Stranda municipality consists of three smaller villages and one larger central village. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stranda. The smaller villages are Hellesylt, Geiranger, and Liabygda. The central town, bearing the name of the municipality, has approximately 2,500 inhabitants. There is also the small village of Helsem which is located just south of the village of Stranda. It covers an area of 866,0 km2. Each district has its kindergarten, school and sheltered accommodation. The municipal centre has a nursing home and two upper secondary schools. The tourist trade in Stranda is varied and robust.
Stranda is also known for tourist attractions like the Geirangefjord with its Seven Sisters waterfalls, the Friar waterfall, the Sunnylvsfjorden and the fjord farms are all growing attractions, the mountains of Kvitegga and Hornindalsrokken on the southern municipal border. The Flydalsjuvet gorge, the Ørnevegen hairpin bends, the Dalsnibba mountain (I.500 m.a.s) and the lake Djupvatnet are located along Norwegian national road 63 in the southern part of the municipality.
Geiranger and Hellesylt were popular destinations from an early date. The first boatload of tourists from abroad arrived in 1896. Today the Geirangefjord is the second most important cruise destination in Norway, with well over a hundred ships calling in the summer as well as the Coastal Steamer (Hurtigruten). The Coastal Steamer runs daily round trips Ålesund – Geiranger from April to mid-September. A ticket for the Coastal Steamer is a ticket to the theatre, an 11-day drama in which new acts constantly unfold all around you. See some pictures from the Coastal Steamer taken by one of the passengers.
Stranda municipality has a very varied economy with a wide range of jobs. It has 160 modern meat-production and dairy farms. There are a number of longstanding businesses engaged in the production of fresh and cured meat products, a long tradition of furniture and textile manufacturing. Stranda have the biggest pizza producer in Norway by Stabburet (Grandiosa). The municipality has several fish-processing factories and mechanical engineering firms.
Fenalår is a salted, dried and cured leg of lamb or year old, young mutton. Curing time is normally about three months, but the fenalår may be matured for a year or more. The leg is also slightly smoked before curing to prevent any mould-related problems that may occur when drying meat in a humid, mild climate.
Stranda municipality has a reputation for being a good place to grow up in. There is plenty of activity, work and leisure, making Stranda´s four districts pleasant places. Sports clubs, alpin skiing centre, cross country slopes, rifle clubs, song and music groups, humanitarian and Christian organisations do good and varied work for children and adults. The municipality has an indoor sports hall, several football pitches, as well as several indoor swimming pools, tennis courts and a golf course and a regional culture centre.
The alpine fields at Strandafjell mountains are bound to be a pleasant surprise on your first visit! The sight of fjord scenery combined with mighty alpine mountains is enough to take anyones breath away. Incredibly beatiful and challenge, say people who have seen alpine complexes around the world. “Action to the extreme”, is one comment, “Paradise on Earth”, is another, “with the fjord glistening far below you, it gives skiing pleasure a totally new dimension”.
GEIRANGER
The Geirangefjord is perhaps the world´s most famous fjord; whether or not it is the most beautiful is something you must decide for yourself. The people of Geiranger would like to welcome you to their district and hope that you enjoy the culture, sights and everyday life in this area.
Geiranger and its fjord are examples of Mother Earth at her most beautiful and impressive. Tourists have been overwhelmed by the beauty of this region since the arrival of the first cruise ship in 1869. In Geiranger, you will quite literally become part of nature. You will feel the spray from the waterfalls, you can visit the farms along the fjord and reach the 1.500 metres high Dalsnibba in 45 minutes.
We would like you to get to know the nature, culture and history of this area. The arduous life lived by this close-knit community is in great contrast to our modern lifestyle. On behalf of Geiranger´s 300 permanent residents, we would like to wish you a memorable stay. The unique road construction known as the Knot (Knuten) remains as it was when it was opened 1882. It was built in conjunction with the Geirangervegen road in order to gain height and to conquer difficult terrain. The stone construction displays outstanding engineering work and is an important reminder of the pioneers who built Geirangervegen road from 1881 until it was opened in 1889.
The Farms along the fjord are a testament both to man´s ability to survive and to how a common destiny creates a sense of unity through thick and thin. History tells us of children and animals being tethered so they didn´t fall over precipices. Of walking several miles to fetch the midwife or doctor. And of men blocking the paths when the tax man came. The last farm was vacated as recently as 1961.
THE WAVE (BØLGEN)
Wave (Bølgen) is a great production of Hollywood born dimensions, and become the first disaster movie that is made in Scandinavia. Based on the fact that mountain party Åkneset, located in the Geirangerfjord, one day will race out and create a violent tsunami of over 80 meters that will crush everything in its path before it hits land in Geiranger. A geologist gets caught in the middle of it and a race against against time begins.
