continously going up- and downhill. In addition to this, it is unavoidable to take a ferry, together with buses, caravans and trucks, what also increases the time needed to go from one point to the next.In Eidfjord, our main goal was to visit Voringfossen, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Norway. However, some clouds were around the mountains, covering exactly the waterfall, so everything we could see of it is in the picture to the left. On the positive side, we visited Eidfjord, which turned out to be an extremely nice place where to spend a morning of doing nothing.
In Sognefjord, we had probably the best and the worst experience with the fjords. The worst was the road uphill to to a viewpoint in Aurlandsvegen, from which to admire the fjord. The road is extremely narrow, with barely space for two cars and we faced caravans and buses on the way up. The best, on the contrary, were the views from there, which are really breathtaking. Having said that, we did not follow the panoramic Aurlandsvegen road during the remaining 40 km, but, we opted for the pragmatic solution and we came downhill and took a tunnel, which may be not offer so nice views but it is more relaxing for driving.
In Sognefjord we also visited the stave church of 
Urnes, which is recognized as one of the best in Norway. In our case, we did not appreciate it so much since it was hot, midday and uphill from the ferry. Under such conditions, it was difficult to really be in the best mood to appreciate a wooden church. Maybe it does not deserve to make a big detour in your route through the fjords.The next fjord we visited is Nordfjord. To be honest, we just slept in Stryn, without doing anything else around it (the village or town has really not much to offer). The way from Stryn to Geiranger is extremely nice, going first through a lake (see picture below), then uphill to a mountain watching a glacier and then arriving, after a tunnel, to a mountain lake surrounded by snow. It is really an enjoyable way to drive (and much more easier than the Aurlansvegen). The only negative point here is that the global warming is affecting the glaciers, whose size has significantly reduced in the last years and which are not so easy to reach now.
From that point, driving four kilometres uphill, there are splendid views of Geiranger and Geirangerfjord (see the picture below). Both are among the most visited places in Norway, crowded with tourists and, in this case, I have to admit that the crowd is totally right: the place is tremendously beautiful. The road downhill is really breathtaking, but, at the same time, a real pleasure to drive.
Geirangerfjord runs among step hills, with many waterfalls falling directly into the fjord, some of them thin as a hair. In this case, taking a boat through the fjord is totally recommendable. In our case, our boat also hosted a bus full of Italian tourists and that had a small negative effect on the overall impression, but not so important, after all. Hellesylt is also a very nice place to visit, with a waterfall just in the middle of the village. By the way, according to my travel guide, the fate of Hellesylt is already defined (and it is not very good, to be honest): sooner or later, a rock will collapse and fall into the fjord, producing a tsunami which will take the whole place under the water...After so many experiences and places, we were quite tired, so we decided not to rush to visit Alesund. I know, I know, that it is a very beautiful city, but we were really running out of energy. Thus, we decided to stay in our hotel and play bowling, what gave me the opportunity to show that I have not learnt anything after years of watching Homer Simpson.
Next post will be devoted to our trip from the surroundings of Alesund to Trondheim, and then to Bodo and Leknes, in Lofoten Islands.
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