Trolltunga

Trolltunga, the Troll's Tongue, is a thin horizontal slab of rock that juts out from a cliff seven hundred metres above the Ringedalsvatnet lake, forming perhaps the most famous photograph in Norway. Reaching it is a long, tough day hike of around twenty-eight kilometres there and back through high mountain country.

What you actually see

• The rock tongue - the flat slab jutting over the void above the lake.
• The mountain plateau - the high, bare landscape the trail crosses.
• Ringedalsvatnet - the long blue-green lake far below.
• The queue and the shot - the line of hikers waiting for the iconic photo.

When to go

The snow-free summer from mid-June to September, when the trail is safe without winter equipment. Start very early to have time and to beat the queue for the photo. Outside summer it needs a guide and winter gear.

Honest expectations

This is a serious, exhausting full-day hike of ten to twelve hours, not a viewpoint you drive to - fitness, boots and weather-readiness are essential. In summer the tongue itself has a long queue for the photo. People get into trouble here every year by underestimating it, so respect the mountain.

Nearby

Odda and the Hardangerfjord are the base; the Folgefonna glacier and Voringsfossen are within reach.