John Walton, aviation journalist, columnist and travel writer | 44john.com: the blog

Norwegian fjord, sans fjord

At some point, I imagine, there was water here. There was certainly a glacier at some point -- my GCSE Geography A grade and my geographer father helped me figure that out. But now, it's grass, northeast of Bergen, and it's beautiful.

Norway in the mirror

This was my view of much of Norway: in a rear-view mirror of the Volvo XC70 that Anna and I rented. I jest: we stopped often and in incredibly beautiful fjordy places as we drove west from the Oslofjord to Bergen, and this picture was snapped somewhere around here, west of the Oslofjord just as the hills start to rise up into the Hardangervidda.

That XC70 (2006) was a brilliant road trip car. I learnt to drive on my parents' old black Volvo wagon, and the XC70 felt like our old car had been gently updated. If I were in the market for anything family-sized, I'd definitely hit the Volvo, though I'd go for a V70 rather than the XC cross-country, semi-SUV model. The XC was great to get up into the mountain passes, though!

Bryggen, Bergen

Bryggen, the old Hanseatic port of Bergen, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The front is highly photographed, and in July there were a good few people around.

Oddly, though, as my friend Anna and I wandered around the back of the main wharf-front, it got significantly quieter, and there were all sorts of fascinating little corners, artisan shops, old carts and remnants of stone buildings.

Bergen, Norway

This is another shot from my Norway roadtrip with my friend Anna. Once we got to Bergen — which is pronounced bear-yen — we headed up the Fløibanen to the top of Mount Fløyen in an entirely unterrifying funicular. It's lovely up there, lots of walking trails and a little restaurant.

Reflecting lake, Norway

In 2006, my friend Anna and I took a cheap flight to Sweden and drove from Gothenburg in Sweden to Bergen in Norway (not New Jersey), ending up in Stockholm. There'll be a roadtrip post about the trip, and the pictures don't do justice to the beauty, the peace and the freshness of the air in and around the fjords and the Hardangervidda highlands between Oslo and Bergen.