The story of Geirangerfjord

If the kingdom of Arendelle in the film Frozen looks familiar here, there is a reason: its landscapes were based on this fjord and the Nærøyfjord. The Geirangerfjorden is a 15-kilometre branch of the Sunnylvsfjorden, itself a branch of the Storfjorden, and it is one of Norway's most visited tourist sites. In 2005 it was listed, together with the Nærøyfjord, as the West Norwegian Fjords UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Magdalene Thoresen, Henrik Ibsen's mother-in-law, wrote of mountain farms here reached by paths around steep precipices and by bridges fixed to the mountain with iron bolts and rings. Along the fjord's sides you can still see abandoned farms, such as Skageflå, Knivsflå and Blomberg. Watch for the waterfalls too.

The Seven Sisters face the Suitor across the water, and he is said to be trying to woo them. Another, the Bridal Veil, falls delicately over a rocky edge and, backlit by the sun, looks like a thin veil. From 2026 the fjord is scheduled to require zero-emissions ships.