We started from Oslo, drove southwest to Skien, and then westward along the Telemark Canal to Dalen where we stayed one night at the Dalen Hotel. We've been there before and it's always nice to come back to this hotel with its unique architecture and lovely grounds.
The following day we drove northward on our way to Utne, passing through Haukeli and over the Haukelifjell mountain area and mountain pass. Haukelifjell partially overlaps the Hardangervidda mountain plateau and is located in the Vinje municipality in the county of Telemark and Odda municipality in the county of Hordaland. Utne is located at the tip of the Folgefonn Peninsula where the Sørfjorden and Hardangerfjorden meet. We passed through Odda and Tyssedal on our way to Utne, where we stayed for two nights at the charming Utne Hotel, which is the oldest hotel in Norway (built in 1722: it was celebrating 300 years of operation this year). The hotel offered a five-course dinner each night, which we barely managed the first night; the second night we opted to eat three of the five courses before we gave up. Utne is located in the apple and cherry region of Hardanger; we were offered an apple cider package with dinner that we enjoyed, with different types of cider that accompanied the different courses, instead of wine.
While we were in Utne, we managed a day trip to Rosendal (home to the Baroniet Rosendal), making our way there along a very narrow winding scenic road that I have no wish to drive on again--too narrow and too winding. There are spots where it would be impossible to pass an oncoming car or truck. But it was a scenic route, I'll attest to that. The visit to the Baroniet Rosendal was well-worth it; it is a manor house from 1665 with beautiful gardens and landscapes (Baroniet Rosendal Manor House & Gardens). On the day of our departure, we took the car ferry from Utne to Kinsarvik (a half hour trip) and then drove eastward along the north end of Hardangervidda to Geilo where we ate lunch at the Hallingstuene restaurant that serves very good traditional Norwegian food. We then drove south to Rjukan and stayed overnight at the Rjukan Admini Hotel. We've been to Rjukan before, in 2015, at which time I wrote a blog post about this historic town (A New Yorker in Oslo: Oslo-Rjukan-Heddal-Notodden-Oslo (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com). This time we stayed at the charming Admini Hotel, which we did not do the first time we were in Rjukan. This hotel offered a three-course dinner as part of the package, which we enjoyed.
Overall, definitely an enjoyable vacation, although I will say that as I get older I have less and less desire to drive on narrow mountain roads. There can be sturdy guardrails, speed limits, mirrors and the like on those roads, it doesn't matter. I no longer enjoy winding our way high up into the mountain areas or descending from them, although the latter is preferable because I know we'll soon be back on flat ground. I prefer plateaus, farmland, and valleys. But of course you don't get the gorgeous views if you never go into the mountains, that I understand. So I compromise, but there will come a day very soon when I will simply not do it anymore. It makes me too nervous.
In my next post I'll include some photos of this trip.
