Norheimsund is where the Hardangerfjord stops being a line on the map and becomes something you stand beside. The village lies on the northern shore, in the municipality of Kvam, with the water spread wide in front and the ice-capped bulk of the Folgefonna peninsula on the far side. Fruit is the local trade. The slopes around here carry apple, plum, pear and cherry orchards, planted in small terraces wherever the soil holds, and in mid-May the whole shore turns white and pink. If you can time one ride in Norway for blossom, this is the one.
Just outside the village the Steinsdalsfossen waterfall drops over a lip of rock, and a path runs behind the curtain of water so you can stand in the spray and look out at the valley through it. It is one of those attractions that looks like a tourist trap and turns out to be properly good. A stone's throw away are the roads that matter to a rider, narrow ribbons that follow the fjord edge through villages of white wooden houses and fruit stalls with honesty boxes. The surface is generally fine, the bends are easy and the traffic usually light, though in blossom week and at harvest time the tour coaches arrive, and then the pace is theirs.
Weather runs on its own clock. Rain comes in off the North Sea and drapes itself over the mountains, then lifts to give one of those luminous, rinsed afternoons that Norwegians live for. Carry a waterproof even if the morning is clear. The fjord is deep and cold, but on still days it turns into a mirror, and the reflections of the orchards in the water are the reason the photo kind of stop is listed here.
Norheimsund is a proper village with a few thousand people and the usual Norwegian services, so you can expect a fuel pump, a supermarket and a bakery or two. Many Norwegian pumps take cards only, so keep a chip card handy. Øystese, three kilometres away, has more shops. If you are heading inland, remember that Voss, the nearest real town, is over thirty kilometres off, and the road between climbs through forest and past lakes with few stops.
Buy fruit when it is in season. Hardanger cider is made from the same orchards, and a bottle makes a decent souvenir, although you may prefer a fresh cherry from a roadside box and a seat on the harbour wall.