Guide · Hardanger

A Hardangerfjord day trip from Bergen

Orchards on the shore, waterfalls you can walk behind, a glacier lake and a manor by the water: a Hardangerfjord day trip from Bergen offers a softer, greener side of fjord Norway, and much of it lies close to the city.

Check availabilityfrom $422 · cancellation is free

Editorial team, daytripfrombergen.comUpdated October 19, 2026Reading time about 6 minutes28 sources

The tour that goes with it Bergen: Folgefonna National Park & Glacier Lake Tour & Lunch 4.9 (785 reviews) 10.5 hours from$197per person Check availabilityCancel for free up to 24 hrs ahead

Quick answer

01How far: You can drive from Bergen to the Hardangerfjord in just over one hour.¹
02Top-rated tour: Folgefonna and the Bondhusvatnet glacier lake: 10.5 hours, rated 4.89.
03Shortest: Waterfalls and apple pie in 6.5 hours, from $159.
04By boat: The express boat to Rosendal takes about two hours each way.²
05Big waterfall: Vøringsfossen falls 182 m; tours there take 9 to 11.5 hours.³

Why the Hardangerfjord makes a good day out

The Hardangerfjord is the second longest fjord in Norway, 179 km from the coast into the mountains.⁴ Where the Nærøyfjord is narrow and dramatic, Hardanger is broad and gentle, with fruit farms on the slopes and villages on small bays. The region grows about 40% of all the fruit in Norway, and more than 600,000 fruit trees line its shores.⁵ ⁶ Think of it as the gentle counterpart to the classic Flåm route: fewer cliffs crowding the water, more space, more farms, and a coastline that changes colour with the seasons.

It is also close. You can drive from Bergen to the Hardangerfjord in just over one hour, and Norheimsund, where the fjord first comes into view, is 1 hour 18 minutes from the city by car in the official route planner.¹ ⁷ That leaves a full day for waterfalls, a ferry crossing, a glacier lake or a village walk, without the long drive that the Sognefjord trips demand.

The scenic road along the fjord is open all year, so Hardanger works in winter as well as summer, although some viewpoints and paths close in the snow.⁸ In spring the orchards blossom, and in autumn the trees are heavy with apples; one of the shorter tours even ends its visit with apple pie.

The glacier lake day

Folgefonna and Bondhusvatnet, step by step

Morning

Meet at the Fish Market

Arrive 15 minutes early; the ferry will not wait.
First stop

Steinsdalsfossen

45 minutes at the waterfall with the path behind it.
Late morning

Ferry to Jondal

A 20-minute crossing of the Hardangerfjord.
Midday

Folgefonna National Park

2.5 hours, a gentle walk and a packed lunch by the lake.
Afternoon

Ferry back

A 30-minute crossing on a different route.
Evening

Back in Bergen

About 2 hours by road with photo stops.

Steinsdalsfossen: the waterfall you walk behind

Almost every Hardanger day stops at Steinsdalsfossen near Norheimsund. The waterfall drops around 50 m, and a walkway leads behind the curtain of water, so you can stand in the dry and look out through the spray.⁹ The route planner of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration gives 1 hour 15 minutes of driving from Bergen.¹⁰

Without a car, bus 925 or 930 from Bergen takes around 1 hour and 25 minutes to a stop called Steinsdalsfossen, and the buses run roughly once an hour or every 1.5 hours.¹¹ ¹² That makes the waterfall the easiest Hardanger sight to reach on public transport.

Parts of the site are closed in winter, so check what is open before a cold-season visit.¹³ In summer the path can be busy and wet; take a rain jacket even on a sunny day, because the spray reaches further than you expect. Allow time for the short climb from the car park and the walk along the path; the waterfall itself rewards a slow look more than a quick photograph.

Length of the day

Hours on each Hardanger tour

hrs

Durations as listed on each tour's GetYourGuide page.

Side by side

Hardanger tours from Bergen compared

Tour	Length	Rating	Highlight	Price
Folgefonna glacier lake	10.5 hrs	4.89	Bondhusvatnet	from $197
Vøringsfossen day	11.5 hrs	4.88	Vøringsfossen	from $273
Voss Gondola, 3 waterfalls	9 hrs	4.82	Small group	from $261
Scenic Hardanger, lunch	7.5 hrs	4.54	Lunch at a farm	from $189
Waterfalls, apple pie	6.5 hrs	4.47	Maritime Centre	from $159
Boat to Rosendal	7 hrs	4.43	Self-guided	from $93

Lengths, ratings and from-prices as listed on GetYourGuide; the live price may differ.

Three ways to Hardanger

Glacier lake, short coach day or boat

Highest rated

Folgefonna

Waterfall, ferry, glacier lake

Length: 10.5 hrs
Rating: 4.89
Price: from $197

See dates

Bergen: Hardangerfjord & Waterfalls Bus Tour with Apple Pie

Half a day

Apple pie day

Waterfalls and Norheimsund

Length: 6.5 hrs
Rating: 4.47
Price: from $159

See dates

Bergen: Cruise to beautiful Rosendal by the Hardangerfjord

Lowest price

Rosendal boat

Express boat, free time

Length: 7 hrs
Rating: 4.43
Price: from $93

See dates

Decision helper

Your Hardanger day in one line

Match the trip to the kind of day you want

Folgefonna

2.5 hours in the park with lunch by the glacier lake.

Vøringsfossen day

A 182 m fall, with 70 minutes at the site.³

Voss Gondola tour

Limited to 15 participants.

Apple pie tour

6.5 hours with a waterfall and a village.

