March 05, 2020

From mountains to fjords to coastal environments, northern lights and arctic wildlife, Norway has unlimited amounts of great photography opportunities.

With these diverse and dramatic landscapes, comes narrow, winding and extremely slow roads, making for long driving times. Thus if you are planning on doing a road trip to shoot these great locations, we would recommend choosing an area and exploring it thoroughly, that is unless you have 6 weeks to soak up all of it.

The map below shows the specific locations with notes added. Further down outlines the locations with either an accompanying link or image.

  

WESTERN NORWAY

(Western Norway Video: Western Fjords Road Trip)

Åndalsnes

A small town with breathtaking views surrounded by towering peaks.

With multiple hiking options up to the valley walls, you are able to get a grand view of Åndalsnes from a few locations.

Åndalsnes, Norway. Photo by Carl van den BoomPhoto by Carl van den Boom - Åndalsnes

Trollveggen (troll wall), Åndalsnes 

Dramatic mountain ridge, outlawed for base jumpers this is like no other mountain scenery. A great angle for these unique peaks is from across the valley. Take a drive up the neighboring valley and with a 20-minute walk from the road, you can be on the ridge staring at the Troll Wall. 

Trollvegen Norway. Photo by Carl van den Boom
Photo by Carl van den Boom - Trollveggen

Romdalshornet

An outstanding natural feature and something you don’t see every day as the peak of a mountain, you can capture this rock from many angles, from Åndalsnes looking up the valley, or our favourite spot, a small ridge with great foreground features called litlefjellet.

Romdalshornet

Romdalshornet from Litlefjellet

Trollstigen and Stigfossen, (Møre og Romsdal) 

Winding steep road zigzagging up the hill with a pumping waterfall in front. You can park off the side of the road and take a walk to the lookout or find another angle.

Trollsteigen, Norway. Photo by Carl van den BoomPhoto By Carl van den Boom - Trollstigen

Geiranger and Seven Sister Waterfall 

The steep walls of the valley and S-curve of the Fjord are extremely picturesque. You are able to shoot this valley with few different accessible locations. Take a 30-minute walk from the town up Flydalsjuvet to shoot down the Valley or drive up Ørnesvingen and take a shot from the roadside. 

You can get a great shot directly looking at the Seven Sisters Waterfall from the the KnivsflĂĽ farm on opposite side of the fjord. It is about a 5 hour return to walk.

Geiranger fjord and seven sisters waterfall, Norway. Photo by Carl van den Boom
Photo By Carl van den Boom - Geiranger Fjord and Seven Sisters waterfall

Stegastein Veiwpoint, Aurland 

A man-made lookout, it is still a spectacular view and shot even if you won’t be the only one with it.

aurland Norway. Photo by Simon Markhof
Photo by Simon Markhof - Stegastein View point

LĂŚrdal

A very quaint little town at the end of the Fjord. You can grab a typical Norwegian scene with wooden buildings on the water's edge.


Photo by Simon Markhof - LÌrdal

Gudvangen Valley 

Surrounded by sheer cliff faces, this is a base jumpers paradise.
Numerous waterfalls cascade off the valley walls and provide photo ops everywhere, this is time to explore.

With the NÌrøyfjord at the end of the Valley, be sure to check out the hike to Bakkanosi which provides amazing views overlooking this UNESCO World Heritage site.

Gudvangen - Base jump

Gudvangen - Base jump

Kjossfossen, Myrdal 

This location involves taking a train to Myrdal. Walk from the train station to Kjossfossen where a thunderous waterfall awaits.

Kjossfossen Myrdal, Norway. Photo by Carl van den Boom
Photo By Carl van den Boom - Kjossfossen

TvindeFossen , Voss

 You can’t miss Tvindefossen as you drive along the E16. It bellows off the cliff and spews a mist of water (at least in the summer) during winter the water still flows yet massive ice walls like hang from the top. You can take a shot from the bottom, yet with a 30-minute walk, you can be on the top of the waterfall shooting down.

Tvinefossen waterfall

 Breifossen, Voss

A local secret is to drive up behind Tvindefossen to Breifossen, park just past the farmhouse and follow the creek behind the woodshed for a 12-minute walk. This leads to another dramatic waterfall in a tight canyon.

 Breifossen generally needs to be shot in the morning, as the sun shoots around the corner with the canyon walls covering the waterfall in shade after midday.

If you keep following the track up the top of Breifossen, you will find a little sanctuary of numerous small waterfalls.

Breifosse waterfall

Breifosse waterfall

Bryggen, Bergen 

A world heritage site, these buildings are inquisitive close up with their twisting doors and leaning walls. Take a shot from across the harbour.

house on the water - Bryggen, bergen norway
Photo by Michael Fousert on Unsplash

Hardanger Bridge (click here for photo)

You won’t know about the Hardanger bridge until you pop out the side of a mountain and onto it suspending road a 100m in the air.