Tafjord rockslide disaster happeds in Tafjord village on 7 April 1934, a rockslide of about 2,000,000 cubic metres of rock fell off the Langhamaren mountain from a height of about 700 metres.
DALSNIBBA
The fjord, jagged peaks and high mountain plateaux frame the beautiful view. The great height and the contrasts in nature are fantastic. Dalsnibba offers a very good view and is therefore a very popular tourist destination. Dalsnibba is often covered by snow even in the summer. Dalsnibba is located at the end of the Geiranger valley, about 21 kilometres south of the village of Geiranger and the Geirangefjord. The 2-square-kilometre lake Djupvatnet lies directly to the southeast of the mountain.
STORSETERFOSSEN WATERFALL
It is actually possible to walk behind the Storseterfossen waterfall. A well-prepared footpath with a guardrail takes you behind the fall in perfect safety. The walk to the waterfall, which is located in Vesteråsdalen, takes about 60 minutes from Vesterås Farm on a good path. Suitable for all ages, but good foot wear is necessary.
EAGLE ROAD (ØRNEVEIEN)
11 hairpin bends are an important ingredient on this easy tour. View of the Pulpit Rock and De Syv Søstre waterfalls. Excellent spot for watching cruise ships enter the fjord.
SKAGEFLÅ
Skageflå lies approximately 250 metres above the fjord. The farm is a two to fire hour walk from Geiranger, and can also be reached with help of a local sightseeing boat M/S Geirangerfjord. The boat takes passengers to a spot on the fjord just below the farm, from which point they face a very steep half-hour climb. Directly across the fjord is the old Knivsflå farm and the Seven Sisters waterfall. Although it was abandoned in 1916, Skageflå was once one of the richer goat farms in Geiranger, and had 2 or 3 mountain pastures for its animals. The farm was inhabited from the middle ages until 1916; it is now a tourist attraction. A rock slide in 1873 destroyed much of the cultivated land. From the fjord, the farm has a difficult uphill hike to get to the farm.
FRIAREN WATERFALL
According to the legend, Friaren Waterfall wooed De Syv Søstre Waterfalls on the other side of the fjord. Friarfossen Waterfall, Goatfossen Waterfall or Skageflåfossen Waterfall, is the 58th highest waterfall in Norway on the basis of total losses. The waterfall is sometimes referred to by an elevation of 440 meters, but the falls are no higher than about 275 meters. The fjord sightseeing cruise passes close to Friaren.
THE 7 SISTERS (DE SYV SØSTRE)
The Seven Sisters (Knivsflåfossen) is the 39th tallest waterfall in Norway. The waterfall consists of seven separate streams, and it is located along the Geirangefjord. The tallest of these has a free fall of 250 metres. Standing on the deck of the boat and feeling the spray of the water from these waterfalls is a unique experience. The waterfall is located just south of the historic Knivsflå farm, across the fjord from the old Skageflå farm. The falls are about 6.5 kilometres west of the village of Geiranger.
The tallest of the seven has a free fall that measures 250 metres. The legend of the seven sisters is that they dance playfully down the mountain, while a single waterfall opposite the seven sisters (known as the Friaren, a male onlooker) flirts playfully from across the fjord.
BLOMBERG
Blomberg mountain farm is reached via a steep path from the fjord. For those prepared for a little exertion, this walk is highly recommended.
THE KNOT
The unique road construction in Ørjasæter known as the Knot (Knuten) remains as it was when it was opened 1882. It was built in conjunction with the Geirangervegen road in order to gain height and to conquer difficult terrain. The stone construction displays outstanding engineering work and is an important reminder of the pioneers who built Geirangervegen from 1881 until it was opened in 1889. It is part of the old road from Geiranger, and today is still driveable. At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 engineers received the gold medal for the design, with the words: “Thou giver a good picture of the magnificent Norwegian Mountain scenery.”
HELLESYLT
Hellesylt is a small village and lies at the head of the Sunnylvsfjord, which is a branch of the Storfjord, and which the more famous Geirangefjord in turn branches off nearby. In the summertime, thousands of tourists travel through or stay in Hellesylt each day. Most of them take the ferry to Geiranger, which in high season runs every one and a half hours. The village is surrounded by mountains and valleys. The standard of living is said to be one of the best in Norway. The Sunnylven church is located in Hellesylt.
Hellesylt Waterfall is one of the most photographed waterfall in this area. The falls divide Hellesylt in two, providing the little settlement with a special atmosphere. Hellesylt is under constant threat from the mountain Åkerneset, which is about to erode into the Sunnylvsfjord. A collapse could cause a tsunami destroying most of downtown Hellesylt.
In the older days Hellesylt was called Lake Møre. The village Hellesylt is the parish that features in the famous play “Brand” by Henrik Ibsen. The play ends when the main character, the priest Brand, falls and favour with the village people and is driven from the parish. Inexperienced as he is with the natural conditions in this area, he ends his days in the great snowdrift that covers the Steimsnibba mountains every year.
