Dreamy norwegian villages

A rainbow of colours, from ochre to vermilion, in the form of gabled buildings, or a white row of snow-white houses as far as the eye can see, or even dark wooden buildings with peat roofs scattered in the bush. They overlook a cobbled road that climbs up a hill, or slip on stilts on the banks of a quiet fjord, or maybe they overhang from a rocky spur on a thunderous waterfall.

They are almost always deserted, immersed in the silence of the infinite daylight or in the quiet of the premature darkness of winter days. They seem to be always waiting for a guest who is late to arrive. Each house has a richly decorated threshold, full of flowers, decorative objects of all sorts. And there is never missing a bench, a chair with a coffee table, a stone bench or a wooden log that seems to invite you to sit down and have tea with the landlord. The colorful doors complete the idyllic picture.

These beautiful villages are often hidden, among the folds of secondary roads that are barely frequented. Others show off among the many tourists of the Lofoten, but nevertheless they do not lose their authentic charm.

FLEKKEFJORD

When you arrive in Flekkefjord you hardly notice the picturesque side of this town. It is located on the water, like every Norwegian town actually, and beautiful wooden houses overlook the water that surrounds it on all sides , with their large windows and loggias that animate the facades, which often dive into the water until the boathouse.

The quiet and charming heart of Flekkefjord is Hollenderbyen, the Dutch district, formed by curtains of strictly white wooden houses, with brick-colored roofs with large slopes, from which peep out the dormer windows.

Just a walk of about an hour through the alleys, with a pit-stop at the harbour for a walk with a freshly baked cinnamon at hand, to appreciate its atmosphere.

SOGNDALSTRAND

This microscopic village is located along the RV44, the coastal road that reaches Stavanger. The stretch from Flekkefjord is exceptionally scenic, and above all unique compared to the rest of Norway. Among the ponds dotted with massive, reddish granite, levigated rocks, lies the pretty Sogndalstrand. A sequence of old white, red and ochre warehouses overlooking the thunderous course of the Sokno River. The village is limited to a handful of wooden houses around a small street, but despite its small size, it is extraordinarily lively, and almost every house hosts an inn, a bookshop, an art gallery or a store. There is also a hotel.

STAVANGER

Stavanger is the first large town one encounters starting from Kristiansand, heading northwest, and is the gateway to the fjord region.

The harbor of stavanger, with its colorful wooden gable houses, is the town's 18th-century heart. The historic part, Gamle Stavanger, is the old town that stands west of the harbor. Walk the 3 streets parallel to the harbor that climb the hill among white houses with terracotta roofs. This idyllic neighborhood will keep you busy for at least an hour gazing at the trinkets in the windows, the planters with roses climbing the wooden planks of the facades, and the colorful doors, all bathed in an invigorating silence.

BERGEN

Although modernity and tourism have inevitably taken hold of her, this city remains authentic and beautiful. Of the Bryggen harbor, with its eighteenth-century painted-wood buildings, the gable facades that form a crooked, creaking curtain along the wharf, and the rest of the neighborhood that looks like something out of a pirate tale, one probably doesn't even need to talk. But the neighborhoods along the hill, or the houses with red pitched roofs that disperse into the woods, are still bathed in calm and solitude, even on days when so many tourists come to visit the famous harbor.

TRONDHEIM

Beside the canal, and around the Gamle Bybro (the Old Bridge) are Trondheim's characteristic wooden buildings that unfold in a continuous, colorful curtain, with their wooden stilts on the placid waters. Between Bryggen and Bakklandet, there are cobblestone streets to wander on a sleepy morning, past student housing and small stores, before stopping to enjoy a coffee and freshly baked kanelsnurre.

Move toward the harbor and fish market to enjoy hot soup or steamed shrimp with fragrant buttered bread.

REINE & HAMNØY

They are in front of everyone's eyes, a necessary passage to go anywhere in Lofoten if you come from the South. They are full of restaurants and stores, and are the gateway for some excursions.

That's why Reine and Hamnøy go almost unnoticed, like a service station. We have never read anywhere that these villages had any attraction, yet for us they were the undisputed stars of Lofoten.

The road that leads from one center to the other, both on two very small islands, crosses other microscopic islets, each hiding behind the corner red or yellow rorbuers overlooking the sea.

Just get off and browse around, you will find a thousand fascinating views. The bay of Reine, in summer, also offers sunsets with a thousand shades of pink that are reflected on the water and light up the colors of the huts.

NUSFJORD

Nusfjord, instead, has the fame it deserves. A beautiful village that preserves intact its rorbuers and fishermen's huts on the mainland. Hidden from the road, it opens on the bank of a fjord and develops around a very picturesque pier.

The village is far from abandoned, attracts many tourists, offers good food and even a spa with ocean view.

LÆRDALSØYRI

It almost looks like a piece of the Wild West transported to Norway. The old town (Gamle) of Laerdal stands on a fjord and offers a walk among elegant houses dating back to the 19th century, up to the charming agglomeration that overlooks the water, whose houses are reflected down to the smallest detail in the mirror of the fjord creating a truly impressive visual effect.