Geiranger is a small tourist village in Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal county in the western part of Norway . It is in the municipality of Stranda at the head of the Geirangerfjorden , which is a branch of the large Storfjorden . The nearest city is Ålesund . Geiranger is home to spectacular scenery, and has been named the best travel destination in Scandinavia by Lonely Planet . Since 2005, the Geirangerfjord area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The Seven Sisters waterfall is located just west of Geiranger, directly across another waterfall called "The Suitor." Norwegian County Road 63 passes through the village. Geiranger Church is the main church for the village and surrounding area.
16-631: Flåm ( Norwegian pronunciation: [floːm] ) is a village in the Flåmsdalen valley which is located at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjorden , a branch of Sognefjorden . The village is located in Aurland Municipality in Vestland county, Norway . In 2014 its inhabitants numbered 350. The name Flåm is documented as early as 1340 as Flaam . It is derived from the plural dative form of
32-479: A report by Vestlandsforskning says that both "Flåm and Geiranger are nearing a limit in capacity. It might be an alternative and rather stand forth as a «relaxed», exclusive and somewhat less of a mass tourism , cruise destination." In a 2014 Dagens Næringsliv article, a farmer said that "Previously the smell of summer was that of grass that had been cut. Now the smell is of heavy oil". Furthermore, "They [a retired couple] talk about fish that has disappeared from
48-558: A single ship. Several hundred thousand people pass through the village every summer, and tourism is the main business for the 250 people who live there permanently. There are four hotels and over ten camping sites. The tourist season stretches from May to early September. Tours of the nearby historic farms of Knivsflå and Skageflå are available from Geiranger. Each year in June, the Geiranger – From Fjord to Summit event occurs. It comprises
64-457: A year. Most ride the 20-kilometre (12 mi) Flåm Line between Flåm and Myrdal , one of the steepest railway tracks at 1 in 18 (not counting rack railways ) in the world. There are also a few spirals . A former rail station building in Flåm now houses a museum dedicated to the Flåm railway. The harbour of Flåm receives some 160 cruise ships per year. Air pollution in Flåm and Geiranger during
80-410: Is Sogndal Airport, Haukåsen , approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Flåm. The European route E16 highway between Oslo and Bergen runs through Flåm. The village sits about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) southwest of the municipal centre of Aurlandsvangen , 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of the village of Undredal , and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of the village of Gudvangen (through
96-474: Is 18 kilometers (11 mi) long and runs from Myrdal to the village of Flåm , dropping 860 meters (2,820 ft) over the course of its run. The river Flåmselvi runs through the valley, as does the Flåm Line , a famous tourist destination. This Vestland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Geiranger Geiranger is under constant threat from landslides from
112-514: Is evaluated somewhat more soberly than how it has been done in many municipalities for some years". Furthermore, this tourism "has low profit per tourist, but is often associated with considerable costs for" the municipal administrations. Flåm was the birthplace of the poet Per Sivle . Part of the book " The Ship of the Dead " is set in Flåm. Fl%C3%A5msdalen Flåmsdalen is a valley in Aurland Municipality in Vestland county, Norway . It
128-554: The Gudvanga Tunnel ). The Navvy road, Rallarvegen stretches from Myrdal down to Flåm. (Pedestrians and bicyclists still use it.) At Myrdal, it connects with the navvy road for the previously built Bergen Line . Flåm is also connected by rail through the Flåm Line , a branch line of the Bergen Line . The village of Flåm has since the late 19th century been a tourist destination. It currently receives almost 450,000 visitors
144-575: The Old Norse word flá meaning "plain, flat piece of land", and it refers to the flood plains of the Flåm River. ("A plain between steep mountains" is the toponomy of the encyclopedia Store Norske Leksikon .) In 1670 Flåm Church was built, replacing an older stave church . In 1908, the Norwegian Parliament approved the construction of the Flåm Line railway, though the funds to construct
160-496: The cruise season is similar to that of a big city. Cruise traffic in Norway, which is one of the largest exporters of oil in the world, emits more NOx than all road traffic in Norway combined. In a 2005 Bergens Tidende article, Kjetil Smørås (a hotel director and chairman of Fjord Norge said that "The cruise traffic pollutes more than several ten thousands of cars, and many of the worst ships sail up here (...) cruise tourists trod down
176-422: The fjord. In Norway, cruise ships are permitted to dump overboard their greywater in the postcard-narrow fjord-arms. Furthermore, the news article says that defecation in public by tourists, is already a problem; the village's train station has the only public toilets, and 200,000 tourists are expected in the summer season. In 2014, tourism professor Arvid Viken said that "it is about time this [type of] tourism
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#1733084526075192-463: The mountain Åkerneset into the fjord . A collapse would cause a tsunami that could destroy downtown Geiranger. For this reason, sirens have been installed to warn residents if a landslide should occur. The Old Norse form of the name was Geirangr . The suffix -angr ('fjord') is a common element in Norwegian place names (see for instance Hardanger and Varanger ). The first element could be
208-538: The plural genitive of the Norse word geiri ('piece of land; field in a mountain side') which is related to English gore ('spear-shaped piece of land'). This would then refer to the several small farms and fields lying in the steep mountain sides around the fjord. (See Knivsflå and Skageflå .) This third biggest cruise ship port in Norway, Geiranger receives 140 to 180 ships during the four-month tourist season. In 2012 some 300,000 cruise passengers visited Geiranger during
224-405: The pristine Norwegian nature, and destroy the foundation for Vestlandet 's four entries on Unesco's World Heritage lists". In 2009, Jens Riisnæs (an author and NRK journalist) said "We have the world's most beautiful nation, we don't need to follow the cruise operators' premises. They can go other places with their polluting ships. It is unwanted noise." In 2009, Dagens Næringsliv said that
240-473: The railway were not allocated until 1923. In 1942, regular operation of (steam-powered) trains started on the Flåm Line. "In the 1960s, cruise ships stayed on the fjord" [without reaching the port], according to Dagens Næringsliv . In 2000, the "new pier" was referred to in a government document. ("The pier was built at the entrance to the new millennium", according to Dagens Næringsliv.) The closest airport
256-452: The summer season. The Geiranger Port has a cruise terminal, a Seawalk, and 3–4 anchor positions depending on the size of the ships. Constructed in 2013, the Seawalk is a three-segment articulated floating pier. It is 236 metres (774 ft) long and 4.5 metres (15 ft) wide on 10 pontoons, which moves (like a floatable jetwalk) to accommodate up to 4,000 passengers per hour disembarking from
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