The Lysevegen climbs out of the Lysefjord's inner end at Lysebotn, and it does so in twenty-seven hairpins, one after another, with a short spiral tunnel thrown in near the top for good measure. The bends are tight, the gradient is steep, and the walls are rock on one side and a long drop on the other, and from the bottom you can look up and see the road stacked in zigzags on the cliff. It was completed in the 1980s and, with its blend of engineering and wild country, has become one of the best-known mountain roads in Norway. Riders who like switchbacks arrive here as if on a pilgrimage.
Lysebotn itself is a tiny settlement with a quay at the end of a fjord that runs forty kilometres in from the sea past Stavanger, between granite walls that rise up to a kilometre. The only way in by road is this one, and before it was built people came and went by boat. Ferries still run along the fjord in summer, taking tourists to see the cliffs. The waterfalls pouring down the sides give the place a fine, cold spray after rain.
Riding the hairpins is a matter of rhythm and caution. The corners are tight enough that two-wheelers have an advantage over coaches, which have to pause and reverse at some of them, so patience is part of the day. The surface is generally good, but gravel and water can gather on the apexes, and there is rarely a wide margin for a mistake. Go up rather than down if you have the choice, because the climb is easier on the nerves and the view is behind you when you stop. Early or late in the day the traffic thins out.
The road is open only in the warm season, normally from late spring to autumn, and it closes when the snow arrives, so check the dates before planning. At the top a café with a view offers coffee and waffles, a welcome reward after the climb.