked away by snow mobile to a specially dug shelter, where the chef, wearing a fur hat made from a Russian wolf, served up tender reindeer steaks, washed down with cold beers plucked from the snow.
Heading south for the windswept coastline of Haugalandet brought me to Norway’s birthplace, and to Haugesund, Haugalandet’s largest town, which owes its prosperity to the 19th-Century herring fishing industry.
The Rica Maritim Hotel, situated on the town’s pleasant waterfront, was the perfect place to unwind after a day’s skiing, before heading for The Viking Farm project at Bukkøy on Karmøy, 10km from Haugesund.
The attraction provides an engrossing social history, in a stark, striking landscape, typified by St Olav’s Church, a powerful symbol of a bygone kingdom set on a windswept hill where little has changed since it was built in 1250.
At the southernmost tip of the island is Skudeneshavn, my last stop, a sleepy town where colonial-style buildings are sandwiched in narrow streets. A ship’s figurehead dominates the harbour entrance, a reminder of the rich seafaring heritage and the magnificent tall ships that once populated the waters.
Breathtaking scenery, immense snow and a rich history await visitors to this special area of Norway, and with cheaper airfares from the UK to Oslo, maybe now it will begin to take off.
By Chris Parker.
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