Driving Trollstigen, Norway's "Troll Road"

Norway: the land of trolls and their wild, winding roads. The wildest and windiest of these roads is, famously, Trollstigen, or the “Troll’s Road.” We drove it on our summer trip to Norway this June.

One of my favorite things about visiting a new place is learning about its history and culture. Usually you can spot some of the more “touristy” parts of a country’s cultural background simply by walking into a souvenir shop. In Norway, you’d be hard-pressed to find a shop that doesn’t sell troll figurines.

You can find one in practically every pose, variety, or theme: trolls getting married; trolls baking cakes; trolls writing a book; trolls rowing a canoe; fat trolls; old trolls; skinny trolls–but importantly, absolutely no pretty trolls. So what’s the deal with the trolls?

A Norwegian Fairytale

The concept of the troll begins in Norse mythology. You’re probably familiar with the idea of the dangerous or stupid troll that tends to live in the inaccessible wilderness of mountain caves or dense forests. Norwegian folklore describes trolls as strong, dangerous, and evil giants, with ugly, large heads. Humans were the main enemies of the trolls, who lived in cold, distant lands. So the cute, goofy creatures for sale in the gift stores aren’t entirely accurate depictions of the monsters of Norse mythology. An obvious result of these folk tales is that many, many Norwegian landmarks bear troll-inspired names. The three landmarks with the most visibility are Trollveggen (Troll Wall), Trollstigen (Troll Road), and Trolltunga (Troll’s Tongue). We saw two out of three, choosing (with some sadness) to opt out of the dizzying, treacherous 12-hour hike to Trolltunga.

A Little Background on Trollstigen

Nestled deep into the mountains off western Norway, Trollstigen is famously considered one of the world’s most dangerous roads. The official line you’ll hear from every guidebook, fellow tourist, or local is: “it has eleven hairpin turns!” Add to this a very steep, 9% gradient, narrow driving lanes, and poor traction caused by mist coming off nearby waterfalls and snowmelt, and you have the infamous Troll’s Road.

When you visit Trollstigen, you can approach the road, naturally, from either the north or the south. We approached from Åndalsnes in the northwest, on Norwegian National Road 63. This meant that we would be taking the Troll’s Road up the mountain instead of down. I can’t decide which would be scarier.

If you’re driving to Trollstigen from Åndalsnes like we did, you have the opportunity to visit Trollveggen, the tallest vertical rock wall in Europe, at 3,600 feet. It is a popular, yet difficult route for climbers and hikers. To my surprise, one of the climbing routes bears the name “Death to All/Pretty Blond Vikings.” Take from that what you will. In the photo below, you can get a sense of the scope and height of the wall if you look how tiny the red farmhouse looks comparatively.

From Trollveggen, the beginning of Trollstigen is just a half hour drive through beautiful countryside. As you approach the tourist stop just beside the entrance to the road, you’ll spot Trollstigen crawling and curving its way up the mountain.

You’ll know you’re in troll country when you see it. At this rest stop, you can grab something to eat or peruse the store for troll souvenirs. I recommend skipping this tourist trap and continuing on your drive.

The Drive

Driving the Troll’s Road doesn’t take very long–maybe ten or fifteen minutes depending on how slowly you go. There’s really nothing to prepare you for the experience. My palms started to sweat about halfway up the mountain, when we made a sharp turn that treated us to a view of the entire Romsdalen Valley below.

Be extra careful of buses and motorcyclists traveling this road as well. If you’re in the driver’s seat on the way up, roll down your window about halfway up the mountain and let a nearby waterfall spray you–it’s good fun.

At the top, park your car in one of the many spacious parking spots at the Visitor’s Center and grab your camera. The Trollstigen Visitor’s Center sits 2,814 feet above sea level and gives a birds-eye view of the road through the Romsdal region and north to Åndalsnes.

The Visitor’s Center is a beautiful, contemporary glass structure seated at the heart of a glacial blue stream that tumbles into a waterfall off the mountain. When we visited in June, there was still snow on the mountains.

From the Visitor’s Center, walk across the stream over a boardwalk to the viewing platforms. We spent almost an hour here.

Tips and Tricks

The Troll’s Road is closed in the autumn, winter, and early spring, as the pavement becomes unnavigable and dangerous due to snow and ice. Do not attempt the drive in the dark or wet conditions, and be very careful if you have bad weather. We were lucky to visit on a perfect, rain-free day and still experienced quite a bit of vertigo as our car creaked up the mountain. The below photo shows the surrounding mountains in June. Imagine what the roads look like in colder weather!

What to Do and See Near Trollstigen

If you approached from the northwest, I recommend continuing on past Trollstigen to Valldal, where you can take the ferry across the fjord to Eidsdal and continue to make your way to the famous Geirangerfjord.

The road to Valldal is a vast, ever-changing countryside. As we crept out of Trollstigen, the mountains got snowier and icier. For fun, I foolishly jumped in a snow mound and very promptly sank into a freezing cold puddle of water at the bottom–I don’t recommend. As you drive further and further south, the landscape gets greener and opens into vast farmlands.

We stopped at a tourist attraction on the way, Gudbrandsjuvet, a deep ravine through which the Valldøla River runs, forming deep whirlpools and maelstroms.

But if you’re driving through the Valldal region, you really have to eat strawberries. Valldal is the strawberry capital of Norway, and perhaps the world. During the summer, the strawberries ripen and local cafes serve strawberry cakes and other treats. We stopped at a highly-recommended cafe, Jordbaerstova (jordbaer means strawberry in Norwegian). It was as cute and sweet as can be.

My husband Matt hails from the strawberry capital of Tennessee, a little town called Portland, so we were eager to try the famous Norwegian strawberry cakes. When we arrived at the cafe, the waitress immediately brought us two huge slices of cake with whipped cream and coffees. We ate in a quaint farmhouse dining room and enjoyed views of the Valldal Valley from outside. The verdict? Sensational. Worth the drive. Worth the calories.