Vestland is a Fylke in Norway. It was created during the regional reform in 2020 by amalgamating the previous areas Hordaland and Sogn and Fjordane. The province extends from the rugged west coast of Norway north and south of Mountains and the region around the Hardangerfjord inland to over the northwestern part of the Hardangervidda.
Regions
- Hardanger
- Voss
- Sunnhordland
- Midthordland
- North Hordland
places
- 1 Mountains
- largest city in the region
- 2 Eidfjord
- Village at the end of the fjord of the same name
- 4 Finse - Located in northern Hardangervidda, the highest station in Northern Europe at 1222 m can only be reached by train, bike or on foot
- 8 Florø
- 9 Flam
- 10 Lærdal
- 11 Myrdal
- 12 Måløy
- 13 Vik
Other goals
- Austeful - A municipality consisting of over 600 islands between Bergen and the islands of Bømlo and Stord
- Ask - Island north-west of Bergen, surrounded by fjords
- Holsnøy - island north of Ask
background
Hordaland is one of the southern fjords in the fjord region, which includes the 170 km long Hardangerfjord, one of the longest fjords in Norway. The region around the Hardangerfjord is also known as Hardanger, which is best known for the technique of Hardanger embroidery.
Around 470,000 people lived in the approximately 15,600 km² area, around 380,000 lived in the greater area around the district capital alone Mountains, the second largest city in Norway. The rest of the region is relatively unpopulated, which is not surprising in view of the largely unpopulated Hardangervidda as part of the region, as well as the often difficult to manage slopes of the fjords. Nevertheless, the region around the Hardangerfjord is the most important fruit-growing area in Norway, which is not to be missed on a drive along the Rv 7 on the way to Bergen - the orchards on the edge of the fjord on the mountain slopes, some of which are slowly rising here, give travelers the impression at times to travel through South Tyrol than through Norway.
In the north, Hordaland bordered the Fylke Sogn and Fjordane, in the east to the Fylke Buskerud (north) and Telemark (south), with the Fylke borders running through the middle of the Hardangervidda, and to the south the Fylke borders Rogaland to Hordaland.
Sogn and Fjordane was a Norwegian county on the west coast of Norway, it was characterized in particular by the longest fjord in Norway, the Sognefjord, and the largest glacier in Norway, the Jostedalsbreen. 106,000 inhabitants live on an area of 18,619 km², which is only a little more than 2% of the Norwegian population. The largest municipality was Førde with around 11,500 inhabitants, the rest of the population lived mostly in very rural, small communities. The administrative seat of the county was Hermansverk.
In the north, Sogn og Fjordane borders on Fylke Møre og Romsdal, in the east on Oppland, in the southeast on Buskerud and in the south on Fylke Hordaland.
language
In the Fylke Vestland (as well as in the Western Norwegian Fylke Rogaland and Møre and Romsdal) is Nynorsk official language. However, this will hardly be of any concern for travelers in the region if they are not dependent on reading long administrative texts, since Nynorsk in its pure form is actually only available in written language. In everyday language, the spoken Nynorsk (spoken by 10-15% of the Norwegian population) and the spoken Bokmål (spoken by the majority of the population) are so similar that tourists with only rudimentary Norwegian language skills will hardly notice any differences.
getting there
By plane
The main airport in Hordaland is in Bergen.
By train
The Bergen Railway from Oslo leads through Hordaland on the last third of its route, stopping in Voss and Dale and ending in Mountains. The Rallarvegen runs parallel to the railway for long stretches.
In the street
Important road links in the region are
- The
Europastraße 16that of Lærdal Coming through the 24 km long Lærdal tunnel from the east, shortly before Voss, you reach the area of the Fylke, and on your way past Vaksdal to Mountains 43 tunnels of different lengths - but not a single ferry connection is required for this. Voss - Bergen via E15: 104 km.
- The
Riksvei 7that of Geilo the Hardangervidda crosses north of the Hardangervidda National Park and comes to the area of the Fylke, where a crossing of the Hardangerbrua across the Eidfjord from Brimnes to Bruravik. Then we continue along the north bank of the Hardangerfjord Mountains, 10 tunnels are passed along the route. Distance Voss - Bergen via R13 (to Granvin) and R7: 155 km.
- The
Riksvei 13, of Balestrand in Sogn og Fjordane southwards through Hordaland Voss leading, which on its route requires a ferry crossing over the Eidford between Brurarvik and Brimnes and further south on the east bank of the Sørfjord Odda runs. The R13 leads south of Odda Stavanger in the extreme southwest of Norway. On the entire route through Hordaland, this route leads through 18 tunnels alone. Voss - Odda via R13: 102 km.
By boat
You can travel directly to Hordaland from Denmark with Fjordline ferries from Hirtshals to Bergen.
As the home port of the mail ship fleet Hurtigruten Hordaland can also be reached by ship from northern and central Norway via Bergen.
mobility
Ferries
The Brimnes - Brurarvik ferry connection across the Eidfjord is required on both the Rv7 and Rv13. Crossings from the beginning of June to the end of August almost every hour around the clock, during the day every 20-30 minutes. (Timetable 2012)
Tourist Attractions
- The whole region Hardanger around the Hardangerfjord is one of the major natural attractions in Fylke Vestland.
- The western one Hardangervidda and the Hardangerjøkulen, the sixth largest glacier in the country.
- water falls. Låtefossen 15 km south of Odda, Steinsdalsfossen in Norheimsund, Tvindefossen at Voss, Vøringsfossen at Eidfjord.
- The coast of Fylke Vestland is strongly indented by numerous fjords. The longest of them is the Sognefjord with a length of 204 km and a maximum depth of 1,308 m, it has numerous tributaries. Probably the best known of them is that Nærøyfjordwho has been working with the Geirangerfjord to the World Natural Heritage by Unesco belongs.
