This was the day we continued heading north and had one of Norway’s most visited places. the famous Trollstigen in our sights. We drove the road, also called the Troll’s Ladder, from Stryn up to a small town called Vikebukt where we’d be staying for a few nights.

The most well known section of the road has 11 hairpin turns, barely wide enough for 2 cars to pass at the same time. It gave us close up views of Stigfossen waterfall, and the amazing mountains and valley. This was one of my top sights to see in person when visiting Norway and we really got lucky with the dry, clear and warmish fall day.

We chose to drive this from Valldal to Andalsnes which meant that we’d be descending down the mountains with the hairpin turns. Before beginning our adventure, we stopped off at the 2 viewing platforms at the top to take in the amazing views of the road. The wind was blowing so hard that it nearly knocked me over a few times walking up to the viewing platforms.

We then began the slow drive down the mountains navigating the turns and cars as they approached. We visited Trollstigen in mid September and the traffic on the road was pretty minimal but I could definitely see this taking much longer to drive at the peak of summer. We’ve driven some crazy roads before and thought this one was much easier to drive than others. I’m really glad we drove this on our own rather than on a tour bus because I’m not sure I would have been able to check out the views without covering my eyes with some of the heights.

After completing the final leg of the drive we stopped at the small souvenir cafe shop to get a memento and overpriced soda before heading on to Vikebukt and our Airbnb for the evening.

The next day we were off to hike Troll’s Church, Trollkyrkja near Molde. The name Troll’s Church is a reference to folklore referring to trolls being angry by church bells and throwing rocks which may have caused the formation of the caves.

This hike began with an initial walk through a spruce forest and then a steady steep climb up the mountains navigating over streams and rocks. Once you reach near the top, you are greeted by limestone and marble caves that you can enter and navigate through to the reward, a beautiful 14-meter waterfall and pool. Luckily Jason had packed a small emergency flashlight otherwise we would have been stuck using our phone flashlights in slippery and pitch black conditions. That cave was not meant for anyone with a fear of small spaces.

There are 3 different caves to explore if you’d like but make sure you are prepared with good waterproof shoes with traction and a headlamp or flashlight. The caves are very dark and cold. We explores all 3 separate caves and then hiked just a bit further up to Trollkirkevatnet Lake to sit and enjoy the views. It was not crowded along the trail and we only encountered a few people over the 4 hours it took us to hike and explore the caves.