Picturesque Norway: Valldalen and Gudbrandsjuvet

After driving up the impressive Troll Road (Trollstigen), you’ll arrive in a green beautiful valley called Valldalen. We camped our van up by some mountain cabins for the night, and the next morning we ate breakfast and went for a stroll up one of the valleys.

In Norwegian we call this “sæter”, an old style mountain farm, people took their cows and goats here in the summer months, and some still do it.

We felt pretty in our hats.

Lots of fireweed!

Gudbrandsjuvet

Gudbrandsjuvet gorge is beautifully located in the Valldalen valley, with impressive mountainsides. Over millennia, the Valldøla River has cut large potholes and intricate formations into the rock. The foaming river consists of glacier water and is icy cold, which is why it has this turquoise color.

Gudbrandsjuvet is a 5 metre narrow and 20–25 metre high ravine through which the Valldøla River forces itself. According to a story from the 1500’s, the ravine was named after a man called Gudbrand, who ran off with his new bride and saved himself from his angry pursuers by jumping over the ravine at its narrowest point. Gudbrand was declared an outlaw for his deeds, and lived the rest of his life in a stone hut in one of the side-valleys above Gudbrandsjuvet. The valley is still called Gudbrandsdalen to this day.

If you look beneath the bridge, this is where Gudbrand apparantly jumped… of course there was no bridge at that time. 

I just really like this place.

After driving through the valley, you’ll arrive to a beautiful fjord, where you can find viking ships!

Would you like to go for an adventure somewhere like this?