Rosendal boat

About two hours each way by express boat.²

The waterfall has a drop of around 50 metres, and the highlight for many travellers is the walkway that leads behind the water curtain.

Visit BergenSource 9

Folgefonna and the Bondhusvatnet glacier lake

Folgefonna is the third-largest glacier in Norway, and the national park around it, established in 2005, spans 545 square km.¹⁴ ¹⁵ ¹⁶ The day trip that goes there is the highest rated Hardanger tour on this page, with 4.89 from 785 reviews.

The tour stops 45 minutes at Steinsdalsfossen, crosses the Hardangerfjord by a 20-minute ferry to Jondal and gives you 2.5 hours in the national park for a gentle walk to the glacier lake Bondhusvatnet, where a packed lunch is served. A different ferry brings you back, so you see the fjord from two angles. The path to the lake is gentle, with streams and boulders along the way, and on a clear day the ice of the glacier shows above the far end of the lake. Bring a fleece: by the lake the air is cooler than in Bergen.

The guide is easy to spot by an orange jacket and a sign that says MARESIA, and you are asked to arrive 15 minutes early because the ferry will not wait. By car, the route planner gives 2 hours 22 minutes from Bergen to Bondhusvatnet, with 2 ferry crossings.¹⁷

Checklist

For a Hardanger day

Pack

A rain jacket for the waterfall spray
Shoes for gravel and wet rock
Snacks and water

Check

The meeting point, 15 minutes early for ferry tours
Whether paths are open in winter¹³
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead

Cost calculator

What a Hardanger day costs for your group

Pick a Hardanger day and enter how many are going.

Folgefonna10.5 hrsfrom $197 Apple pie day6.5 hrsfrom $159 Rosendal boat7 hrsfrom $93 Vøringsfossen11.5 hrsfrom $273

People 2

Total from$393

per traveler from $197

Check availabilityfree cancellation

The calculator starts from the GetYourGuide from-price and switches currency at the day's ECB reference rate; the booking page has the exact total.

Video

What to see around the Hardangerfjord

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Vøringsfossen and the Hardanger Bridge

At the far end of the fjord, Vøringsfossen falls 182 m into the narrow Måbødalen valley near Eidfjord.³ A metal bridge with 99 steps and a span of 47 m crosses the gorge above the waterfall; it opened in 2020.¹⁸ ¹⁹

Two tours go there. The small-group day runs 9 hours for up to 15 people and adds the Voss Gondola, Skjervsfossen and an hour in Eidfjord for lunch; the other runs 11.5 hours with 70 minutes at Vøringsfossen and a warm lunch at the Norwegian Nature Centre Hardanger.

Both pass the Hardanger Bridge, completed in 2013 and among the ten longest suspension bridges in the world.²⁰ Note that parts of the Vøringsfossen site close in winter, so this is a summer and autumn trip above all.²¹ By car the route planner gives 2 hours 33 minutes from Bergen to Fossli.²² The gorge above the fall is high and exposed, and the weather there can turn quickly, so keep a warm layer in your day bag.

Rosendal by express boat

For a Hardanger day without a coach, the Hardangerfjord Express sails from the centre of Bergen to Rosendal. The boat takes about two hours each way and gives you 3.5 hours in the village.² On weekdays it leaves Bergen at 08:50, reaches Rosendal at 10:45, leaves again at 14:25 and is back in Bergen at 16:20.²³

Rosendal is the home of the Barony, built in 1665 and surrounded by a Renaissance garden, and of Kvinnherad Church, which dates back to the 13th century.²⁴ ²⁵ The GetYourGuide listing for the boat starts from $93 and is self-guided, with no commentary on board. The village is small enough to explore on foot, and the free time is long enough for the garden, a coffee by the quay and a walk through its lanes.

At weekends the boat runs from 1 May to 30 September, leaving Bergen at 11:00.²⁶ There are no departures on 24 and 25 December.²⁷ By car, Rosendal is 2 hours 8 minutes from Bergen with 2 ferry crossings, so the boat is the more relaxed choice.²⁸

Shorter guided days along the fjord

Two shorter coach tours suit travellers who want Hardanger without a 10-hour commitment. The apple pie and waterfalls day takes 6.5 hours, priced from $159, with stops at Steinsdalsfossen, the Stone Age rock carvings at Salthammeren and an hour at the Hardanger Maritime Centre in Norheimsund.

The scenic Hardanger day with lunch takes 7.5 hours from $189, with a short ferry, a 40-minute walk at Strandebarm, lunch at Berge Gard & Gartneri and stops at two waterfalls. Both pick up at Strandkaien 17 or the Hurtigruten Terminal.

These shorter days leave an evening free in Bergen and suit families with younger children. If you have energy for more, the glacier lake or Vøringsfossen days fill the hours with bigger landscapes. They are also a good choice on a day with an uncertain forecast, because most of the time is spent close to the coach and a shower costs you little.

Which Hardanger day to choose

If you want one big day with nature at its wildest, take the Folgefonna glacier lake tour: it has the highest rating here and a real walk in a national park. If waterfalls are your thing, Vøringsfossen has the biggest drop of the falls on these tours, but check the season first.³

If you want to relax, the boat to Rosendal is the cheapest and the calmest, with time to wander the Barony gardens. If you have only half a day, the apple pie tour shows the fjord, a waterfall and a village in 6.5 hours.

Whatever you choose, pack a rain jacket and shoes that can take a wet path. The weather can change several times in one afternoon, and a dry bag for your phone is cheap insurance on a ferry deck or beside a waterfall.

Plan your loop