Norway will troll tourists

Trollstigen (Troll’s footpath), which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Norway, this weekend received the official status of the national tourist route. Trollstigen is an artificial mountain road connecting the town of Åndalsnes in the Rauma municipality and Valldal town in the municipality of Nordahl. Construction of the Troll’s footpath began in 1928 and lasted for eight years. This project was called insane, but on July 31, 1936 the King Haakon VII personally opened the new road and named it Trollstigen.

And even nowadays the Troll’s footpath is an example of the triumph of engineering and design ideas. Getting up the hill the road makes 11 sharp turns (hoisting height in some areas reaches 10°) and almost in the middle of the Path the bridge over the 180-meter high Stigfossen Falls is located.

The project of developing the National tourist route included building of the viewing platform at the highest point of Trollstigen (858 meters above sea level). The platform offers breathtaking views of the entire road and Stigfossen waterfall. Next to it is located a large car park, several restaurants and souvenir shops. Construction works have also increased the safety level and provided for better protection from rockslides. Now this National tourist route is a 106-kilometer road, which includes ferry crossing over the Nordahl fjord. It should be noted that the width of the road in some areas does not exceed three and a half meters, so large vehicles are prohibited here. More than six months (late autumn, winter and early spring) Trollstigen is closed, so if tourists wish to visit the Troll’s Path, they need to plan their trips for summer.