Vestland

Vestland

Vestland is the land of giants where the deepest fjords and biggest glaciers on earth are found. You find yourself in a world of misty waterfalls that crash down right beside the narrow roads. The landscape is a vertical marvel where the Sognefjord reaches deep into the heart of the mountains. It is a place of massive scale where the ice and the water have carved a masterpiece into the rock. A road trip here is an epic adventure through the soul of the fjords. You move from the fruit valleys of **Hardanger** to the high blue ice of **the Jostedalsbreen glacier**. The roads are a feat of human skill winding through **the Lærdal Tunnel or over the Sognefjellet pass**. You find yourself driving through the narrow **Nærøyfjord** area and past the colorful wharf of Bergen. The scenery is iconic with mountain farms perched on cliffs and quiet orchards by the water. You can take the ferry across the fjords and watch the mountains rise up around the boat. Every mile offers a new waterfall like **Vøringsfossen** or a dramatic viewpoint like **Stegastein**. Vestland is the Norway of your dreams where the nature is majestic and the drive is epic.

Vestland highlights

Part of these road trips

Follow the routes that cross this destination

The Scenic Route
The Heritage Drive
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History of Vestland

Vestland is a landscape of epic proportions where the history is as deep as the fjords. The city of **Bergen** was founded in 1070 and soon became the capital of the Norwegian Empire and a major hub for the Hanseatic League. German merchants built the iconic wooden wharf at **Bryggen** where they traded grain for dried fish from the north. For centuries this was the busiest and most international city in Scandinavia. In the steep fjords like **Sognefjord** the history is one of isolation and vertical farming. Ancient stave churches like the one at Urnes were built in the 1100s as masterpieces of wooden architecture using carvings that blended Viking and Christian styles. These structures have survived for nearly a thousand years in the quiet corners of the mountains. The region was also the inspiration for the national romantic movement as poets and painters flocked to the waterfalls and glaciers. Modern history in Vestland is a story of engineering triumphs. From the railway that climbs the steep cliffs of **Flåm** to the world’s longest road tunnels the people here have always found a way to conquer the impossible terrain. The discovery of energy in the North Sea turned the coastal villages into global hubs once again. Vestland history is a saga of trade and nature where the mountains have always been the backdrop for grand human drama.
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