On one of our last days in Bergen, Norway, we decided to rent a car to get out of the city for the day. Originally, we were debating between taking a bus tour or renting a car. We decided to rent a car because it meant we were able to be on our own schedule with our own itinerary. As usual, our itinerary was very general – just see beautiful nature and stop whenever and wherever we want!

Since we decided to rent a car the very night before, my mom had to call the rental company for us in the US. It was after hours in Norway, and it would have cost a decent amount of money to make a call to the US. With the help of my mom’s phone calls and Skype, our car was booked for the next day- thanks mom!

The next morning, we went to go pick up the rental car. It was my first time driving in a foreign country and it was also Albert’s first time as my passenger, ha! We decided to drive in the direction of Gudvangen. We researched tours from Bergen to see where they went, and then also scoured the internet to find a beautiful fjord within a few hours driving of Bergen. Gudvangen was about 2.5 hours from Bergen. It is a small village on the Nærøyfjord and a quick Google search showed up how amazing the view was. We figured we could head in that direction and just play everything by ear and go with the flow. Driving to Gudvangen was very easy- and easy on the eyes as well! Once we were out of Bergen, it was pretty much one road straight to Gudvangen. We drove through so many tunnels on the winding road, and there was always a beautiful sight out the window. It was foggy and cloudy outside, but it was still so gorgeous.

Tunnel after tunnel after tunnel!

We made a pit stop a little into the trip at a gorgeous spot. I have no idea what it was called, but it was such an amazing area. We ended up staying there for quite some time, taking in the view and capturing some photos. The water was reflecting everything and it looked just like a mirror. It was unbelievable – I have never seen something like that as clearly reflected in the water! We got some breakfast at the stop as well and headed on our merry way.

Foggy mornings on the lake!

Happy faces!

Our little piece of paradise!

At one point while we were driving, Albert spotted a giant waterfall just as we were driving past it. I honestly have no idea how we didn’t see it sooner. It was right near the road and it was huge. There were so many buses and tourists there, but we knew we had to see it for ourselves. We quickly pulled a quick U-turn and went back to check it out! Later, we found out that it was Tvindefossen, a waterfall formed from a nearby stream cascading off the rock face. Apparently it was the ninth most visited tourist attraction in Norway a few years ago – I believe it, since it was so easy to get to and hard not to stop to see!

Tvindefossen, seen from the road

Albert and the tourists!

As we went on our way, everything we saw just kept getting more and more beautiful. We made another stop, stopping in what seemed like just a parking lot in front of apartments. We walked a little further back, and we saw this! I even took a little boat ride..

Now operating boat tours throughout Norway..

Turn around, and you’ll see this!

We packed a lunch for our adventure and stopped at a lake to eat. There was a picnic bench right in front of the lake so we made ourselves at home. It was so silent, with cars passing by every so often. We enjoyed the peacefulness of Norway and just soaked it all in.

Our private lake!?

Looking out at the lake we stopped at

At this point, we weren’t far from our destination. We headed back on the road and almost passed a sign that said “Gudvangen.” The GPS said to keep going straight and the turn didn’t look too promising, but a few other people were turning that way as well, so we figured we would head that way. We followed a narrow winding road and ended up at the most beautiful overlook. We figured at this point, we were at, or the closest we were getting, to Gudvangen! The Stalheim Hotel was right there, and we were able to walk through it and get an even better glimpse from behind the hotel.

Uhh, is this real life?!

The view from behind The Stalheim Hotel!

We saw some signs that there were hiking trails nearby, so we figured we would check a shorter trail out. We headed down the craziest road I have ever been on, watching the buses make the same turns as us. There were 13 hairpin turns down a steep hillside on a one way road. Surrounded by two waterfalls, it was still so amazing. Later, we found out this road is called Stalheimskleiva and is one of the steepest stretches of road in Northern Europe.

Taken from the car on the way down Stalheimskleiva, one of the steepest stretches of road in northern Europe

Once we got to the bottom, we stopped at a trail heading towards Stalheimsfossen waterfall. We walked through a short trail, and within minutes we were at the base of the waterfall. It is 416 feet tall, and we were also able to see it from the road as we were driving down. It was so loud as the water pounded down. We were the only ones there, and it was a nice little retreat.

Don’t let him fool you, the waterfall was getting him soaking wet!

Walking through the trail

Our ride!

We got back into the car and kept following the road. It started getting sunny outside and we saw more signs for Gudvangen, so we realized we weren’t actually there yet. As we were driving, there were mountains all around us with waterfalls coming down the sides. We ended up reaching an area with a ferry terminal. We stopped and just took it all in. There was the dock for the ferry and there were also kayaks that you could rent! We didn’t have enough time to do either of those, but it was awesome just looking at it. We were able to count over 10 waterfalls just from this one spot – it seriously seemed like a dream.

The final stretch towards Gudvangen

Okay.. this is a dream..

Ferry in the palm of his hand.. talent!

Us at the Gudvangen ferry terminal!

Then, we headed back in the direction of Bergen. We could see snow on the tops of the mountains in the distance. At one point, we got stopped at a tunnel. A worker walked up to each car waiting, telling everyone that they are doing some work in the tunnel and we would be waiting for about fifteen minutes. If this was at home, first off no one would tell us why the road was closed, and everyone would be angry about it! We sat for a little, danced in the car, and took some photos.

Snow in the distance

Closed tunnel = snack time, party time!

As we headed towards Bergen, we ended up stopping at the same place we stopped at earlier in the day for breakfast. This time, the reflection wasn’t as strong in the lake, but it was still just as beautiful. We were glad we got to see it both ways, how it was in the morning and how it was in the afternoon.

Glam shots right?!

We had to return the car before they closed at 6pm, and we got back to Bergen around 5:20pm. We decided to stop for gas and then head to drop off the car, since we figured we had plenty of time. Wrong! We couldn’t figure out how to get back to the car rental place – it was on a one way road and the GPS wasn’t acknowledging that. We drove around for a good 20 minutes or so, trying to figure out how to get back. We ended up dropping off the car at 6pm on the dot. Perfect timing!

Albert pretending to be the chauffeur..

All in all, this was one of our favorite days in Norway. It was nice renting a car and getting outside of the city on our own time and without much of a solid plan. We let the day be very easy going, which is exactly what you need to do to enjoy Norway!