Where the Light Lingers: An Artful Road Trip through Southern Norway

What does tradition look (and taste) like?

There is something exciting about arriving in a new destination: noticing the different light, smells, language, and sounds. Collect your car on arrival in Bergen, use your personal travel guide to get oriented, and dial in the Up Norway playlist as you set off eastwards to Voss – a roughly 90-minute drive to this small village deeply rooted in folk traditions and rural creativity.

In Voss, we invite you to immerse yourself in folk culture and local life through interactions with some of our favourite people. Taste the local speciality smalahove (sheep’s head) and farmhouse beer brewed with kveik, a traditional Norwegian farmhouse yeast, or descend into one of Norway’s most intriguing wine cellars. Meet traditional jewellery makers, or visit the open-air museum, offering a glimpse of rural life from the 16th century. Or simply let us pair you with a nature guide for hiking, biking, rafting – or even flying. Yes, Voss is also the Norwegian capital of extreme sports.

You’ll soon find yourself on Scenic Route Hardangervidda, where Vøringsfossen waterfall makes the most dramatic case for infrastructure as experience. Once immortalised by Romantic painters, this natural icon helped shape Norway’s national identity. Today, a 66-metre footbridge spans part of the gorge – ‘a way into the experience rather than just a way across,’ in the words of architect Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk.

What happens when architecture starts asking questions?

En route to Oslo, make time for a detour to Kistefos Museum, an outdoor sculpture park where industrial heritage, cutting-edge architecture and contemporary art come together in surprising ways. Your personal curator will guide you through the park’s many layers: from permanent works by Yayoi Kusama, Elmgreen & Dragset, Anish Kapoor, Tony Cragg, and Bjarne Melgaard, to hidden corners and site-specific surprises. You’ll also encounter Ida Ekblad, one of Norway’s most internationally acclaimed contemporary artists, represented here with a permanent large-scale sculpture.

While Snøhetta pioneered the concept of walkable architecture — from the Oslo Opera House to Under — BIG introduces a different logic with The Twist: not a stage to climb, but a question to pass through. A sculptural bridge between form and function, motion and meaning — and a gallery in its own right. The building doesn’t just connect riverbanks; it hosts world-class contemporary art inside, bridging the gap between art and architecture.

Oslo stands apart as a capital city — close to nature, full of cultural energy, and easy to explore. From the sloping marble roof of the Oslo Opera House to the open, light-filled Deichman Library, Oslo invites you to experience architecture you can walk into and across. Step inside the National Museum or MUNCH to see original art by Edvard Munch, including the legendary Scream, or visit the exact spot above Ekeberg where the artist found his inspiration. Whether you’re drawn to the powerful symbolism of the Nobel Peace Centre or the emotional force of Vigeland Park’s 200+ human sculptures, Oslo offers endless ways to engage.

With so much choice, we can create a personalized plan for your full day in the city, complete with insider tips, table reservations, and a few hidden gems we normally keep to ourselves.

Nearby, Holmsbu Kunstmuseum offers another kind of quiet rebellion; a tribute to early 20th-century artists like Oluf Wold-Torne, Thorvald Erichsen, and Henrik Sørensen, who left the city to paint the light, landscapes and rhythms of fjord life. Their retreat became a defining chapter in Norwegian modernism, grounded in craft, community, and place.

What makes a grain silo the most daring new art museum in the Nordics?

Your journey continues to Boen Manor, but not without detours. The direct drive to Kristiansand can include a private visit to a shellfish and textile craft farm, kayaking with a former Olympic champion in Lillesand, or a visit to Nobel Prize winning author Knut Hamsun’s former home.

From Boen, we can help you get to Under, the Michelin-starred restaurant by Snøhetta, half-submerged in the North Sea. More than a culinary experience, it’s a descent into silence, sensation and submerged architecture.

In an age of globalisation and digital overstimulation, the Tangen Collection at Kunstsilo (Art Silo) invites us to reflect. Nordic modernism, a central part of the collection, becomes a visual language for exploring inner landscapes. At Kunstsilo, art becomes a meeting point – a space for dialogue, perspective and appreciation for both past and future.

"The Tangen Collection comprises over 6000 works across a variety of media by more than 300 artists from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden."
— The Art Newspaper

What can we learn from those who live close to nature — and at a slower pace?

Instead of taking the more direct route from Kristiansand to Stavanger, we invite you to choose between two very different ways of reaching the west coast: one inland, through silence and scale; the other, along the coast, through open light and legacy. We recommend the inland route with a two-night stop at Brokkestøylen.

