CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
The stops in between: Urnes Stave Church, Nærøyfjord Area and back through Urnes Stave Church. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
For 1 km this is Sognefjellet Norwegian Scenic Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
The ride follows Urnes Stave Church → Nærøyfjord Area for 62 km.
The Geirangerfjord is a narrow cut, around fifteen kilometres long, between cliffs that rise over a thousand metres from the water, and it is among the best-known sights in Norway. The village at its head, Geiranger, is tiny, with only a few hundred residents, but in summer, cruise ships anchor in the fjord one after another and the pier fills with people. UNESCO listed the fjord in 2005, along with Naeroyfjord, and a short walk along the shore brings you to the base of the Seven Sisters waterfall, which pours straight into the fjord from a high ledge.
Read the complete Geiranger write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Geiranger is where the day begins. Next is Urnes Stave Church.
The oldest stave church in Norway still standing stands on a ledge above a fjord, and you reach it by ferry. Urnes is on the north shore of Lustrafjord, the innermost arm of the great Sognefjord, and a small ferry crosses from Solvorn on the opposite shore in a few minutes, running regularly in the summer season. From the landing you walk up a path through farm fields to the church, which dates from around 1130 and is made of pine timber, black with tar, its shingled roofs layered up like a pagoda. Urnes was listed by UNESCO in 1979, among the first sites to be inscribed.
Read the complete Urnes Stave Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Urnes Stave Church comes up 61 km in.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Urnes Stave Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
122 km in you reach Urnes Stave Church. Next is Nærøyfjord Area.
The Nærøyfjord is narrow in a way that photographs struggle to show. Branching from the Aurlandsfjord, itself an arm of the great Sognefjord, it squeezes to about 250 metres across at its tightest, with mountain walls that climb to nearly 1,800 metres on either side and cast the water in shadow for much of the day. UNESCO listed it together with Geirangerfjord in 2005, and the setting at Gudvangen at its head is dramatic even by Norwegian standards, with waterfalls dropping from hanging valleys and snow patches lingering into summer.
Read the complete Nærøyfjord Area write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Nærøyfjord Area, about halfway. Next is back through Urnes Stave Church.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Urnes Stave Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Urnes Stave Church sits at 243 km, about halfway. Next is back through Urnes Stave Church.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Urnes Stave Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Urnes Stave Church comes up 304 km in. Next is Geiranger.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Geiranger write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Geiranger closes the day.
Geiranger → Urnes Stave Church is 121 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Urnes Stave Church → Nærøyfjord Area is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nærøyfjord Area → back through Urnes Stave Church is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Urnes Stave Church → Geiranger is 121 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.