It's easy for even the largest waterfall enthusiast to become a little blasé in Norway. While we drove around the Sognefjord area, we saw so many waterfalls that we began to only remark on the ones that stood out - their size, their flow pattern, etc. Sometimes we just remarked about how many there were. But Tvindefossen gave us a reason to pause.
Tvindefossen is a 152ft waterfall near Voss in Norway. It's about 90 minutes drive away from Bergen, Norway's second largest city. It's a roadside attraction - no hiking necessary. That's both good and bad for reasons I'll explain later.
The main picture in this post was taken from across the street. This is what you stumble upon as you're driving on E16 from Bergen to the Sognefjord. There are signs for the waterfall, but they don't prepare you for when you finally see it appear in your vision. I also think the picture helps you fully appreciate the size and power of this waterfall. Tvindefossen dwarfs the homes its holding court over.
The fact that there's no effort involved in getting to the waterfall means that every tourist and every tour company stops at it. I'd say 75% of the parking lot was filled with tour buses. People were everywhere. I can't really complain - afterall, I'm also a tourist.
I will say that this is why it pays to rent a car in places like this rather than joining a tour group. Those tour buses are on a schedule. When you're driving a rental car, you're on your own time. We had to wait around a little while, but eventually, a majority of the tour buses were packing up and leaving and we were still there, able to get unobstructed pictures of the falls.
I chose Soma by The Smashing Pumpkins as the soundtrack for this post. The song starts out very quiet and airy before building into a very massive end. I've always loved the way this track builds. It's always been my favorite song on Siamese Dream.
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