The Sognefjellsvegen or Sognefjellsveien is the highest mountain pass road in Northern Europe. Part of County Road 55, it is located in

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

and

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 ...

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

. It is a national tourist road and starts in the village of Lom in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Lom, it then travels over the

Sognefjell Sognefjellet ( en, Sogn Mountains) is a mountainous area and mountain pass which connects Lustrafjorden and its surrounding valley with the Ottadalen valley in the Jotunheimen area. Sognefjellet is located in Luster Municipality (in Vestland cou ...

mountain area, and it ends in the village of

Gaupne Gaupne is the administrative center of the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located along the Gaupnefjorden, an arm of the Lustrafjorden, about north of the village of Hafslo. The village of Veitastrond is lo ...

in the municipality of Luster. The road was opened on 16 July 1938. The road passes through the

Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...

Hurrungane Hurrungane (also written ''Hurrungene'', ''Hurrungadn'', ''Horungane'') is a mountain range in the municipalities Luster and Årdal in Vestland county, Norway. The area is southwest in the larger mountain range Jotunheimen and is also part of Jo ...

, and

Breheimen Breheimen is a mountain range in the Innlandet and Vestland counties in Norway. The area lies west of the Jotunheimen mountain range. The mountain range lies to the northwest of the Sognefjellsvegen road, north of the Sognefjorden, south of the ...

mountains. The highest point is Fantesteinen at . During the winters there is a lot of snow, and so the road is closed from November through May. The road passes between

Jotunheimen National Park Jotunheimen National Park ( no, Jotunheimen nasjonalpark, "Home of the Giants") is a national park in Norway, recognized as one of the country's premier hiking and fishing regions. The national park covers and is part of the larger area Jotunhe ...

and

Breheimen National Park Breheimen National Park ( no, Breheimen nasjonalpark) (Lit: Home of The Glaciers) is a national park that was established in 2009. The park is located in the municipalities of Skjåk and Lom in Innlandet county and in Luster in Vestland count ...

Route

The road passes the villages of Galdesanden, Spiterstulen, and Elveseter, then the mountain

Galdhøpiggen Galdhøpiggen () is the highest mountain in Norway, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe. The tall mountain is located in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The moun ...

, lake Bøvertunvatnet, and then the Bøvertun rest area. The rest areas of Krossbu and Sognefjellshytta are located beside the road high up in the mountains. Upon entering Luster, the road passes the lakes

Prestesteinsvatnet Prestesteinsvatnet () is a lake in Luster Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, with a small part of the lake crossing over into the neighboring Lom Municipality in Innlandet county. The lake sits at an elevation of above sea level. It lies ...

and Hervavatnet with the mountain Fannaråki, just south of the road. Descending into the valley, the road passes the hotel

Turtagrø Turtagrø is a hotel in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway, near Hurrungane in Jotunheimen. The hotel has been a central meeting place for mountaineers from the late 1800s. Location Turtagrø is located near the old mountain ...

, the villages of

Skjolden Skjolden is a village in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Lustrafjorden, a branch of the Sognefjorden. Skjolden is located at the innermost point of the Sognefjorden, Norway's longest fjord, ...

, Luster, Høyheimsvik, and Nes before finally reaching

which is along the

Sognefjord 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 ...

References

External links

Sognefjellsvegen informationSognefjellsvegen

Pictures of the route
{{Coord, 61.5666, 08.0053, display=title, region:NO, format=dms Landforms of Vestland Landforms of Innlandet Luster, Norway Lom, Norway Mountain passes of Norway National Tourist Routes in Norway

Route

See also

References

External links