Summary
It’s time to move on again and this time we drove a mere 90 miles in something like 6 hours at 30.4mpg. This is the worst economy we have experienced and a reflection of the mountainous terrain we traversed. I’ve lost track now of how many ferries were involved but it was probably two – and we always seem to arrive just as the barriers are coming down.
Trollstigen is an impressive mountain pass that twists through eleven hairpin bends up the steep mountain sides in the Romsdalen valley.
After walking around the top of the mountain and taking in the various viewpoints, we arrived at Vinje camping, Geiranger, in the middle of the afternoon. We found a nice pitch but this area is a real tourist honey trap and it wasn’t long before the “Campsite Full” signs were out.
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Trollstigen (or the “Troll Path” in English) is a serpentine mountain road and pass in Rauma Municipality, Norway.
It is part of Norwegian County Road 63 that connects the town of Åndalsnes in Rauma and the village of Valldal in Fjord Municipality. It is a popular tourist attraction for its steep incline of 10% and eleven hairpin bends up a steep mountainside. During the peak of the tourist season, about 2,500 vehicles pass this landmark, daily.
The road is narrow with many sharp bends, and although several bends were widened during 2005 to 2012, vehicles over 12.4 metres long are prohibited from driving the road. At the 700-metre plateau are a car park and several viewing balconies overlooking the bends and the Stigfossen waterfall. Stigfossen falls 320 metres down the mountainside. The pass has an elevation of approximately 850 metres (2,790 ft).
Trollstigen is closed during late autumn and winter. A normal operating season stretches from mid-May to October but is sometimes shorter or longer because of weather conditions.
Once we had chosen our pitch at Vinje camping, we set off down the hill into Gerainger. The town was very busy, mainly due to the visiting Cruise ship. However, the cruise passengers, inevitably on an “all-inclusive” don’t spend much time in the cafes or restaurants so we found a nice cafe with shaded patio area for a couple of beers and a snack. A tough walk back up the mountain to the campsite thereafter.
