Norangsdalen
– The wildest and most beautiful valley of Sunnmøre
Tourism
Around 1900, Norangsdalen was discovered as a tourist attraction. In 1898, king
Oscar II was transported through the valley by pony and trap. The following year,
kaiser Wilhelm visited, followed by queen Wilhelmina of Holland. In 1906, king Haakon
and queen Maud travelled through the valley, and king Christian X of Denmark did the
same in the same year.
Tourist traffic grew through the 1930s. Tourist ships dropped passengers at Øye, from
where they were taken by horsedrawn carriage through Norangsdalen to Hellesylt,
where they reboarded their ship. Tourism gave rise to hotels at Øye, Fivelstad and
Hellesylt. Villages such as Fyrde in Austefjorden (Volda municipality) and Bjørke in
Hjørundfjorden also had hotels at the time.
Tourist hotels were often built as log chalets in the Swiss style, complete with fancy
decorations. Some of them are still to be seen as muchloved cultural monuments.
Hotel Union Øye is an excellent reminder of the birth of tourism here.
Norangsdalen and its surrounding mountains have been a popular area for moun
tain tourism and climbing. Some of the climbing pioneers were W.C. Slingsby,
E.C. Oppenheimer and C. W. Patchell.
Hotell Union Øye. Foto:G. Wangen
