Trøndelag

Trøndelag, alternative spelling Tröndelag, is a region and county of Norway, sometimes referred to as Middle Norway. Trøndelag's prominent position between North and South Trøndelag has been crucial in Norway's history. There are major fjords but the landscape is more mellow than the wild West Norway. There are still great mountains and high plateaus popular among hikers and skiers. Trøndelag is home to great valleys and major rivers famous for salmon fisheries. Along the coast there are a few major islands as well as thousands of smaller islands.

Cities

• 1 Levanger - one of the well-preserved wooden towns
• 2 Namsos - port of Namdalen district, totally destroyed during the war
• 3 Orkanger - small town at the mouth of Orkla river and valley
• 4 Røros (Bergstaden) - a former mining town in the uplands that is largely intact, and a UNESCO world heritage site, where the old copper mines can also be visited
• 5 Steinkjer - the hub at the northern end of great fjord
• 6 Stjørdalshalsen (Stjørdal)
• 7 Trondheim - one of Norway's main cities, lovely location on the river bend, historically important as previous capital and seat of the archbishop, Norway's national cathedral.

Other destinations

• 1 Oppdal - regional centre and ski resort in the interior uplands.
• 2 Dovrefjell — a mountainous area consisting of two large national parks (comprises also parts of East Norway and West Norway)

Understand

Snåsa lake in northern Trøndelag is one of Norway's biggest

Trondheim has been a centre of commerce since the Viking Age. Saint Olaf's Way has been an important pilgrimage route. Trondheim has seen the middle ages been one of Norway's three principle cities, along with Bergen and Oslo. The archdiocese of Trondheim covered vast areas of the North Atlantic as it included Norway, parts of Sweden, Iceland, Greenland, Orkneys, Shetland and other parts of the British isles. For two brief years, 1658 to 1660, Trøndelag was part of Sweden.

Trøndelag is separated from East Norway by the Dovre mountains and uplands around Røros. Along the border with Sweden are the Sylan mountains and more modest wilderness further north. Hitra, Frøya and Vikna are major islands and archipelagos on the outer coast, in addition to thousands of smaller islands. There are also islands in the great Trondheimsfjord. Large parts of Trøndelag are related to the long, wide and deep Trondheimsfjord. At well over 100 km it is the third longest in Norway. As a fjord it is partly quite wide almost like a small ocean. Some of Norway's great valleys and rivers terminate at Trondheimsfjord for instance Orkla and Gaula rivers are among Norway's best salmon rivers. There is no clear demarcation between Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal in the west.

Around the upper part of Namdalen valley there are wide uplands around the border with Nordland. Namsen river at over 200 km is one of Norway's biggest and regarded as Norway's best salmon river only surpassed by Alta river in Finnmark. In and around Namdalen and around Trondheimsfjorden there are wide forests on the modest elevations. Hitra island is the biggest in South Norway. The forests of Trøndelag has Norway's highest density of elg, the Eurasian moose, except Hitra where there is a large number of red deer. The coast and islands around Flatanger and further north has a considerable number of the white tailed eagle (known as havørn or sea eagle in Norway).

White tailed eagle in the Flatanger archipelago.

Trøndelag has a range of climates. The coastal areas have a typical humid maritime climate where average temperatures in winter are mostly not below 0°C. The outer coast is also exposed to rough wind in Winter. The high plateaus and sheltered valleys of the interior have a continental climate with some of the driest and coldest areas of Norway. Røros has the lowest recorded temperature in South Norway at -50°C. Most of the rain falls near the coast. Autumn and winter are the rainiest seasons. Inner areas have much warmer summers than the coast and islands, temperatures up to 30°C is possible in the inner valleys, while on the coast 25°C is rare.

Trøndelag can be divided into four main sections

• Trondheimsfjorden and adjacent areas including Trondheim, Levanger and valleys ending at the fjord.
• Namdalen valley area including Namsos
• The coast including Hitra island in the south and Vikna archipelago in the north
• The uplands near the watershed including Oppdal and Røros

Get in

By plane

Trondheim Airport Værnes (TRD ^IATA) in Stjørdalshalsen serves international and national flights. There are plenty of flights every day to Oslo, and several other main towns including Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Bodø and Tromsø. International destinations include London Gatwick, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Riga. There is train and bus connection from the airport.

Røros has a local airport with flights from Oslo. Rørvik and Namsos have local airports with flights from Trondheim.

By train

Dovre Line connects Trondheim to East Norway via the Dovre plateau.