Recommended Route: Inland via Byglandsfjord to Setesdal, across Suleskardvegen to Lysebotn with a ferry through Lysefjord

In a world of noise, how far do you have to travel to find natural peace?

Head inland through Setesdal, a valley of deep forests, ancient rock and slow-flowing rivers. After tracing the mirror-like Byglandsfjord, you’ll arrive at a mountain pasture retreat where nature sets the pace. Nestled among grazing sheep and quiet streams, you'll sleep in thoughtfully designed eco domes that offer comfort without cutting you off from the elements. Hosts Gro and Erik welcome you with warm hospitality and a philosophy grounded in Nordic tradition and nature-based wellbeing. Whether you prefer river sauna rituals, yoga in a tipi, a refreshing dip in a deep pothole pool, breathwork, canoeing, or simply walking barefoot in the grass, the focus is the same: reconnecting with what matters. Meals are hearty and honest — made from valley-grown ingredients and their own regenerative garden. Taste the award-winning Highland Gin and Fireweed & Elderflower Vinegar, and learn about foraging, fermentation and preservation — skills passed down, not downloaded.

From here, continue over the Suleskard mountain pass, into one of Norway’s most ancient yet unpopulated regions. This is a land of myths and silence, where nature seems to be dreaming — and you're just passing through. In summer, you can descend into Lysebotn and ferry the full length of Lysefjord, gliding beneath the iconic Pulpit Rock toward the coast.

Optional Route: Light and Legacy on Scenic Route Jæren

What does it mean to claim space — in a landscape, on a canvas, or in the world?

This region — sometimes called the Norwegian Riviera — has been immortalised by artists like Kitty Kielland (1843-1914) and Harriet Backer (1845-1932), who captured not just the physical beauty of the land, but its emotional depth. Kielland’s art speaks to both the hugeness and stillness of the landscape — a kind of visual resistance to today’s overstimulated world. As one of Norway’s first professional female artists, her presence in this landscape also symbolises courage and equality.

Step into the Norwegian Petroleum Museum to uncover the human side of oil — the ambitions, the risks, and the shifting future. A short walk away, the Canning Museum offers a dive into Norway’s sardine industry. And no, sardines aren’t the only thing on the menu. With Michelin-starred restaurants and a host of celebrated dockside bistros and bars, Stavanger is a paradise for food lovers.

Why do some people work so hard to bring life back to places others have forgotten?

Before leaving Stavanger, you may want to visit Sverd i Fjell (Swords in Rock) — three monumental bronze swords marking the site of the Battle of Hafrsfjord, where King Harald Fairhair united Norway under one crown around the year 872. On Scenic Route Ryfylke, a highlight is a guided visit to Allmannajuvet zinc mines, where architect Peter Zumthor has transformed a forgotten industrial site into a minimalist meditation on work, time and transience.

Is there anything more romantic than a fjord, a glacier, and a glass of cider?

A slow destination like Suldal deserves a slow start. Ease into the day and, if time allows, explore more of Scenic Route Ryfylke before continuing north. You'll rejoin the Scenic Route Hardanger near Låtefossen, a famous double waterfall cascading right over the road. Pass through Odda, a town shaped by hydropower and now known for nearby Trolltunga (the Troll’s Tongue), one of Norway’s most iconic hikes.

We’ll guide you on a sparkling detour to Buer Glacier, where you’ll stop for a cider-paired lunch with views of ice and meltwater. From here, follow the eastern edge of the Hardangerfjord to Kinsarvik, then take the ferry across to Utne Hotel, your historic home for the next two nights.

Hardanger begs you to explore it — on foot, by kayak or with a glass in hand. Hike Her Majesty Queen Sonja’s panoramic trail, cruise into the secluded Botnen, visit local cider producers, or stroll in the medieval hamlet of Agatunet. Whether you're active or still, you’ll see the same thing: the landscape that helped shape a national identity, and still stirs the soul.

We’ll book you a table at Gaptrast – Bergen’s newest Michelin-starred experience – or at Lysverket, where chef Christopher Haatuft continues his quiet revolution in neo-fjordic cuisine. Both kitchens are led by chefs on a never-ending quest for excellence; curious, exacting, and deeply committed to local ingredients and storytelling on a plate.

Round off your journey with a walk through Nordnes, a quiet neighbourhood of cobbled streets, laundry lines, and cats in windows. Or return to the bustle of the UNESCO-listed wharf, where modern artisans carry on the city's creative spirit, rain or shine.

As you reflect on the road behind you, remember: it’s often in the stillness, the rain, and the beauty of small things that a place leaves its mark. We hope this journey has given you more than you came for and a few stories worth retelling. When you’re ready for your next Norwegian chapter, we’ll be here to help you write it.