Things to do
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Låtefossen
Two streams falling 165 metres and meeting just above the six arch stone bridge the old road crosses, which is why the traffic gets soaked. There is a layby on the E134 and the spray reaches it. Coaches stop here in numbers through the middle of the day.
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Trolltunga
A shelf of rock jutting horizontally out of the mountain 700 metres above Ringedalsvatnet, at the end of a walk of 27 kilometres return and 800 metres of climb. It is a ten to twelve hour day, the season runs roughly mid June to mid September without a guide, and the queue for a photograph at the end can run to an hour.
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Buarbreen
An arm of the Folgefonna icecap reaching down into the Buardalen valley above the town, and one of the few glacier tongues in the country that can be reached on foot in a morning. The last section is chained and the ice itself needs a guide.
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Folgefonna National Park
The third largest icecap in the country, covering some 200 square kilometres on the peninsula between two fjord arms. Summer ski touring runs on the plateau into August, and glacier walks go out from the valley on the eastern side. Conditions on the plateau change fast and the summer ski season ends early.
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Hotel Ullensvang
Run by the same family at Lofthus since 1846, on the shore of the Hardangerfjord among the orchards. Grieg composed in a hut in the garden, which is still there. The orchards along this shore blossom in May, which is when the fjord rooms book out.
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Odda kirke
A stone church of 1870 at the head of the Sorfjord, holding the graveyard where the English salmon fishers of the last century are buried. It is a short stop rather than a destination. The churchyard is open and the walk to it from the centre is short.
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Ringedalsvatnet
The reservoir the Trolltunga walk climbs above, held by a stone dam of 1910 that was among the largest in Europe when it was built. The road up to Skjeggedal from Tyssedal is the standard start of the day. Parking at the trailhead is limited and fills early in season.
