Olden was my favourite places we visited in Norway. It is a tiny place, so we decided to go for a walk. I had looked up a route beforehand up to a lake, and it was glorious.
Olden itself is small with a few shops, a petrol station, etc. We were lucky to be there on Constitution Day, so there was a parade going on. It seemed like the whole village had turned out for the parade, and we were amazed that that many people lived there! Everyone was dressed very smartly in traditional dress.
After the parade we took the road less travelled and headed for the lake.
It was just beautiful with the spring flowers out in the meadows, framed by the snow-capped mountains. We stopped at a cute wooden church halfway, also also explored the church in Olden itself. Both had cute wooden interiors.
It was a very hot day and we both ended up with a tan, but I was concerned about burning so we took turns in fashioning a headdress from my thin cardigan. The locals probably thought we were odd, but rather that than sunburn!
Nearer to Olden there were a few other tourists around, but the further away we got, we had the place to ourselves. Eventually we reached the lake and sat on a picnic bench for a while. It was so serene and we felt like we were the only people in the world.
After we had our fill of the calm, we headed back to Olden, grabbed a quick lunch on the ship, and then walked around the fjord before finally embarking.
As we sailed away, the people of Olden gave us a touching send off, playing “We are Sailing”, and then “Time to say Goodbye” while each waving the Norwegian flag in time to the music. And then it was over and we were indeed sailing, sailing away from Olden and the gorgeous mountains, along Innvikfjorden and then Nordfjord.
Travel Tips
- There are plenty of other things you can do in Olden, such as excursions organised by the cruise company or at the tourist office on the dockside (eg. a visit to Briksdal Glacier, a scenic ride on a tourist bus/mini train, a boat ride along the fjord, hiring bikes, etc). For us, having seen much bigger glaciers (in New Zealand and Switzerland) we decided to just go for a walk, which is free, and we were not disappointed!
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Big Fat Tourist 
Ah, is this during winter? Those mountains look beautiful here with all the snow on it…:)
It was in spring but there was still snow on the ground at altitude. It was beautiful 🙂
Wow, I can just imagine how beautiful it was if there’s still snow in spring…thanks for posting! 🙂