Road of the hairpins

One of the most famous roads in Norway is Trollstigen. The road is mainly famous for the 11 hairpins along the way up the mountain. The road has become so famous it is actually fairly heavily travelled for a Norwegian mountain road. You can expect to get caught in a bit of traffic while driving the road and a lot of tourist going along the road in a campervan really doesn’t know how to navigate a road like this.

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The hairpin is supposed to make the travel on this road the most dramatic of the Norwegian mountain roads – but I am not sure I agree with this. I find a road like the old road across Gaularfjellet is at least as interesting when it comes to hairpin. And I find the road across Gaularfjellet is very steep and narrow making it more dramatic than Trollstigen.

When heading up the road there is a view point at an old bridge but otherwise there is not a lot of places to park before you go up to the top of the hairpins. Here the Norwegian road agency has made a large view point area with a restaurant and shops to serve the many people driving the road. There is a huge parking lot which can accommodate the many cars stopping here at the top.

Walking around this area is the highlight of the road. The view from the top if dramatic with the hairpins below.

The view point isn’t actually the highest point on the road. A bit further along the road is a higher plateau where the temperature is slightly lower – and the snow has survived here thanks to the lower temperatures.