In & Around Balestrand, Norway (July 2014)

On the shore of the Sognefjord, Balestrand is a tiny town with lots to offer if you enjoy being outdoors. I used it as a homebase for hiking and biking.

Moose for dinner!

The view from my hostel room. Not bad!

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On my day of arrival, I got a hiking map and some advice from the nice woman working at the Info Center. She even showed me pictures of the lookouts from each hike, which helped a lot in deciding which hike to do. At 6am the next morning (the sun had already been up for a while) I started hiking up to the Burasi lookout.

There were plenty of beautiful stops along the way where I had a handful of trail mix and read a couple chapters of a novel.

This is definitely one of my favorite lookout spots of all time.

Made it to Burasi! I hiked up to 575 meters (1886 feet) from sea level.

I sat for a while, had an early lunch, read my book, and relaxed in complete solitude. It was glorious. I was glad I started so early because I only saw 2 other hikers on my way up, but I saw a ton when I was on my way back down.

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The next day, I rented a bike from the Info Center (and again got some advice about what route to take). I rode on the road along the edge of the water for 20km before turning around (for a total of 40km)! I’ve never ridden that far in a single day before. This ride took me along the edge of the Esefjorden, Fjaerlandsfjorden, and Svaerafjorden.

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I loved all the opportunities for cheap outdoor recreation in Balestrand. The town is nestled in such a beautiful natural setting and I loved being there. I highly recommend staying somewhere on the water’s edge if you visit the Norwegian Fjords!

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All of my Balestrand pictures can be seen below. Enjoy!