
The Scenic Route over the Folgefonna Glacier
Folgefonna is located between two fjord arms in Hardanger – an attractive tourist destination for over 200 years. In this area we find an unusual and special cultural monument; The Scenic Route over the Folgefonna Glacier.
Written by: Louise Brunborg-Næss
In the footsteps of tourists
The first cruise tourists came to Norway towards the end of the 1800s to the Maurangerfjord and the Bondhus Glacier. Tourist traffic was well organized: tourists bought ready-made "Cruise packages" that included boat travel, horse transport, overnight stays and meals. Some were content to see the Folgefonna glacier from the fjord, but many wanted to go up to the glacier and therefore bridleways were built up to the edge of the glacier on both sides.

The tourists disembarked in Sunndal, were transported on horseback into Bondhusdalen and up to Folgefonna. From there, they were pulled in sleds across the glacier, before new horses came and picked them up and took them down to Tokheim near Odda. In the meantime, the ships had sailed around, and were ready to take the tourists on board again.
In 1893, what is said to be Norway's first self-service tourist cabin was built on the edge of the glacier: a small shed called Breidablikk, where beer and wine were ready for those who were going over the glacier.

A Historical Walking Route
The three-mile long "Tourist Route over the Folgefonna Glacier" is a Historical Hiking Route that follows in the footsteps of tourists. When you leave the fjord behind you and hike into Bondhusdalen with turquoise Bondhusvatn in front of you and the glacier towering high up there, you understand why tourists were fascinated by this particular landscape. But the trip does not only offer spectacular scenery. Along the route on both sides of the glacier, there is a multitude of cultural monuments to discover. The cultural landscape bears traces of farm farming, war memorials, industrial monuments, archaeological cultural monuments, superstitions and old stories about the fonna. One of the most discussed "cultural monuments" along the route is some signs in the mountains at Fonnabu. Are the lines created by the glacier, or are they Semitic characters?
And at Fonnabu and Breidablikk there are still a couple of the old pointed sleds that were used to transport tourists across the glacier.
Discovering the cultural monuments and knowing the stories hidden in the landscape adds an extra dimension to the trip.

What did they see, the people who walked here 100, 200, 1000 years ago? What did they think was beautiful? What did they tell about when they got home?
Thanks to information boards and information on digital platforms, hikers who do the same hike today can have a hiking experience that is not beautiful and spectacular, but also learn something about the relationship between people and landscape.
The trip can be done as a two or three-day trip, with accommodation at Breidablikk or Fonnabu on the west side of the glacier, and/or the DNT cabin Holmaskjær on the east side. When it comes to the actual crossing of the glacier from Fonnabu to Holmaskjær, you must book a glacier guide if you are not part of an organized joint trip with DNT.
Historical hiking routes
Historical hiking routes are hiking routes that go along old paths or roads where there has been traffic in earlier times. The selected routes give you great outdoor experiences in combination with exciting cultural heritage.
- The trails and cabins in DNT's grid are maintained and maintained by the local tourist associations.
- Many of the cabins have great cultural-historical qualities and exciting stories.
- All routes have been realized in collaboration with local tourist associations and other organizations. The project is supported by the Savings Bank Foundation DNT and the Norwegian Environment Agency.
- On UT.no you will find maps and details for all the historical hiking routes
- Read more about the project on riksantikvaren.no
- Historical walking routes in lokalhistoriewiki.no
See also