Trøndelag is connected by 4 main lines:

• Dovre line connects Trondheim and Oppdal to East Norway and Oslo via Dombås and Gudbrandsdalen. There are several daily departures between Trondheim to Oslo, trains from Oslo, operated by NSB, electric powered, connection to Rauma line (for Åndalsnes) at Dombås.
• Røros line connects Trondheim and Røros to East Norway, with connections to Oslo and Lillehammer at Hamar. This was Norway's first main line connecting separate parts of the country, but is today the less used, diesel powered.
• Nordland line connects Trondheim and Steinkjer to Nordland, diesel powered trains
• Meråker line connects Hell (at Trondheim airport) via Storlien border crossing to Östersund in Sweden

By bus

Express catamaran passenger boat Kristiansund-Trondheim passing Hitra island. The boat calls at some villages along the lane.

Long distance buses from Oslo and Bergen to Trondheim, NOR-WAY.

By car

From Oslo there are two options.

• Road 3 is slightly shorter and faster
• through Gudbrandsdalen and Dovrefjell is more scenic.

From Östersund (Sweden)

• connects to E6 at Stjørdal

From Ålesund and Molde

• connects to E6 at Klett just south of Trondheim
• Via Sunndal: Road 70 connects to E6 Oppdal

From Northern Norway

• through Saltfjellet

By boat

• Hurtigruten sails all the way north to Kirkenes and south to Bergen, stopping at numerous destinations on its way, including Trondheim and Rørvik.
• Trondheim and Kristiansund are connected by express passenger boat through the Trondheim sea lane between Hitra island and the mainland.

Get around

Most of Trøndelag is dominated by the great Trondheimsfjord. At well over 100 km it is the third longest and almost makes up a small ocean. The fjord is deep and complex with some islands. Car ferries cross at Flakk-Rørvik and at Brekstad. There is a bridge across the narrow sound between Inderøy and Mosvik.

By train

Trondheim station is the hub for rail as the electrified Dovre line terminates there and the northbound lines operated by diesel trains continue. The coastal areas do not have rail connections. The rail runs through the central interior and along the eastern shores of the Trondheimsfjord, basically along the same route as road E6. There are branches to Røros from Støren, and to Meråker and Sweden (Åre and Östersund) from Hell.

• Local trains Steinkjer–airport–Trondheim and Trondheim–Røros are operated by NSB on the Røros line.
• The Meråkerbanen (Nabotåget) service runs twice daily to the Swedish border at Storlien, continuing to the ski resort Åre and the city of Östersund. There are connections to Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
• Long distance trains Oslo-Dombås-Oppdal-Trondheim on the Dovre line and Trondheim-airport-Steinkjer-Snåsa-Namsskogan on the Nordland line (bound for Bodø).

By bus

For local buses in Nord-Trøndelag, search entur.no.

And in Sør-Trøndelag including Trondheim, search atb.no

By boat

There are some local passenger boats for instance Trondheim-Vanvikan. Use the same site as for local buses.

By car

There is an extensive road network, however often fairly curvy and slow. The Norwegian north-south highway E6 passes Trondheim and is partly constructed as motorway or semi-motorway.

To cross fjords, there are several bridges and tunnels, but some car ferries also exist. They have fees, but there is no need for booking. The key ferry connection across the Trondheimsfjord is Flakk-Rørvik, several departures per hour. The other main crossing is Valset-Brekstad to Ørland area.

Some roads, especially new tunnels, and all entrances to Trondheim have road tolls.

See

The unique mining town of Røros with the great church.

Namsen river, one of the best salmon-rivers in Norway.

Ancient Sakshaug church at Inderøy.

• Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim is the biggest church of Northern Europe, the only major Gothic cathedral in Norway, Norway's national cathedral and the pride of the city.
• Hell, a suburb of Stjørdal close to Trondheim airport, is not as bad as it sound.
• 1 Stiklestad. Site of the battle in year 1030 where King Olav died. (updated Aug 2016)
• 2 Bardal rock carvings (Bardalfeltet) (along FV285, about 15 km west of Steinkjer). 400 stone age and bronze age paintings/carvings on a 300 m² area. Free. 
• Saemien Sijte (1.5 km from Snåsa, 60 km north from Steinkjer), ☏ +47 74-13-80-00, post@saemiensijte.no. M–F 09:00–15:00. Culture centre and museum on Southern Sámi culture. Guided tours. 50 kr, children free. 
• Steinvikholmen Castle, north of Stjørdal, was the refuge of the last Catholic archbishop of Norway. In 1537 the king finally managed to take the fortress and send him into exile, ending the opposition to the reformation in Norway.
• 3 Austrått (Austrått Manor). Austrått Manor (Austråttborgen) at Ørland at the mouth of Trondheimsfjorden is known as a residence for prominent persons since the 10th century. The building was destroyed by fire in 1916 and restored. Henrik Ibsen's play Lady Inger of Ostrat is based on a real Lady of Austrått. The building is now owned by the national government and is open to visitors in summer. (updated May 2020)
• Hessdalen Valley is a sparsely populated area near Røros known for the Hessdalen lights, some unexplained lights observed in a 12-kilometre-long stretch of the valley.
• 4 Tautra (Tautra island). Tautra is a small island in Trondheimsfjorden. The island is a nature reserve for birds and the site of a monastery abandoned after the reformation. Ruins of the buildings. Access by bridge from Frosta. (updated May 2020)
• 5 Frosta. A fertile peninsula in Trondheimsfjorden. Assembly hill (Tinghaugen) at Frosta was the site of the medieval parliament for Trøndelag and adjacent areas. These areas were governed by Frostatingsloven, the law (or law book) of Frosta assembly. This law included the famous phrase at lǫgum skal land várt byggja en eigi at ulǫgum eyða (with law shall our land be built, and not desolated by lawlessness, reproduced in modern Norwegian on the monument there). The law originates from before year 1000 and in oral form perhaps much older, making it one of the oldest in Norway. The law was consolidated in written form around 1100 and is a relatively sophisticated legislation. Several elements of are retained in Norway's modern legislation. Frosta was effectively the capital of Trøndelag until the assembly was moved to Trondheim. (updated May 2020)
• 6 Orkla Industrimuseum (Orkla mining and industry museum). Copper mining at Løkken began in 1654 and operations ended in 1987 making this one of Norway's oldest businesses. The Orkla Company ran the mining business and still exists as a large conglomerate and Norway's biggest private company. A private electric railway, Thamshavn Line, was constructed between Løkken and Orkanger port at Thamshavn. Thamshavn Line was in 1908 Norway's first electric railway and is now operated by the museum. (updated May 2020)
• 7 Austrått Fort, Austrått, Ørland (Brekstad village). Austrått Fort is a disused coastal artillery at Austrått in Ørland. It was constructed in 1942 by the German Wehrmacht to control the entrance to the Trondheimsfjord during the German occupation of Norway during World War II. The three-gun turret weighs 800 tons and was capable of firing 730-pound shells 38 kilometres (24 mi). It opened as a museum in 1991. Like its sister battery at Sotra near Bergen, a shaft was cut out of the rocks for the huge former Gneisenau battleship gun turret. Along with Fjell fort at Sotra this was one of the largest artilleries along the German "atlantic wall". The fort lis located next to Austrått manor and overlooking the mouth of Trondheimsfjord as well as Ørland Airforce Base. (updated May 2020)

Do

Alpine skiing

Oppdal slopes

• Oppdal ski resort in Oppdal is one of Norway's major alpine ski resorts. Frequently listed among top 5 or top 10 resorts in Norway.
• Vassfjellet, Klæbu
• Meråker skisenter, Meråker
• Grong/Bjørgan skisenter

Hiking

Jøldalshytta lodge in Trollheimen.

• 1 Trollheimen. Trollheimen is a mountainous area shared with Møre og Romsdal. Lodges are owned and operated by Trondheim hiking association. Trollheimshytta (lodge) is the hub. Lodges in this area are known for their solid, traditional log-built style. The terrain offers easy hiking between, and there are notable summits for the skilled mountaineer. free. (updated May 2020)
• 2 Sylan. Sylan (swedish: Sylarna, sami: Bealjehkh) is a mountain area east of Røros that is shared with Sweden. The highest summit marks the border and is also the highest point in Jämtland. Trekking associations in Norway and Sweden operate some 30 lodges on both sides of the border. Hikers can comfortably do 2- to 4-day hikes lodge-to-lodge, as well as scrambles to summits. The landscape is relatively gentle with a handful of massifs/summits rising above plateau. free.  
• Forollhogna National Park is a largely untouched area mostly above the forest line west of Røros. Wild reindeer roam the area.

Eat

• Try Norwegian seafood!

Go next

• Jämtland County in Sweden
• North to Nordland county
• West to the fjordlands of Møre og Romsdal
• South to the wide uplands of Oppland

Routes through Trøndelag

Kirkenes ← Fauske ←	N  S	→ Lillehammer → Oslo
Ålesund ← Molde ←	S  N	→ Orkanger → Trondheim
Kristiansund ← Sunndal ←	W  E	→ Oppdal