National Tourist Route and the Stegastein View Point

We have now left the centre of Aurland and will drive 8 kms up and over a mountain road to the Stegastein viewpoint, which lies at 650 metres above sea level. This road goes up over Aurlandsfjellet and down to the town of Lærdal. The road opened in 1967 and is in total 40 kms long. The road’s highest point is at 1300 metres above sea level. The road over Aurlandsfjellet is only open in summer but the road up to the Stegastein viewpoint is open all year. The national tourist routes are a collection of 18 selected stretches of road which pass through landscapes with unique natural qualities, along the coast, fjords, mountains, and waterfalls. One of these routes is the road over Aurlandsfjellet, also known as the snow road. Along this road you can find several installations, one of these is the Stegastein viewpoint which is the goal of this tour. The viewing platform stretches 30 metres out above the pine tops, and a whole 650 metres out over Aurlandsfjord. The viewpoint was designed by the architects Todd Saunders and Tommie Wilhelmsen who had the desire to lift the visitors out into the landscape enhancing their impression of the Aurlandsfjord. The viewing platform is light, dynamic, and floating, built in glulam and steel with a thick glass plate at the end, which enhances the experience of the powerful landscape. Stegastein viewpoint was completed in 2006 and is open all year round. The architects wanted the toilet facility to contrast with the floating platform and created a heavy, solid, simple building built directly on the ground. The toilet facility in black concrete and wood is positioned a little above the edge of the “cliff”, so that visitors using the toilet can enjoy the majestic view over the fjord, without anyone being able to look in on them.