Standing behind the curtain
The water in front of you, the valley behind it.
Andreas Sandberg — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0
Hardanger is the fjord-and-orchard region east of Bergen, and yes, it is worth a full day. The road runs along the edge of the Hardangerfjord between small villages and apple orchards covering the slopes — the one part of Norway where fruit is grown at this scale, and where apple juices are pressed. The orchard blossom in May is a sight in itself. Steinsdalsfossen is on this road, and further out lie the Hardanger suspension bridge, Vøringsfossen and the start of the Trolltunga walk. A day by car covers the near end; the far end needs an overnight.
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Steinsdalsfossen is at Norheimsund on the Hardanger road, about an hour by car from Bergen, and its single distinction is enough: **you can walk behind the falling water** on a made-up, safe path. The waterfall drops some fifty metres over a projecting rock shelf, and the path runs through the void that shelf leaves beneath the lip. So you stand with the water falling in front of you like a curtain and the valley behind it — a view far larger waterfalls do not offer. It is very young by geological measure: it was not here before 1699, when the river changed course after a flood and began falling at this edge. Everyone who has ever seen it, in other words, has seen it within the last three centuries. Access is entirely easy — a car park and visitor centre at the foot and a walk of a few minutes — and there is no entry charge. **Bring something against the spray**; the path is always wet.
The water in front of you, the valley behind it.
A car park, a visitor centre and a walk of minutes.
Norheimsund, Hardanger