Ålesund, Norway

Every city has a scent. Granada is honeysuckle and jasmine; Squamish is fir trees; Bergen is baked goods; and Ålesund is a wood-burning fireplace.

We arrived in Ålesund (Norway’s “most beautiful city”) off a late-night flight from Bergen. After picking up our Sixt rental car at the Vigra airport, we drove twenty minutes into the town.

Ålesund (pronounced “oh-luh-suhnd”) is a port town off the western coast of Norway, nestled among seven islands that stretch out into the Atlantic Island. The journey from the airport into the town takes you over huge, sweeping bridges. They jump from island to island before dipping down into a set of extremely long (think 8 miles!) underwater tunnels.

Art Nouveau

Ålesund is perhaps most famous for its Art Nouveau-style of architecture. This is what gives the city its endearing charm and makes it something of a fairytale city. We spent our first morning walking through the city admiring the watery reflections of the bright yellow, pink, and blue buildings lining the cobblestones.

A Little History

If you ask a local about the Art Nouveau architecture, the first thing you’ll hear is something about “the Great Fire.” It’s still quite legendary in these parts. Like many Norwegian towns, Ålesund prospered during the 19th century, largely due to its industrial fishing capabilities. During these days of salt cod and whaling, the town’s structures were primarily made of wood.

In the winter of 1904, a great fire ravaged the town center, burning down 850 homes and razing the city to the ground. Just days later, Kaiser Wilhem II of Germany sent his ships to Ålesund to provide assistance, and 50 craftsmen and architects from all over Norway flooded into the city to help. The international training of this amalgam of workers led to the creation of the Jugendstil, or German Art Nouveau, which is known for its organic lines, asymmetry, and hewn stone buildings. The men built over three hundred new buildings in a span of three years, spanning from the harbor all across the city center.

Exploring Ålesund On Foot

The town itself is quite small and easily walkable. We started our first morning at the harbor outside our hotel, admiring the architecture, watching cruise ships disembark at the port, and spotting jellyfish and starfish in the waters. One Spanish traveler taught me the word for starfish (estrella de mar) and jellyfish (medusa). Later in the week, we were lucky enough to catch a local boat race in the harbor: from our vantage point, it appeared that the ships were made out of inflatable tubes or rafts, and the point of the game was not just to win, but to knock out your competition in the most ridiculous way possible.

Further into the city, we happened upon a statue of Norwegian soldiers from World War II. It was here that I learned about the city’s role as a port of escape during the war. After the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940, many citizens escaped the country through Ålesund; heroically, this port also served as a place of entry for those coming to support the Norwegian resistance to the Nazi occupation.

Mount Aksla (Fjellstua)

If you fancy a climb, look no further than the top of Mount Aksla, which looms large over the city. From the harbor front, it is easy to spy the winding, curving paved staircase that leads 418 steps from a park in the city center to the vista point at the top of the mountain.

I recommend doing this climb early in the morning to beat the cruise boat tourists. From our experience, we learned that the cruise boats disembark around 10:00 a.m., and most of these big crowds surge upon the city and the mountain immediately. We made it to the mountain a bit late in the morning, which meant we were climbing the 418 steps to the top of the mountain along with everyone else visiting Ålesund that day! It was a busy but beautiful trek. The entire pathway is paved, with handrails and wide, generous steps that make for a pretty easy upward hike. There are plenty of places to rest and designated areas for taking photos, so you should not feel rushed, pressured, or exhausted during this hike.

At the top, the best viewpoint in the city greets you. To your west, you see sweeping views of the bright blue Atlantic Ocean and the islands and archipelagos whose long fingers stretch out beyond. To the east, let your eyes feast upon the tall, snowy Sunnmøre Alps, the majestic alpine mountains that curve protectively around the city. And down below, you have beautiful views of the town, its colorful buildings, and the harbor.

Tips at the Top

If you’re disinclined to make the trek on foot, don’t worry! There is a car access road leading up to the top of the mountain. However, I don’t especially recommend spending too much time in the cafe at the top. Those who designed it inconsiderately (but lucratively) built the cafe on the southwest part of the mountain in order to capitalize on the best views. In order to access this view, you have to purchase food at the cafe. We were curious enough about the views on this side, so we caved and bought a coffee and lefse (a sweet tortilla-like potato bread). Afterwards, we and many other tourists climbed a precarious rock at the top of the mountain for better views of the southwest.

Pro tip: Do be sure to check out the photo of Jimmy Carter and his wife in the picture gallery at the cafe!

Trips from Ålesund

Ålesund, with its famous Art Nouveau architecture, is a destination itself, but it is also the perfect jumping-off point for other trips in western Norway. From Ålesund, you can drive south to Runde Island to do some cliff-hiking and bird watching, or east to crawl up the treacherous, winding curves of the Troll Road (Trollstigen), or even further southeast to the breathtaking and majestic Geirangerfjord. We were lucky enough to do all of the above (links to blog posts coming soon).

Where to Stay: Hotel Brosundet

The further north you travel in Norway during the summer, the more daylight you experience. When we arrived at our Ålesund hotel around 11:00pm, the sun was still out. My body clock was convinced it was mid-afternoon! Norway’s famous “midnight sun” and our hotel’s utter lack of blackout curtains would ensure that we were never truly rested. I captured the below photo at midnight.

Breakfast at the Hotel

What our hotel lacked in blackout curtains, it more than made up for in charm, coziness, and good smells. During our trip, we stayed for three nights at Hotel Brosundet, and I cannot more highly recommend a hotel. It offers guests a beautifully-presented buffet breakfast every morning: eggs prepared in every imaginable fashion (fried, hardboiled, poached, scrambled); heaps of brightly-colored peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions; hefty hunks of thick, soft breads with five different types of cheeses and six different types of jams and marmalades and butter; sweet raspberry smoothies served in miniature mason jars; flasks of “ginger shots” for those suffering from colds; meats of every kind and type; cereals, granola, and local strawberry yogurt; crisp flagons of cucumber or raspberry water; rich chocolate croissants and pastries; and milk, coffee, tea, and juice.

It was heaven. We ate every morning at a long wooden communal table with benches covered in soft, cozy furs. The breakfast room overlooks the harbor. Since we had perfect weather during our trip to Norway, we got to enjoy the sun shining down on us as we feasted.

But for me, the hotel’s most striking feature was the long, tall wood-burning fireplace that climbed from the lobby all the way up to the top floor. It filled the place and every room with a smoky wood scent, never too overpowering. Even the hotel’s shampoos and conditioners smelled like a rustic wood cabin. During our first day in the city, I kept smelling the scent of wood following me around. I quickly realized the scent was in my hair! We decided to buy a candle from the hotel’s lobby to replicate the scent in our own home.

Have I Convinced You to Visit Ålesund?

So even though Bergen, Oslo, and the Western Fjords are calling your name on your next trip to Norway, I encourage you to consider adding Ålesund to your itinerary. Fit it in by taking a 45-min flight from Bergen, or drive the road north from Geirangerfjord. You can easily see the entire city in a day, but if I also encourage you to stay longer and use Ålesund as a jumping-off point for other great Norwegian adventures! Let me know if you visit!