National Road 13 ( no, Riksvei 13, ) is a

national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

which runs from the town of

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

county to the village of

Sogndalsfjøra Sogndalsfjøra is a village in the municipality of Sogndal in Vestland county, Norway. It is located where the river Sogndalselvi runs out in the Sogndalsfjorden, a branch of the large Sognefjorden. The village is located about northwest of the v ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county. The route is long and runs south–north through

and

counties, following a more inland path than the

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in Eu ...

highway. Prior to 2019, the northern terminus of the road was at the village of Balestrand, but in 2019, the section of

Norwegian County Road 55 County Road 55 ( no, Fylkesvei 55) is a highway which runs between the municipalities of Lom and Høyanger in Norway. The section across Sognefjellet, known as Sognefjellsvegen, is designated a National Tourist Route. Also a short section at ...

from Balestrand to Sogndalsfjøra was added to National Road 13, extending it all the way to

. In 2020, a new tunnel was opened between

and

Tau Tau (uppercase Τ, lowercase τ, or \boldsymbol\tau; el, ταυ ) is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless dental or alveolar plosive . In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 300. The name in English ...

Ryfylke Tunnel The Ryfylke Tunnel ( no, Ryfylketunnelen) is an undersea road tunnel in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the Norwegian National Road 13 running between Stavanger and Ryfylke (district) under the Horgefjord (part of the Boknafjord). The ...

, the world's deepest public road tunnel. National Road 13 was then rerouted through this tunnel, making it end in Stavanger instead of

Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway and together, the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lies ...

. The road between Tau and Sandnes which has a ferry crossing (Oanes to Lauvika across the

Høgsfjorden Høgsfjorden is a fjord in Rogaland county, Norway. It lies in the municipalities of Stavanger, Sandnes, Strand, and Gjesdal. The innermost part of the fjord is located at the village of Frafjord in the municipality of Gjesdal. It flows west to D ...

) became

county roads A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

Route description

Historically, Rv13 also included the road between the village of Balestrand to the town of

Førde Førde is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was the town of Førde which in 2016 had 10,255 inhabitants. Other villages in Førde ...

, now known as county road 613. Currently, Rv13 begins at

and ends in the city of

. National Road 13 has two ferry crossings: Vangsnes to Dragsviki (across the

Sognefjorden The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, en, Sogn Fjord), nicknamed the King of the Fjords ( no, Fjordenes konge), is the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the smal ...

) and Nesvik to

Hjelmelandsvågen Hjelmelandsvågen is the administrative centre of Hjelmeland municipality, Norway. The village is located on the south side of the mouth of the Jøsenfjorden. The village has a population (2019) of 592 and a population density of . The Norwegia ...

(across the

Jøsenfjorden Jøsenfjorden is a fjord in the municipality of Hjelmeland in Rogaland county, Norway. The fjord is a branch off of the main Boknafjorden. The fjord has a length of and a width between . The Norwegian National Road 13 runs along the northern ...

). Parts of the road have been designated as National Tourist Routes. Kvassdalen switchbacks

There are several tunnels on this highway; the longest of which are the

(),

Hundvåg Tunnel The Hundvåg Tunnel ( no, Hundvågtunnelen) is a road tunnel in Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The long tunnel is located on the Norwegian National Road 13 highway. The tunnel goes under the Byfjorden and it connects the ...

, Tunsberg Tunnel,

Vallavik Tunnel The Vallavik Tunnel ( no, Vallaviktunnelen) is a road tunnel in Vestland county, Norway. The tunnel begins on the north edge of the village of Eide in the municipality of Voss and runs to the southeast, ending at the small farm of Vallaviki in the ...

, and Fresvik Tunnel. The

Hardanger Bridge The Hardanger Bridge ( no, Hardangerbrua) is a suspension bridge across the Eidfjorden branch off of the main Hardangerfjorden in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge connects the municipalities of Ullensvang and Ulvik. It replaced a ferry con ...

was completed in 2013, and it carries this highway across the large

Hardangerfjorden The Hardangerfjord ( en, Hardanger Fjord) is the fifth longest fjord in the world, and the second longest fjord in Norway. It is located in Vestland county in the Hardanger region. The fjord stretches from the Atlantic Ocean into the mountain ...

. There are signposted concurrencies with the

European route E134 European highway E 134 ( no, Europavei 134) is a European highway that crosses Norway starting at Haugesund Airport, Karmøy near the city of Haugesund on the west coast, heading over Haukeli, passing the city of Drammen, and ending in Vass ...

between Horda and

Skare Skare or Skarde is a village in Ullensvang municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located about straight south of the town of Odda and about northwest of the village of Seljestad. The village sits at the junction of Norwegian ...

, and the

European route E16 European route E16 is the designation of a main west-east road through Northern Ireland, Scotland, Norway and Sweden, from Derry to Gävle, via Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, previously by ferry to Bergen, Voss, through the Gudvanga Tunnel and th ...

between

Vossevangen Vossevangen or Voss is the administrative centre of Voss municipality in Vestland county, Norway. Location The village lies on the northeastern shore of the lake Vangsvatnet in the central part of the municipality, about east of the city of Berg ...

and Vinje. The E134 concurrency adds the

Røldal Røldal is a village in the municipality of Ullensvang in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies in the Røldal valley along the Storelva river on the north end of the lake Røldalsvatnet. Røldal is located about southeast of the town of ...

and Horda spiral tunnels to the total. After the construction of the

, the

Jondal Tunnel The Jondal Tunnel ( no, Jondalstunnelen) is a road tunnel in the Hardanger region of Vestland county, Norway. The tunnel is part of Norwegian County Road 49 and it lies in Kvinnherad and Ullensvang municipalities. The long tunnel was built to ...

and the Mælefjell Tunnel, National Road 13 between Skare and Voss is increasingly used by cars. Parts of the road in this area is so narrow that heavy vehicles cannot meet everywhere, so they often have to reverse to a wider part of the road so that they can pass each other.CV Driving Scania S520 - Odda Rv. 13
/ref> Having a trailer or caravan is not advised in this section. The increasing amount of traffic has made driving more difficult, so the government decided to rebuild some of the narrow parts between Skare and the Hardanger Bridge before 2035.

References

013 Roads in Rogaland Roads in Vestland National Tourist Routes in Norway {{Norway-road-stub