Stjørdalshalsen

Stjørdal is a town in Trøndelag in Norway.

Understand

Stjørdalshalsen (or Stjørdal for short) is situated at the mouth of Stjørdal valley. It is the centre for Stjørdal district. The Stjørdal valley stretches for some 70 km from Trondheimsfjord to the border with Sweden. The lower part of the valley is relatively wide agricultural flatlands. The flatlands at the mouth is home to Stjørdal town with some 12,000 people as well as Trondheim airport and Hell suburb on the other side of the airport. The upper part of the valley is more or less a river gorge, except at Meråker village.

Stjørdalshalsen/Hell is an important junction as the road and the railway connections with Sweden joins the Norwegian network there.

Hell

The railway station to the right, the "Gods-expedition" straight ahead

Hell is a village and suburb of Stjørdal town, separated from the centre by the runway. Hell has some 1,400 inhabitants administratively part of the Stjørdal municipality. While there's very little to see there, except for an annual blues festival in September, it's always fun to get a picture of yourself outside Gods Expedition (freight forwarding office). The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means "overhang", "cliff cave". The Norwegian word hell can also mean "luck". The Old Norse word Hel is the same as today's English Hell, and as a proper noun, Hel was the ruler of Hel. In modern Norwegian the word for hell is helvete.

Hell is some 1.5 km (1 mile) from the airport.

Get in

God's expedition at Hell. The sign is real.

By car

• The town is situated next to Norway's main north-south highway, E6, some 40 kilometers from Trondheim. Coming from Sweden, E14 ends in Stjørdal north of the airport.

By plane

• 1 Trondheim Airport Værnes (TRD ^IATA). There are plenty of flights every day from Oslo, and several other main towns including Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Bodø and Tromsø, as well as the short-field airports of Mosjøen, Sandnessjøen, Brønnøysund, Namsos and Rørvik. International destinations include London Gatwick, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Riga. There are also flights to many destinations in the Mediterranean and on the Canary Island. There is train and bus connection from the airport. Connections with major Norwegian cities and towns, International flights are available from Amsterdam, London (Stansted), Stockholm, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Prague, Malaga and Nice. 

By train

Trains are operated by Vy (formerly NSB), who also sells the tickets.

• 2 Stjørdal station. 
• 3 Værnes station. Railway station for the airport. 
• 4 Hell station. Local trains from Trondheim, the airport and Steinkjer stop here. There are one or two departures per hour. There are also trains from Sweden (twice per day) that stop in Hell. If you want to take the train from Hell, be aware that the train will only stop if they see someone standing at the platform, otherwise it will pass. 

See

• 1 Hell station (Hell stasjon). Hell's railway station. The Gods Expedition is the small building next to the railway, and the famous sign is on the wall towards the tracks. On the second floor of the station itself, there is a devil drawing in the window, most likely put there to entertain tourists. Regardless of its infernal name, the station itself is a sympathetic little wooden building worth photographing. 
• 2 Rock carvings. At the Steinmohaugen there are rock carvings that might be 6000 years old. Rock carving is helleristning in Norwegian. 
• 3 Lånke Kirke. There's a church, but unsurprisingly not in Hell itself but rather in the village of Lånke, 2km to the east. 
• 4 Stjørdal river. Separating the village from the mall, hotel and Trondheim airport. 
• 5 Hell signs. If the railway station isn't enough, you can also photograph road and street signs. Moreover, there is a "Hell" sign on the mountain (perhaps inspired by the "Hollywood" sign in Los Angeles but smaller), visible when arriving from the airport. 
• 6 Vikanbukta fulgefredningsområde (Vikan bay natur reserve for birds). Trondheimsfjorden is shallow around the mouth of Stjørdal river. At low tide a wide mudflat is uncovered and attrackting wading birds. (updated May 2020)
• 7 Steinvikholmen Castle, Stjørdal (on a small island, Trondheimsfjord, north of Stjørdal village and Trondheim airport, along road E6). Olav Engelbrektsson, the last Catholic archbishop of Norway, fled to this small fortress from his residence at the Nidaros Cathedral (Trondheim). He brought with him St. Olav's shrine with the earthly remains of St. Olav, Norway’s patron saint. In April 1537 the king finally managed to take the fortress and send Olav into exile in Belgium. His exile ended the opposition to the reformation in Norway. 50 kr. (updated Dec 2016)

Do

• 1 Climbing. There is a great climbing site east of the village. Mountain guides are not available locally, you need to contact the climbing club in Stjørdal or Trondheim. 
• 2 Rallycross in Hell (at the Lånkebanan track, 10 km south). yearly in June. A car race at Lånkebanan, part of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. 
• Blues in Hell. A blues festival held each September. 
• 3 Meråker ski resort (E14 or railway from Trondheim or Hell). Alpine, backcountry and cross-country skiing. Despite its modest altitude (100-200 meters above sea level) Meråker ski resort has a relatively long season. (updated May 2020)

Buy

"Hell senteret - your shopping centre"

Among English-speaking tourists, popular postcards depict the station with a heavy frost on the ground, making a visual joke about "Hell frozen over." Temperatures in Hell can reach -20 °C during winter.

• 1 Hell kjøpesenter. For more serious shopping, head to the Hell senteret mall, halfway to the airport. 

Eat

• 1 Holm Café (in the Hell senteret mall). A café in the mall. 
• 2 Hell Grill & Truck stop. Fast food. 

Self-catering is also an option - there are grocery stores in the mall and the airport also offers lighter meals. For finer dining, head to the restaurant at Rica Hell Hotel.

Drink

Vertigo Bar is located at the Rica Hell Hotel.

Sleep

Upper Stjørdalen valley

• 1 Radisson Blu Hotel, Trondheim Airport, Lufthavnveien 30, ☏ +47 74 84 36 00, info.trondheim.airport@radissonblu.com. 
• 2 Rica Hell Hotel, Sandfærhus 22, ☏ +47 74 84 48 00. A first class establishment with prices to match. Has a good range of business amenities given its proximity to the airport, and a restaurant and bar. Standard double rooms go for around 1000 Kr. 

Connect

• 5 Stjørdal library (Stjørdal bibliotek), ☏ +47 74 83 39 40. M W F 10:00–16:00, Tu Th 10:00–19:00, Sa 10:00–14:00. Free usage of computers. Printing is also available for a small fee. 

Go next

• Sweden: Storlien – ski resort, the first town in Sweden after the border. It has a railway embankment, being rebuilt into a bridge, which is called "Stora Helvetet", literally "Big Hell", on intention because of the trouble of building it.
• Trondheim

Routes through Stjørdalshalsen

Trondheim ← Hell ←	SW  NE	→ Mo i Rana → Narvik
merges with SW ←	W  E	→ Meråker → Åre → Östersund