The fjord
Hardangerfjord boat tour: an hour on the water beats a day on the road
One hundred and eighty kilometres of fjord, orchards on every south-facing slope and waterfalls coming straight off Europe’s largest mountain plateau. The boats that work it are small: a dozen people in survival suits, an hour or two out, and side arms narrow enough that the walls close in on both sides.
Quick answer
A Hardangerfjord boat tour costs from $81 and most of them last one to two hours. They are rigid inflatables leaving from villages along the fjord — Eidfjord, Norheimsund, Øystese and Ulvik — with survival suits provided. The most-booked is seventy-five minutes from Norheimsund into the Fyksesund arm at $94, and it is the only one that runs all year. Full days from Bergen also exist, and most of that day is driving.
Hardangerfjord boat trips, at a glance
- Length of the fjord
- ~180 kmsecond in Norway, fourth in the world
- Typical trip
- 1–2 hourson a rigid inflatable
- Cheapest
- $81one hour from Eidfjord
- Most booked
- $9475 minutes, Norheimsund
- Runs all year
- 1 of 7the Norheimsund trip
- Villages
- Eidfjord, Norheimsund, Øystese, Ulvikall on the fjord itself
- From Bergen
- 2–3.5 hours by roadday tours exist and are mostly driving
- Suits
- Providedand you will still get wet
- Average rating
- 4.9the highest of any destination we track
- Cancellation
- Free to 24 hon all seven trips
What makes this fjord different
Orchards, waterfalls and a plateau above it
Orchards, a plateau full of waterfalls, narrow arms and a glacier — in one fjord.
Norway has a lot of fjords and they are not interchangeable. Hardanger is the agricultural one: the south-facing slopes get sun reflected off the water and shelter from the mountains, and they have been planted with apples, pears, plums and cherries for centuries. It is the largest fruit-growing district in the country, and for three weeks in spring the whole thing flowers at once.
It is also the waterfall fjord. Above the inner end sits Hardangervidda, the largest mountain plateau in Europe, and the water coming off it has nowhere to go but down. Vøringsfossen near Eidfjord drops about 182 metres. Steinsdalsfossen at Norheimsund has a footpath running behind the water. And the RIB trips take you under smaller falls that have no name, no road and no viewing platform.
Then there are the arms. Fyksesund, near Norheimsund, is a few hundred metres wide with a bridge across its mouth and walls going straight up. Osafjorden at Ulvik is quieter again. These are the places a small boat can go and a cruise ship cannot, and they are the reason to book a RIB rather than look at the fjord from a road.
And above the southern shore, Folgefonna: the third largest glacier on the Norwegian mainland, with a meltwater lake beneath it the colour of antifreeze.
Every trip, current fare
Every Hardangerfjord trip, cheapest first
Seven trips with the column that decides it: which village you start from. Four leave from the fjord itself; three are full days out of Bergen.
| Trip | How long | Price | Starts from | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eidfjord: 1-Hour Fjord RIB TourAn hour at the inner end of the fjord | 1 h | $81 | Eidfjord | $81.00 | 4.8 · 258 |
| Øystese: Hardangerfjord RIB safari to the Fyksesund branchInto Fyksesund from the other side | 1 h | $91 | Øystese | $91.00 | 5.0 · 40 |
| Norheimsund: All-Year Hardangerfjord & Fyksesund RIB SafariThe narrow arm, and it runs all year | 75 min | $94 | Norheimsund | $75.20 | 4.9 · 136 |
| Ulvik: Hardangerfjord Ultimate RIB TourThe longest RIB trip on the fjord | 105 min | $137 | Ulvik | $78.29 | 4.8 · 56 |
| Bergen: Folgefonna National Park & Glacier Lake Tour & LunchA glacier day, with 896 reviews | 10.5 h | $207 | Bergen | $19.71 | 4.9 · 896 |
| Bergen Private Full-Day Waterfall tour to Hardanger & cruiseA private car and guide for ten hours | 10 h | $954 | Bergen | $95.40 | 5.0 · 9 |
| From Bergen: Private yacht Fjord Cruise with WaterfallsA private yacht, and the priciest here | 7–7.5 h | $3,474 | Bergen | $479.17 | 5.0 · 4 |
What an hour on a RIB is like
Suits, speed, a waterfall and then silence
Thirty knots, a waterfall over the bow, and one minute of complete silence.