UNESCO´s WORLD HERITAGE
The West Norwegian Fjords of Geirangefjord and Nærøyfjord was inscribed on UNESCOs World Heritage List in 2005. The two fjords are situated 120 km from each other and they are separated by the Jostedal glacier. The World Heritage Site possesses a unique combination of glacial landforms at the same time as each area is characterised by its own outstanding beauty.
Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord stretches through the municipality of Aurland, Lærdal, Norddal, Stranda, Vik and Voss.
TO DRIVE A ELECTRIC CAR IN NORWAY
Among the existing government incentives, all-electric cars are exempt in Norway from the annual road tax, all public parking fees, and toll payments as well as being able to use bus lanes.
Geiranger has a mythical attraction for tourists. The access by car is properly festive, whether you come across Strynefjellet mountain from Lom or from Trollstigen via Ørnesvingen. The scenery is no less pervasive in silence an electric car gives you. Therefore it is important that Geiranger has got the power to offer to those who come with empty or half empty batteries for the trip over the mountains. The Charging station is established in cooperation between Møre & Romsdal and Union Hotel where the Charging station are located.
SUNNMØRE
Sunnmøre is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian. Its main city is Ålesund. Though it is one of the three traditional districts in Møre og Romsdal, Sunnmøre is home to more than half the population of the county. The district is made up of mainland as well as several large islands such as Gurskøy and Hareidlandet, plus many small islands.
There are many local newspapers throughout Sunnmøre, as well as one that aims to cover the entire region, published from Ålesund, called Sunnmørsposten.
THE SUNNMØRS ALPS
It is a great pieature for us to welcome you to our “kingdom” – in the centre of Northern Europe´s fjord and alpine country. The region is spectacular, stretching from deep-blue fjords, via verdant valleys with emerald-green slopes way up to the highest wild peaks with their white glaciers. This is not just a picture, but reality, a landscape which you can become fond of.
Majestic peaks and a rugged alpine massif distinguish the Sunnmørs Alps from other mountain areas. Mountains plunge vertically into the fjord from a height of 1.500 – 1.600 metres and from the summit of Jakta at 1.588 metres, ther is a perpendicular fall of 1.821 metres to the bottom of the fjord. This will give you some idea of the enormous dimensions between the summits and the seabed below the waters of the fjords.
STORFJORD
Storfjorden or Storfjord is a 110-kilometre long fjord in Sunnmøre. It stretches from the village of Hareid in the west to the villages of Tafjord and Geiranger in the east. The Storfjorden system branches off into several smaller fjords including the famous Geirangerfjorden and Tafjorden. At the village of Stranda, the main fjord branches off into the Sunnylvsfjorden – Geirangerfjorden to the west and the Norddalsfjorden – Tafjorden to the east.
The landscape around Storfjorden is typical for Western Norway. The mouth the fjord is surrounded by islands with mountains reaching 500 to 800 metres above sea level. Further to the east there are higher mountains. Most of the Storfjorden has characteristically steep or very steep shores, interrupted by several gentle valleys stretching up to 30 kilometres into the hinterland. In this way, the Storfjorden system is, along with the Nordfjorden, Sognefjorden, and Hardangerfjorden fjord-systems, the major samples of the typical west coast fjords highly praised by visitors.
SKIING
Strandafjellet ski resort is a “gem” in Western-Norway, and the ski area offers runs of all difficulty levels. Strandafjellet is a relatively small, but exciting ski resort, with its 6 lifts and nearby mountain range. The mountains of Sunnmøre, often referred to as “The Alps of Sunnmøre”, is famous for its steep mountains that go all the way down to the fjords. All kinds of winter sports can be practiced here, such as slalom, Telemark-skiing and snowboard, as well as toboganning and snow-rafting. The ski resort is designed to be a good alternative for skiers and snowboarders of all levels, and is suitable for entusiasts as well as families. Every year roughly 250 telemark skiers come together in the race Alperittet, from 1,230 metres (4,040 ft) above sea level and down to the fjord.
FISHING
From the innermost heads of the fjords in both municipalities and all the way out to the islands on the coast there is plenty to challenge the fishing enthusiast. Both from the shore or from a boat it is possible to land a useful catch of cod, pollack or haddock. The fjords of the district offer many idyllic fishing spots, from sheltered bays to open stretches of the fjord where a more salty experience awaits you. Hobby – fishing for your own consumption is free, you can use rod, line, trolling line or net.
GOLF
Stranda Golfclub is a golf course with 6 holes and a variation of difficulties. Overvoll Golfbane is an idyllic little golf course about 14 km from the center of Stranda, in the direction of Stryn.