Guide to Ulvik fruit and cider route

The trip to Ulvik takes approximately 40 minutes and includes a 55 minute stay along the fruit & cider route. Please ensure you return to the roadside in good time for the 40 minute trip back to Eidfjord.

Here are some highlights you can enjoy along the way:

The Hardanger Bridge

The Hardanger Bridge took four and a half years to build and was opened in 2013. It replaced the ferry connection between Bruravik and Brimnes, both of which ferry quays you’ll see along the way. When it opened, it was the tenth longest suspension bridge in the world. Its main span is the longest in Norway and extends 30 metres further than the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The bridge towers rise to 202.5 metres, making them the tallest structures on the Norwegian mainland. The bridge forms part of the fastest road route between Bergen and Oslo under normal weather conditions.

The Vallavik Tunnel

After crossing the Hardanger Bridge, we enter the Vallavik Tunnel, which opened in 1985. When the bridge was constructed, a roundabout was ingeniously built inside the tunnel to provide access to the bridge.

Ulvik fjord in Osa fjord

Ulvik fjord is a branch of Osa fjord, which itself is a northward arm of the Hardangerfjord. Ulvik fjord is less than 100 metres deep, making it much shallower than Osafjorden, which plunges to over 300 metres.

Bagnstrond

– where one could hardly believe anyone once lived

Across the Osa fjord lies Bagnstrond, a quietly forgotten hamlet where time seems to stand still. Once home to a small but hardy community, the village never had a road connection, relying solely on the fjord for transport. In 1780, this waterway witnessed a tragic chapter when the mountainside collapsed into the fjord, creating a tsunami. The powerful wave capsized five boats and claimed the lives of an entire bridal party. The ferry quay at Bruravik—meaning “Bridal Bay”—was named in poignant memory, as the bride was found there.

As the age of the motorcar dawned and roads replaced water routes, families gradually moved away, beginning around 1960 until the last person left in 1996. In 1961, they proudly held the title of ‘Norway’s smallest school’—just two pupils and one teacher. Unsurprisingly, discipline was never an issue!

Today, no one lives there year-round, yet the houses remain as holiday homes and a base for deer hunting in the mountains.

Ulvik – The Pearl of Hardanger

Welcome to Ulvik, affectionately known as the pearl of Hardanger. This idyllic village is home to around 530 inhabitants, yet it boasts four hotels and Norway’s only fruit & cider route, set amidst a charming agricultural landscape of fruit orchards, berries, and sheep farming. The municipality also includes Finse, the highest station on the Bergen Railway.

The Fruit & Cider Route

Norway’s only fruit and cider route is found here in Ulvik. Three farms offer a wealth of experiences, including cider tastings, guided tours, and the opportunity to purchase a variety of award-winning ciders.

Visitor Tip: All the farms offer a “cider plank” – a tasting board featuring different types of cider unique to each farm.

There might be a bit too little time on this trip to try everything on offer, but here you can read a bit more and decide what appeals to you the most:

Lekve Farm: Cider factory with tasting flight 

This cider factory “Hardanger Saft- og siderfabrikk” produces a wide range of apple juices and spontaneously fermented ciders, along with its own distillery where fine spirits are aged in oak barrels. A cider flight from their own production is highly recommended.

Syse Farm: Farmer´s market with cider tasting plank

With a delightful farm shop and highly recommended cider tasting plank with a little taste of local produce, Syse offers a variety of processed fruit products—from jams and juices to cider—as well as traditional cured lamb meats such as fenalår and dry-cured sausages.

Hakastad farm: Ulvik Frukt & Cideri with shop and tasting

A family-run farm growing over 20 varieties of apples and sweet cherries, including many traditional flavour-rich types. They produce an assortment of apple juices, ciders, and apple cider vinegar. Their little farm shop offers their own products, including award-winning ciders, with fresh sweet cherries and apples available in season.

Return to Eidfjord

The bus will have a pick up point at all three farms starting with Lekve Farm Hardanger Saft- og Siderfabrikk, then Syse Farm and last Ulvik Frukt & Cideri. Please return to the roadside in good time for the departure.

The bus will follow the same route back to Eidfjord, which takes around 40 minutes.

Read more about the fruit and sider route