You meet at a quay in a village of one or two thousand people. Suits, life jackets and goggles are handed out and go over your own clothes; putting one on takes two minutes and looks ridiculous, which is part of the fun.
The first ninety seconds are slow through the moorings, and then the throttle opens. A RIB does thirty knots comfortably, and the village is gone behind you almost immediately. What follows is a corridor: fjord wall on one side going up a thousand metres, water flat enough to reflect it, and the boat close enough to the rock to see ferns growing out of the cracks.
Somewhere in the middle the skipper takes the boat under a waterfall. This is not a metaphor. The engine drops, the bow swings in, and you are in the spray with your hood up and everybody shouting. It is the moment everybody photographs and the one nobody manages to photograph well.
Then the narrow arm, where the water goes still and the walls close in, and usually a stop with the engine off. A minute of complete silence in a fjord is a strange and memorable thing, and every skipper here knows to give you one.
Coming from Bergen rather than staying on the fjord? The driving times decide the day more than the boat does.
Hardangerfjord from Bergen→Before you book
Seven things to check
All seven are visible on the listing, and each one changes the day.
- Which village it leaves from
Norheimsund is two hours from Bergen, Eidfjord three and a half. That decides your whole day before anything else does.
- Whether it runs in your month
Only the Norheimsund trip runs all year. The others are seasonal, mostly spring to early autumn.
- How long you are actually on the water
One hour, seventy-five minutes or 105 minutes on the RIB trips. The Bergen days are ten hours of which the boat is a small part.
- That you will get wet
These boats go under waterfalls deliberately. Bring a bag for the phone.
- What is provided
Survival suit, life jacket and goggles on every RIB trip. Warm layers underneath are yours.
- How many people have rated it
One listing here has 896 ratings; three have fewer than sixty. Both numbers are useful and they mean different things.
- The cancellation window
Every trip here cancels free up to 24 hours before, which makes booking ahead in blossom season sensible.
Hardanger against the other famous fjords
Five honest comparisons
Norway has several and they are genuinely different places.
- Against Geirangerfjord
Geiranger is narrower, steeper and far more crowded, and it is six hours from Bergen. Hardanger is two, and greener.
- Against Nærøyfjord
Nærøyfjord is a UNESCO site and spectacular, and it is the one every coach tour visits. Hardanger has orchards and hardly anybody.
- Against Sognefjord
Sognefjord is longer and deeper; Hardanger is the fruit district, with a plateau above it and a glacier beside it.
- Against Lysefjord
Lysefjord has Preikestolen and the hiking crowd. Hardanger has Trolltunga at its far end and villages in between.
- Against the Lofoten waters
A different country in effect: Arctic, further north, and a different season. Not an alternative for the same week.
Common questions
Hardangerfjord boat tours, answered
How much is a Hardangerfjord boat tour?
From $81 for an hour on a RIB from Eidfjord. The most-booked trip, seventy-five minutes from Norheimsund, is $94, and a full day from Bergen with the Folgefonna glacier is $207.
How long is the Hardangerfjord?
About 180 kilometres — the second longest fjord in Norway after the Sognefjord and the fourth longest in the world.
Where do the boats leave from?
From villages on the fjord itself: Eidfjord, Norheimsund, Øystese and Ulvik. The full-day tours leave from Bergen instead.
Do the boats go under waterfalls?
Yes, deliberately, on most RIB trips here. Survival suits are provided and you will still get wet.
Do trips run in winter?
One does — the Norheimsund RIB runs every month of the year. The others are seasonal.
Is it better than Sognefjord or Geiranger?
It is greener, closer to Bergen than Geiranger and much less crowded than either. Hardanger is the fjord with orchards; the others are the fjords with cruise ships.
Go deeper
More on the Hardangerfjord
Which trip is best
Seven trips ranked, and which village to start from.
From BergenFrom Bergen
Two hours by road, and what actually fits into a day.
NorheimsundNorheimsund
The village with the waterfall you can walk behind.
FyksesundFyksesund
The narrow arm, the bridge and why the boats go in.
EidfjordEidfjord
The inner end, under the plateau and Vøringsfossen.
UlvikUlvik
A quiet arm of its own, and the longest RIB trip here.
