Trollstigen — The Troll's Ladder
Fv63 · Åndalsnes → Valldal · Norway
- Length
- 25 miles
- Drive time
- 1 h 15 min
- Type
- Technical road
- Region
- Europe
Before you go: ⚠ Closed roughly Oct–May; check rockfall closures before travelling
Eleven hairpins clinging to a wall of waterfalls — Norway's signature drive from Åndalsnes up the Troll's Ladder, over the plateau and down to the fjord at Valldal.
From Åndalsnes the road runs the valley, then the Troll's Ladder starts: eleven hairpins on a wall, Stigfossen falling beside them, then a plateau and the drop toward Valldal. The hairpins are tight enough for a coach to occupy the whole bend. Surface is good Norwegian tourist-road tarmac when it is open. Rockfall is the reason it sometimes is not. The skywalk viewpoint at the top is the photograph — a proper platform and car park, not a verge on a hairpin. Trollstigen Café sits with it. Fuel at Circle K Åndalsnes before you climb; Gudbrandsjuvet kafé is further toward Valldal.
Closed roughly October to May. In 2026 it opened 27 April after the 2024–25 rockfall works, which is early; it still shuts in heavy rain. Check vegvesen.no or the Vegvesen trafikk app, or call 175, before you leave Åndalsnes. Large motorhomes will meet other large motorhomes on the ladder. Dawn or late afternoon misses the coach peak.
Pair it with Geiranger and the Eagle Road the same corridor — that is already the Norwegian Fjords trip. Do not treat Trollstigen as a twenty-minute extra on the way to somewhere else; the plateau and Valldal are part of the road.
If the barrier is shut, it is shut. The viewpoint is not worth a rock on the roof. The plateau between the ladder and Valldal is where people relax and then meet a cyclist on a blind crest. Keep the same discipline you used on the hairpins. If you only have time for the viewpoint, you can drive up from Åndalsnes and back down without doing Valldal — still fill up first, still check the app.
Highlights of the Trollstigen — The Troll's Ladder
- 11 hairpins & Stigfossen falls
- Skywalk viewpoint
- Combine with Geiranger
Where to stop on the Trollstigen — The Troll's Ladder
- Circle K Åndalsnes fuel — Last fuel before the ladder — nothing on the plateau or the 11 hairpins to Valldal.
- Trollstigen Café food — Plateau restaurant in the Reiulf Ramstad centre; seasonal, typically mid-May to October.
- Trollstigen utsiktspunkt viewpoint — Steel skywalk over the hairpins and Stigfossen; road and platforms winter-closed.
- Gudbrandsjuvet kafé café — Summer café on the Valldal side of Fv63, perched above the gorge; daily 10:00–17:00 in season.
Drive the Trollstigen — The Troll's Ladder
Open Trollstigen — The Troll's Ladder on the map → ⬇ Download GPX
GPX works with Garmin, TomTom, Beeline and most bike sat-navs. Free, no sign-up — these are indicative waypoints, so follow the road signs, not the arrow.
Plot it, add it to a club run with a meeting point and pit stops, then share the whole trip as one link. Free, no account, works offline.
Route research: Club road index · More roads in Norway
More driving roads in Europe
- Sognefjellet Mountain Road Fv55 · 67 mi · Norway
- Aurlandsfjellet — The Snow Road Fv243 · 29 mi · Norway
- Lofoten Scenic Route E10 · 100 mi · Norway
- Lysevegen Fv500 · 18 mi · Norway
- Senja Scenic Route Fv862 · 55 mi · Norway
- Iceland Ring Road Route 1 · 821 mi · Iceland