How to Best Explore Norway's Waterfalls

Remember that thing about waterfalls connecting the mountains to the fjords? Well, as it turns out, sometimes you have to be on a boat to get the whole picture (both literally and figuratively). At the UNESCO site Geirangerfjord, you will come across the Seven Sisters: seven cascading waterfalls thought to resemble the long hair of women. The terrain up the mountain is prone to avalanches, so the safest way to admire them is from a boat while cruising the fjord.

Sight-seeing by train may seem odd, but it really depends on the train. The Flåm Railway, for instance, not only is one of the most beautiful trains you can take in Norway but also it goes quite slow and stops at all the important sights along its way from Flåm to Myrdal and back. One of these sights is the Kjofossen waterfall. The train stops directly in front of Kjofossen, so you can take in all its beauty and, if you’re lucky, catch one of the actresses dancing and singing as a Huldra (a Scandinavian kind of nymph) in the summertime.

Of course, for some waterfall sightings, all you need is your own two feet on a hike. Sogn og Fjordane county is a good place to start, as it’s also called ‘waterfall country’. At 755 meters high, you can visit (or at least get close enough to) Kjelfossen, one of the area’s most famous waterfalls located in Gudvangen. Vettisfossen, the highest single-drop waterfall in Norway, is also nearby. Hordaland county is also a good place for waterfall ogling, specifically Folgefonna National Park. Hiking the park is an adventure on its own, but you should also make sure to stop and stare at the Furebergfossen waterfall.