 On the Northside of the bridge take a left in the tunnel towards Ulvik and once out of the tunnel take another quick left. This drives you back under the tunnel and along the fjord edge. There is a small village with fishing boats that can provide a good foreground to the impressive bridge.

Oksen Peak, Hardanger Fjord 

Continue along the same road to Tjoflotviki. Drive as high as you can to the end of the road where there is a parking spot. It will take 40 minutes to walk to a clearing with a small red hut where you can see down the fjord and camp if you wish. If you don't have the time or wish to walk to the peak, reaching the red hut is a good short mission to get a view over the fjord.

To get the Oksen Peak, Continue walking up to the radio station and an epic view down 2 fjords. This is about a 5-6 hour return walk from the parking lot.

Oksen panorama

Eidfjord 

Driving up to Eidfjord you will want to keep pulling over and finding a spot. The town itself is very quaint and worth getting close to when looking for your photo location. Beware, in summer you might find a big cruise ship blocking the town.

When you hit the town of Eidfjord, take a left and find your way to Kjean Farm. With a 5 minute walk you can find some spectacular views back down into the Fjord.

Eidfjord refelcted in the water

Eidfjord-Kjean farm

Vøringfossen, Øvre Eidfjord 

An amazing waterfall about a 20-minute drive from Eidfjord and at the edge of Hardangervida.

There are viewing platforms all around the top of the waterfall making it easy to get over the edge and capture both waterfalls falling into the abyss. What is challenging about this spot is really conveying the sense of scale, it is HIGH!

Vøringsfossen

Vøringsfossen

Trolltunga, Tyssedal

This is an all-time classic Norwegian photo. Depending on your fitness level this is an 8-12 hour return walk, not including photography time.

In order to get the best light, you might want to camp up on the mountain which means the ability to shoot sunset and the sunrise before you walk down again. Walking up at midnight or down after the sunset is probably not the best idea.

You will need cross country ski’s to access Trolltunga in late winter, depending on the snow season, you can walk it in June with snow-covered tops.

 trolltunga cliff over fjord
Photo by Carl van den Boom

Bondhusbreen, Sunndal (click here for photo)

 A scenic mountain lake, it's a one hour walk from Sundal.

LĂĽtefossen (click here for photo)

Driving up to Låtefossen you can’t hide from the thrashing river next to the road, nor can you duck past Låtefossen without getting covered in its mist as you drive over the bridge. Park next to the bridge to capture this tremendously powerful waterfall.

Kjeragbolten (click here for photo)

Another Norwegian classic. This shot is more powerful with a fearless companion to stand upon the rock. Located Near Stavanger this is a 12km hike with 500m of climbing and takes around 5 hours return, not including your time spent shooting.

 During the middle of winter, the access road is closed. Depending on the amount of snow the road will re-open in May. There are no restrictions on exploring the mountains during winter, however, safety needs to be number one. 

Preikestolen, Lysefjord, Stavanger (click here for photo)

The last of the classic Norwegian hiking shots, Preikestolen looks over the same fjord as Kjeragbolten. With a relatively easy walk, it takes around 2.5 hours return, again not including your photo time. 

This is mainly a summer destination and would recommend not attempting in the middle of winter, due to safety, the slippery rocks and sheer cliffs, however, is doable (depending on conditions early and late winter.)

NORTHERN NORWAY AND LOFOTEN

Hammerfest for Northern lights (click here for photo)

There are multiple options for great Aurora photography around Hammerfest.

Tromsø area for Northern Lights (click here for photo)

Being the major city for Northern Norway this is a great place to fly into and explore the surrounding area for Aurora photography.

Nordkjosbotn, Tromsø (click here for photo)

A glorious location overlooking water to the mountains beyond.

Kabelvag, Lofoten (click here for photo)

Park at the end of the street and walk past the houses towards the water.

Utakleiv Beach, Lofoten 

A coastal spot with endless compositions of boulders and mountains in the distance. Park nearby and explore the beach.

Utakleiv Beach at night with northern lights
Photo by Pedro Kin

Skagsanden Beach, Lofoten

A rocky beach overlooking water body to Mountains on the other side. Park in the car park just outside of Flagstad.

Skagsanden beach at night with northern lights
Photo by Pedro Kin

Hamnøy, Lofoten 

Park next to the road and take the shot from the bridge south of the town. Alternatively, head around to the Harbour and include boats in the foreground of this extremely picturesque village. 

Hamnoy northern lights lofoten
Photo by Chrstian Hoiberg

Reine, Lofoten 

With reflections, mountains and red houses, you can park almost anywhere and find a postcard shot.

Reine Norway in winter
Photo by Pedro Kin

Lofoten is an outstanding winter photography location with many more photo opportunities. You can read our complete guide to photographing Lofoten here!

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