Lærdalsmarknaden is arranged a weekend each summer. Concerts in the evening, and market during the day with lots of local things to buy. There was even an automobile stand with lots of old an fancy cars! There are two more markets during the year, autumn market and Christmas market. Lærdal has a lot to offer if you want to explore Norwegian nature, by foot, bike or kayak.
There were a lot of stands selling food, gear, clothes and even ATV’s and tractors. Local dance groups were performing, there where open art galleries and a concert in the evening. (Picture from Trine Rein practicing.)
Lærdal
Lærdal is a municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county in the western part of Norway, south of the Sognefjord in the district of Sogn. Surrounded by several mountains and the beautiful fjord you find Lærdalsøyri, with it’s small houses and the local hospital. This is where the market is set, and where you find one of Lærdal’s camping sites.
Lærdal is strategically placed in the middle of the country and a great place to stop if you’re heading from the east coast to the west coast of Norway, or the other way around. Kongevegen over Filefjell (the Filefjell Kings Road) passes through Lærdal, via Valdres in direction to Oslo and is a popular tourist attraction with the stave church in Borgund. (A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building.)
There is a lot of farming in the area and lots of food you find in the stores comes from Lærdal. There is also a couple of sales pitches along the way where you can buy everything from berries to potatoes.
Enjoying nature and finding a place for the night
There are several hiking and biking opportunities in the mountains, you can go kayaking or have a walk along the river, where the fish is ready to be caught.
Pictures from a bike ride two years ago in the mountains above Borgund stave church.
“Two ladies, walking by the river, looking at the guys fishing, enjoying peace and quiet and talking about everything and nothing. And suddenly the nice walk had almost gotten us 7km! Love it when caravan ladies can explore the local surroundings on a Friday evening! And the guys are happy staying by the caravan having some man-time👌 A perfect friday evening.”
The camping site was fully booked weeks in advance of this popular market but we found some great places for free camping (boondocking).
Not sure if this always will be an opportunity, as one of the spots were used as a parking space for the market, but there are some other places not to far away, and if you want to have electricity you can always stay at some of the other Campsite in the municipality and drive to the market.
Saturday we had a 20 km bike ride along the fjord in direction to Vindedal. You pass a spot for free camping and the road to Aurlandsfjellet (Mount Aurland). Beautiful nature in the area,and nice to see it by bike.
Sykkel instagram, inkludert fricamp og badestrand
If you are going west from Lærdal you have two opportunities: A 24,5 km long tunnel, with two blue zones in the middle (to look lik daylight?) or over the mountain. Both roads lead to the municipality of Aurland. If you take the high route you pass Stegastein, a beautiful view point, which is definitely wort a stop. From there you get to down town Aurland.
As you can see, Lærdal and the surroundings has a lot of opportunities and is definitely worth a stop.
After the old cars from the exibition on the marked had been cruising a tour around Lærdalsøyri we went back to the caravan and had a barbeque dinner. The whole party got a spot at the lawn.
A really nice spot to park. Be aware of the helicopter landing site close by.
Later that evening we sat outside enjoying the weekend with friends. As we sat there, the only ones outside the caravans, we suddenly saw flames coming out of the nighbour caravan!
— Fire! —
We rushed to the caravan, throwing the water I had in my bottle into the fire. John and I hammered on the side of the caravan, and on the window where the old couple had gone to bed. My friend called the fire department, and her husband stopped the fire with their fire extinguisher, while the couple woke up and got outside.
If we hadn’t been sitting outside that evening the consequences could be fatal!
I helped the guy shutting the gas supply and turn of the power supply to secure the caravan from further damage. The local fire department responded quickly and it didn’t take many minutes before they were at the site. To be sure we got it all with the fire extinguishers John got the fire department to search for heat. The police also came to investigate.
Photo to the left: @norwegian_motorhome_explorers
The early signs
We heard the fire or gas alarm repeatedly earlier that evening, but somebody shut it off. We even smelled something and my friend checked their van to make sure it wasn’t theirs. The couple had had some problems with the refrigerator all day, and the alarm was sensitive and they didn’t think it was more than normal, so they shut it off. The smell they recon came from us siting outside.
If your alarm keep ringing there are one of two things. It has detected something or isn’t working properly. Either way you should take your precautions.
Our alarm is some what sensitive, but when it sounds the alarm we now why it did it that specific time. (For example us using a spray inside.) We get rid of the source and put the alarm on again, with no following alarm.
Leason no. 1: Respect the alarm system. It’s there for your safety and for the once surrounding you.
If you have technical problems and the alarm goes of, don’t go to bed before you have sorted it out! Open hatches and filters and smell if you can find what is triggering the alarm.
Lesson no.2: Always bring a fire extinguisher on tour, that is up to date and not used. And learn how to use it.
There are several types of extinguishers that suit a caravan.
Lesson no.3: Always know the emergency telephone number in the area you are visiting.
For Norway, see the picture below.
Lesson no.4: Take action! If you see, hear or smell something: Do something!
Emergency number
There are several emergency apps that allows you to choose the country your in, or automatically choice by GPS, and tells you the number to call. Or even better, you call from the app and it sends the coordinates as you call.
The emergency numbers for Norway is shown in the picture below. If something should occur, don’t hesitate to call! Tell them your name and where your at. If you have the GPS coordinates it would be perfect, if not, look for a company name on a house, the name of a gas station or a store, or the name of the camping site.
Summary
Stay aware of your surroundings both regarding emergency and the beauty of nature!
Lærdal is a great destination well worth a stop! It has several campsites both organized and free camping, there are a lot of available activities and nature from the steep fjords, via the green meadows to the high mountains!
Enjoy!
