Norheimsund
Norheimsund fjord cruise: the village with the waterfall you walk behind
Two thousand people, a quay, a boatyard that still builds wooden vessels, and a waterfall in the middle of town with a footpath running behind the water. Norheimsund is the closest fjord village to Bergen and the base for the only Hardangerfjord boat trip that runs every month of the year.
Quick answer
Norheimsund is about two hours from Bergen and is the departure point for the seventy-five-minute Fyksesund RIB safari, from $94. It is the only trip on this site that sails in every month. In the village itself: Steinsdalsfossen, a waterfall you can walk behind, and the Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter, a working yard that restores wooden boats.
Norheimsund, at a glance
- Where
- Kvam, on the fjordabout two hours from Bergen
- Population
- ~2,000a village, not a town
- The boat trip
- $9475 minutes into Fyksesund
- Runs
- All yearthe only one here that does
- Steinsdalsfossen
- In the villagewith a path behind the water
- Boatyard
- Hardanger Fartøyvernsenterwooden vessel restoration, open to visitors
- Nearest neighbour
- Øystese, 10 minutesand its own RIB safari
- Ferry history
- Long-standing quaythis was a stop long before tourism
- Where to eat
- A few cafésand a supermarket
- Cancellation
- Free to 24 hlike every trip here
Steinsdalsfossen
The waterfall with a path behind it
Fifty metres of water with a footpath running behind it, ten minutes from the quay.
The fall is about fifty metres and it is not the biggest in Norway by any measure. What makes it worth stopping for is the geology: the water comes over a hard overhanging ledge, and the softer rock beneath it has worn back far enough that a footpath runs along the cliff behind the falling water.
It takes about ten minutes to walk up, round and back, it is free, and it is a hundred metres from the main road through the village. Standing behind a waterfall and looking out through it is a specific pleasure that photographs badly and stays with people.
It has been a tourist stop since the nineteenth century — Kaiser Wilhelm II came here repeatedly — which tells you something about how long this fjord has been on the itinerary.
Combine it with the boat: the RIB leaves from the quay five minutes away, and an hour on the water plus ten minutes behind a waterfall is a complete morning in a village of two thousand people.
A day in Norheimsund
Five things within walking distance of the quay
The village is small; that is the appeal and the constraint.
- The RIB safari into Fyksesund
Seventy-five minutes, all year, at $94. The reason most people come.
- Steinsdalsfossen
Ten minutes on foot, free, and you walk behind the water.
- The Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter
A working yard restoring wooden ships, with a museum and rope-making. Genuinely interesting even if boats are not your thing.
- The quay itself
Fishing boats, the fjord and the mountains opposite. Sit down for twenty minutes.
- Øystese, ten minutes away
The next village along, with its own RIB safari at $91 and a small art museum.
The arm the boats go into is worth its own page: a few hundred metres wide with a bridge across the mouth.
Fyksesund→The boatyard
Where wooden ships are still repaired
A working yard with a rope walk and a forge, five minutes from the quay.
Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter sits on the water in Norheimsund and it is a working conservation yard: wooden vessels come here to be repaired using the techniques they were built with.
Inside there is a rope walk, a forge, a sail loft and boats in various states of being taken apart. It is not a museum with rope behind glass; it is a workshop that lets people watch, and on a wet afternoon in a village of two thousand it is an unexpectedly good way to spend an hour.
It also explains the fjord. Before the roads, everything here moved by boat, and the vessels in that shed are what moved it. The RIB you took in the morning is the same idea four generations later.
Where to stay near Norheimsund
Five practical notes
Small villages, limited beds, and it matters in blossom season.
- In Norheimsund itself
A hotel and guesthouses, walking distance from the quay and the waterfall.
- Øystese, ten minutes away
Quieter again, with its own RIB safari at $91.
- Farm stays in the orchards
Several along the fjord, and the best value if you have a car.
- Book early for May
Blossom season fills the villages, and Norwegians book it too.
- Bergen as a fallback
Two hours away. Doable, and it costs you the morning boat.
Common questions
Norheimsund, answered
How far is Norheimsund from Bergen?
About two hours by road, which makes it the closest Hardangerfjord village to the city. Buses run several times a day.
What is there to do in Norheimsund?
The RIB safari into Fyksesund, the Steinsdalsfossen waterfall with its path behind the water, and the Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter boatyard.
Can you walk behind Steinsdalsfossen?
Yes. A footpath runs along the cliff behind the falling water, it takes about ten minutes round, and it is free.
Does the boat trip run in winter?
Yes — the Norheimsund RIB safari is the only trip on this site that runs every month of the year.
Is Norheimsund worth staying in?
For a night, yes, particularly if you want the first boat of the morning and an evening on a fjord with no day-trippers on it.
How big is the village?
About two thousand people. There is a supermarket, a few cafés and a hotel — and that is the whole of it.
Go deeper
More on the Hardangerfjord
Hardangerfjord boat tours
What the trips are, where they leave from and what you see.
The verdictWhich 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.
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.
