Norway and Denmark. Fjords, Ferries, and Forts
At first blush, our itinerary seemed outrageously ambitious. We would fly to Oslo and drive a rental car northwest to see glacial fjords near Flåm before proceeding south to Kristiansand, near Norway’s southernmost point. We would then cross the Skagerrak Strait by ferry, bound for the Danish city of Hirtshals and continue southward to Copenhagen, Denmark. Time permitting, we would cross the Øresund Strait to see Malmö, Sweden. It seemed like a long way to drive a rental car.
Departing Oslo, it took five hours on the E16 to reach the Flåmsdale Valley. Located at the innermost point of the Aurlandsfjord arm of the Sognefjord (fjord), Flåm (population 350) is a meeting point where travelers coming from Oslo on Flåm Railway connect with cruise ships that carry them on to Bergen, on Norway’s Atlantic coast. Our first stop was Flåm’s waterfront. It was strange to see green sea water so far inland. To reach Flåm, ferries and cruise ships travel 206 kilometers through a narrow fjord connected to the Atlantic Ocean. Hoping for better views of the fjord, we drove a few kilometers to the town of Aurlandsvagen and then up a windy road with several spectacular viewpoints. Aurlandsfjord is a branch of Sogne, Norway’s longest and deepest (962 meters) fjord, and among the most picturesque U-shaped valleys in the world. Carved by enormous valley glaciers and later invaded by ocean water, Aurlandsfjord is just two kilometers wide in some places. On our return to Flåm we visited Ægir Brewpub next to the Flåmsbrygga Hotel. With a high A-frame roof, Ægir was designed to look like a Norse church with wooden benches around a central fireplace. Above large wooden tables were driftwood walls decorated with wood carvings including dragon heads. After dinner at a nearby restaurant, we settled for the night in a hostel located on the lowest floor of a large house that sat on wooden piers. Our evening was restful until the group renting the house above us returned from the brewpub.
With a rugged landscape of steep mountains and deep fjords, Norway’s geography presents significant transportation and engineering challenges. Departing Flåm, we drove through Gudvanga, Norway’s third longest (11.4 kilometers) tunnel. The country has over a thousand tunnels including a 14.4 kilometer underwater route between Stavanger and Ryfylke. We continued past the 126-meter-tall Stalheim Waterfall at the head of Næroydal Valley. Driving through the town of Vossevangen, we crossed Hardanger Fjord along the east side of Folgefonna National Park. Continuing south we spent a night in the port city of Kristiansand (population 116,000). Kristiansand was founded as a military garrison in 1641 by King Christian IV. During the 18th century, the city was a center for shipbuilding and in the early 20th century it was the site of a nickel refinery. In April 1940, Kristiansand was attacked by German air and naval forces during Operation Weserübung, the Nazi invasion of Norway.
We arrived early the next morning to wait in line for a ferry that would take us across Skagerrak Strait between southeastern Norway and Denmark’s Jutland Peninsula. Skagerrak is geopolitically important because it forms a narrow passage between the Kattegat Sea to the east with the North Sea to the west. Although we had eaten at our hotel before departing, my travel companion and I had a second breakfast on the ferry that included pastries, fresh fruit, pickled herring, and smoked salmon. We disembarked at the artificial harbor in Hirtshals, Denmark and continued south to the city of Randers (population 64,000), a thriving market town in Medieval times. Among its most photogenic buildings is Helligåndshuset (the Holy Spirit house), built as a convent and later converted into a school. Today, the two-story brick building is used as a library and tourist office. The flat terrain of Denmark’s Jutland Peninsula formed a contrast to Norway’s rugged landscape. Just south of the city of Mølholm we turned east on the E20 towards Copenhagen. Before returning our rental car, we crossed the Øresund Bridge for a brief visit to the Swedish City of Malmö.
Eight kilometers in length, Øresund is the longest combination roadway/railway bridge in Europe. The third largest city in Sweden, Malmö (population 360,000) was founded in the 13th century as a fortified harbor-city. In June 1677, Malmö Castle survived an attack by 14,000 Danish troops. With two of its original four circular bastions still standing, the castle was built by Eric of Pomerania who served as king of Sweden, Demark, and Norway in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. After housing a military garrison, Malmö Castle was a prison and then a homeless shelter before becoming a museum in 1937. It is Scandinavia’s oldest surviving Renaissance-era castle. We toured the castle and then walked north to Turning Torso. Built in 2005, Turning Torso is the second twisting high rise building in the world (the first is in Malaysia). Measuring 190 meters in height, the skyscraper has 54 stories and 147 apartments.
Returning to Copenhagen, we dropped off our rental car before exploring the city on foot. Established as a Viking village in the 10th century, Copenhagen became Denmark’s capital during the 15th century. I had been to Copenhagen before but my travel companion was visiting the city for the first time so we decided to see as much as we could. Our tour included stops at Tivoli Gardens (the world’s third oldest amusement park), the famous Little Mermaid statue, and Amalienborg, the official residence of the Danish Royal Family. We also walked along Nyhaven, a waterfront area established in the 17th century that is now lined with bars, restaurants, and fashionable townhouses. Author Hans Christian Anderson lived in Nyhaven between 1845 and 1864. That evening we returned to our hotel, located a few blocks northwest of Rosenborg Castle.