HORDALAND COUNTY Welcome to Hordaland County and the weather right now! Hordaland County is one out of 19 countys in Norway with a area of 15,449 km2 and a population of approximately 445,500. Each County is divided into different township / county council. For Hordaland County you will find the links to your "right" (township for the whole country is 430) or read a short story given below. HORDALAND FACTS Towns: Bergen, population approximately 221,000 inhabitants. International airport: Bergen Airport: Stord International ferry connections: To / from England, Iceland, Denmark, Shetland and Scotland Railway: The Bergen line, round trip Bergen - Oslo Longest fjord: The Hardangerfjord, 179 km National park: Hardangervidda 3,430 sq km Glaciers: Folgefonna 225 sq km, Hardangerjøkulen 78 sq km. SEE VIDEO WHY YOU SHOULD VISIT US ! Bergen, Norway´s second largest city, is richIy endowed with historical artefacts, an extensive shopping area and vibrant street life. Just outside its centre, you will find a completely different Hordaland. A Hordaland far from the bustle of the city, where blue-green water, lush green hills and steep slopes are the ingredients and where the tranquillity is of another and more intense kind. You will find fjords and mountains everywhere, providing a natural framework for our county. Every day, 365 days a year, a Coastal Steamer ship leaves Bergen for Kirkenes. Untamed nature abounds in the valleys of Bergsdalen, Modalen and Eksingedalen. Among many Norwegian waterfalls the best known one is Vøringfossen. The new road from Romarheim to Mo is an exciting road to take from Bergen to Voss. At Rallarmuseet (the Navy Museum) in Finse, you will see exhibition displays depicting the construction and building of the railway line between Bergen and Oslo. Alvøen in Bergen is a beautiful area for walking, with a museum attached to the old paper factory. The trolley car railway takes you 985 metres up the mountainside at Skjeggedal. Take a trip to Stord, an island which in many ways is in mineature Hordaland and be sure not to miss Sunnhordland Museum in Leirvik. Sæbøtunet in Etne is also worth a visit. You can hire a boat and water skis, go sailing on a fishing boat or up in the sky in a seaplane - the possibilities are almost limitless. Paragliding, rafting, gliding, hanggliding, mountain climbing, fly-fishing, parachute jumping, riding, wind surfing and hiking - and plenty of other possibilities we haven´t even thought of. SPRING IN HARDANGER A pink and white symphony of apple blossom contrasting sharply with green hills and snow capped mountains, the fjord acting as a back drop. This is what spring is like in Hardanger. Lofthus and Ulvik are good places in which to experience this. Ullensvang alone has half a million fruit trees. COASTAL CULTURE In the old days, farmers rowed from all over Vestland to sell their goods in the market place in Bergen. They rowed through a coastal landscape of countless islands, narrow straits and inlets, and in between branch fjords and open stretches of sea. Inns were dotted along the length of the coast, a day´s journey between them. Most of them have gone now, but a few have been taken care of and restored to their former glory. Glesvær in Sund, Færøysund in Fitjar and Fedje in Nordhordaland are just three of them. Farmers no longer go on those long rowing trips to Bergen - but coastal life prevails. Make sure you experience it for yourself ! Take your car over to Øygarden, visit the coastal communities by ferry or hire a boat and make your own way there. MORE THAN FISHING Of course, you´ll catch fish. Sometimes you´ll catch so many fish, you won´t know what to do with them. In some places, you can hire a boat and all the equipment you need for cleaning and freezing the fish afterwards. Where should you go to fish ? Well, anywhere you like along the coast, actually. Bømlo and Austevoll south of Bergen, Sotra and Øygarden just off the coast, or the islands of Halsnøy, Radøy and Fedje north of Bergen. A natural starting point Bergen is a natural starting point for your holiday. You can even make a trial run of any mountain trips you´ve planned by practising in the city which was once the capital, when Norway was a great power. Its seven famous mountains no longer form the city bound aries. Bergen has become much too big for that and its boundaries have been extended to such an extent that you can hike up to a height of 600 - 700 metres in the heart of the city. And, while you´re visiting the capital of Vestland, there are plenty of other things for you to see, hear and do. The inhabitants of Bergen are proud of Grieg and Troldhaugen, of Fløien (funicular railway) and Maria-kirken, Håkonshallen, the tower of Rosenkrantz, Bryggen wharf area (which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List), the fish market and Fjellveien and Nordnes, in short, they are proud of their city! And they have good reason to be, as Bergen has a unique and charming atmosphere which you must take your time to aborb fully. HARDANGERFJORD Hardangerfjord is commonly known as "the fertile fjord". On a spring day, with hundreds of thousands of apple kees in full bloom on the Hardanger hillsides, it is easy to see why. At its mouth, the fjord is large and wide, but it´s not too steep and there is room enough for good-sized towns to nestle at the foot of the steep mountains. You really must visit the Rosendal Barony and, while you are there, make time for a trip to the nature reserve on the island of Varaldsøy. Ferries sail from Løfallstrand. VOSS Agricultural Voss has cultural traditions stretching back centuries and continues, today, to be an important centre for folk music. Visit the Møstertunet folk museum and don´t miss out on Finnesloftet, a wooden banqueting hall which dates from around 1250. If you are travelling by car, take the Stalheimskleivene road down to Sognefjord. They don´t build roads like that anymore! POSSIBILITIES In every township / county council you will find links to accommodation, restaurants, shopping, car rental, airports, coaches and train. ACTIVITIES The choice of different activities in Norway such as Golf, skiing, bikeing, cruising, fishing, stave churching etc. In order that you may get the best out of your visit we recommend that you visit our Tourist Information. Askøy Austevoll Austrheim Bergen Bømlo Eidfjord Etne Fedje Fitjar Fjell Fusa Granvin Jondal Kvam Kvinnherad Lindås Masfjorden Meland Modalen Odda Os Osterøy Radøy Samnanger Stord Sund Sveio Tysnes Ullensvang Ulvik Vaksdal Voss Øygarden