Åndalsnes

Rampestreken, Nesaksla and the Romsdalseggen ridge — the walls of Romsdalen, from on top of them.

Åndalsnes is a small town at the head of the Romsdalsfjord with the most vertical country in Norway standing directly behind it. Trollveggen, the Troll Wall, is the tallest vertical rock face in Europe at 1 100 metres; Romsdalshorn is the spike across the valley from it; and the ridge of Romsdalseggen, looking straight at the Wall, is the walk people come for. What makes this a good port rather than merely a spectacular one is that the first viewpoint is a walk from the gangway — you can stand on a platform 537 metres above the ship about two hours after leaving it, without a car.

Going ashore

Ships berth at the quay on the point north of the centre, beside the station and the Mountaineering Centre, and everything in town is within ten minutes. The Romsdalen gondola base is 500 metres south in the town centre, and the Romsdalstrappa stairway starts a kilometre east of it along a gravel path — about half an hour from the gangway, which makes the first route here one that gains 700 metres without any transport at all, with the gondola to bring you down if you want it. The river walk and the town walk are on foot too; only the ridge needs the bus up the valley, and the guide gives the time you must reach Blånebba by or turn back.

The hikes

1. 01

   Rampestreken and Nesaksla

   4 km · 3.5 hours · 700 m up

   A Sherpa-built stone stairway leaves the edge of town and climbs the shoulder of Nesaksla to Rampestreken, a steel platform cantilevered off the cliff with the town, the fjord and the ship laid out below. Keep going twenty minutes and the summit itself is quieter and 174 metres higher. Relentless rather than difficult, and the gondola will bring you down if the legs have had enough.

2. 02

   The Rauma river and Setnes

   6 km · 2.5 hours · 30 m up

   Through the town to the salmon river, along its bank to the bridge and the flat farmland beyond, and back. Level, quiet, the mountains all round. Free.

3. 03

   Romsdalseggen

   10 km · 9 hours · 1000 m up

   The ridge: bus 15 km up the valley, over the crest at 1 320 m with the Troll Wall across from it, down to the gondola. A whole day, dry rock, a head for edges. Read page 12 first.

4. 04

   The climbing centre and the town

   2.5 km · 1.5 hours · 10 m up

   The Mountaineering Centre beside the quay — an hour inside — the station, the shops and the fjord front. For a short call or a wet one.

What's inside

Look inside

Pages 1–6 are in the free sample. 34 pages in the full guide.

What the guide covers

• Rampestreken
• Nesaksla
• Romsdalseggen
• Romsdalshorn
• Trollveggen
• Trollstigen
• Blånebba
• Norsk Tindesenter
• Rauma river
• Rauma Railway

4 routes · 23 km · 34 pages

When to go

Romsdalseggen is a summer route and nothing else — the ridge bus to Venjesdalen runs from about 20 June to mid-September, there is snow on the ridge into June, and outside that the ridge is a mountaineering proposition rather than a walk. The stairway clears from late May, with snow on the summit into June, and the guide starts route A from June; the gondola runs on after the ridge bus stops, though it stops in strong wind. Trollstigen, the hairpin road 40 km south, is a coach excursion and is listed as one — the guide's view is that the train does the Troll Wall cheaper.