Aurlandsvangen is a village in the province of Sogn og Fjordane in the Vestlandet region, Norway.
The first traces of settlement from Aurlandsvangen can be found in the district of Onstad. Court was held there, there was a trading post and an inn. In 1740, the two-storey house Lensmannsgard was built in Empire style, which was based on the urban architecture of Bergen.
Aurlandsvangen located in the west of the country, near the Jostedalsbreen glacier —the largest in continental Europe— and Lake Hornindalsvatnet which, at 514 meters deep, is the deepest in Europe.
Before winter roads were built, Aurlandsvangen was only accessible by boat in winter. From the middle of the 19th century tourism developed in Ausland and so Aurlandsvangen got a jetty suitable for steamships in the 1870s. Furthermore, the place now has a small leisure port in Onstad. Due to the connection to the neighboring town of Flåm, Aurlandsvangen now benefits from tourism. There is a connection to the Flåmsbana railway line and a pier for large cruise ships. In Aurlandsvangen starts the Snøvegen to Lærdalsøyri, one of the 18 nationally funded tourist routes in Norway.
Access : Coordinates: 60.9058, 7.187 / The E16 runs through the urban area between Oslo and Bergen, to the east it goes through the world’s longest road tunnel, the Lærdal tunnel, and to the west via Flåm to Gudvangen through the country’s second longest road tunnel, the Gudvangen tunnel. From Aurlandsvangen, national road 50 via Vassbygdi goes over the mountain to Hol in Hallingdal.
Highlights :
- Due to the connection to the neighboring town of Flåm, Aurlandsvangen now benefits from tourism. There is a connection to the Flåmsbana railway line and a pier for large cruise ships.
- In Aurlandsvangen starts the Snøvegen to Lærdalsøyri, one of the 18 nationally funded tourist routes in Norway.
- From the Stegastein viewpoint, which is on this route, you have a view over the town, the Aurlandsfjord and the Flenjaeggi mountains opposite Aurlandsvangen.
- Norwegian Scenic Route Aurlandsfjellet runs between Lærdalsøyri and Aurlandsvangen.
- When the last police officer, Ole A. M. Onstad, died in 1929, the local history association took over the house in lensmannsgard and set up a local history museum in it. Among other things, it exhibits a collection of objects that belonged to Per Sivle, a Norwegian writer from the neighboring town of Flåm.
- Top sights in Aurlandsvangen , Norway : From the 1850s, the English Lord Garvagh came regularly to Aurlandsvangen with his servants. He invited his friends and also brought his son, who was born in 1852, to Aurland. The English noble society found accommodation in the local inn. Since then the house has been popularly known as the Lord’s House or English House./ Stegastein Viewpoint / the mouth of the Aurlandselva. Vangen Church is from the 13th century, and is the largest medieval church in Sogn.
Go next : The neighboring town of Flåm / The lake Fretheimsdalsvatnet / villages : Bakka, Undredal / Gudvangen and the Viking Village.
