Rallarvegen ( en, The Navvy Road) is a construction/access road in central

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

that is now popular as a recreation trail for bicyclists. It was built from 1902 to 1904 in connection with the construction of the

Bergen Line The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway ( no, Bergensbanen or nn, Bergensbana), is a long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, ...

. The road is maintained by the

Norwegian National Rail Administration The Norwegian National Rail Administration ( no, Jernbaneverket) was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic m ...

as an access road for the railroad. The road runs from

Haugastøl Station Haugastøl (''Haugastøl stasjon'') is a station on the Bergen Line in Norway. The station is located in the Hol municipality situated between the stations Ustaoset to the east and Finse to the west. The station is from Oslo if one follows the ...

in the municipality of Hol in

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...

county to

Finse Station Finse Station ( no, Finse stasjon) is located in the mountain village of Finse in the municipality of Ulvik in Vestland county, Norway. The station is served by up to seven daily (peak days only) express trains in each direction, normally three p ...

Ulvik Ulvik is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality stretches from the Hardangerfjord to the mountains that reach above sea level. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ulvik. The villages of Osa and ...

municipality in

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. It continues across the mountains to

Myrdal Station Myrdal Station ( no, Myrdal stasjon) is a mountain railway station and junction, located on the Bergen Line regional mainline in Aurland, Vestland, Norway. The railway station is also the upper terminal of the Flåm Line local railway, which asce ...

Aurland Aurland () is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located on the south side of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Aurlandsvangen. Other villages include Bakka, ...

municipality in

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...

county, and then there is a fork in the road. One path goes north through the

Flåmsdalen Flåmsdalen is a valley in Aurland Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is long and runs from Myrdal to the village of Flåm, dropping over the course of its run. The river Flåmselvi runs through the valley, as does the Flåm Line ...

valley to the village of

Flåm Flåm is a village in the Flåmsdalen valley which is located at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjorden, a branch of Sognefjorden. The village is located in Aurland Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. In 2014 its inhabitants numbered 350. ...

on the shore of 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 the other path heads west through the

Raundalen Raundalen ( en, Raun Valley) is a valley in Vestland county, Norway. The long valley stretches from Uppsetedalen in the northwest corner of Ulvik municipality all the way to Urdland in central Voss municipality. The Bergen Line and County Roa ...

valley to

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 ...

. In all, the road is long: from Haugestøl to Flåm, and then another from Myrdal to Voss. The road is named after the "rallar" or

navvies Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...

, the railway construction workers and "vegen" means road, so the name literally means the "navvy road". The road is now a popular bicycle road. Every year, in the short season from July to September, over 20,000 cyclists travel the route. It is unpaved, and maintained by the railroad with period materials.

Media gallery

File:Rallarvegen Haugastol.jpg, Signpost File:Fagernut Rallarcafe.jpg, Former railroad watchman's house in Fagernut File:Rall1.jpg, View by the lake Nedre Storurdevatnet File:Rallarvegen Bergenbahn.jpg, View from the train File:Rallarvegen Fagervatn.jpg, Highest point on the trail File:Rall6.jpg, Typical hairpin turn

References

External links

* Cycleways in Norway Tourist attractions in Norway Aurland Hol Ulvik {{Norway-stub