Lysevegen

Lysebotn sits at the head of the Lysefjord with mountains on all sides, and the only road out climbs the wall behind it in twenty-seven hairpin bends, rising about nine hundred metres in a few kilometres and passing through a spiralling tunnel inside the rock on the way. The road was built in the 1970s for the hydropower development at Lysebotn and opened to traffic afterwards. From the top the view runs back down the fjord toward Kjerag and Preikestolen. The usual arrangement is to arrive by ferry along the fjord and drive out over the top, or the reverse. The road closes for winter, generally from November to May, and Lysebotn is then reachable only by boat.

What you actually see

• The twenty-seven hairpins - a nine-hundred-metre climb from the fjord.
• The spiral tunnel - a helical section cut inside the mountain.
• The fjord view - the Lysefjord seen from the top of the climb.
• Lysebotn - the small settlement at the head of the fjord.

When to go

June to September, when the road is open and the fjord ferries run; opening depends on snow clearance and the road shuts for winter. Traffic is heaviest in July when Kjerag is busiest.

Honest expectations

The road is narrow with very tight bends and heavy summer traffic including buses, and passing can be difficult. Brakes overheat on the descent. Lysebotn has minimal facilities and fills with Kjerag walkers' vehicles.

Nearby

Kjerag and the Kjeragbolten boulder are above; Preikestolen and Stavanger lie down the fjord.