Fjaerland is the cutest little book town that I have ever been to. It is full of books and has a gorgeous view of a bright blue reflective fjord and mountains. We saw more bookstores than people during our visit. We had planned on quickly visiting while near the Boyabreen Glacier Viewpoint, but after stopping by we wished we could’ve stayed a whole extra day there.
Fjaerland is located along the Sognefjord. It is a beautiful place to visit, especially if you are a book lover.
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Things to do in Fjaerland
Find Books
The main thing to do in Fjaerland is checkout all of the different bookshops and book huts. The town is full of a variety of bookstores, filling entire buildings, in little shelves in front of peoples’ houses, on walls, and even in an old telephone booth.
Many of the books are in Norwegian (you’re in Norway, so that should be expected), but there was a surprising amount of books in English, German, and other languages. Most of the books we saw were older or at least used books.
It seems like there are many places to buy books in town, but there are few bookstores that stood out to me. Most of them are not on Google Maps, so I added descriptions of each place.
The one in front of the house
Location: Google maps location
I thought that this little book “store” was super cute. It is a covered bookshelf in front of someone’s house. There are loads of books to choose from with a little box beside the shelf for paying for the book. All books on this shelf were 30NOK (around $3 USD).
The one at the edge of the parking lot with the view of the fjord
Location: parking lot of Tusund Og Ei Natt
This was the most beautiful book “store” that we visited. There is a covered bookshelf on the edge of the fjord with views of the turquoise water and tall mountains. It was so picturesque and there were also many book choices here. Instead of paying for the books in a box nearby the shelf, there is a bookstore that you pay at in the same lot as the shelf.
The big barn of books
Location: Tusund Og Ei Natt main building
This book barn was the largest selection of books we found in town. The large building was filled floor to ceiling with books of all kind. Here the books were even organized into different sections and languages. There was a large selection of English books, albeit mostly older books such as a surprisingly large collection of Shakespeare plays. You could spend a long time perusing the titles here if you are a book lover.
The one in the coffee shop called Inkaleisn Kafe
Location: Google Location
Since I am a coffee gal, I particularly liked the little coffee shop Inkaleisn Kafe that was filled with books and little reading nooks. The coffee was good and there were walls covered in books, books on tables, and books for reading while you enjoy your treats. If the weather is nice, you can also enjoy your book and coffee outside with a view of the fjord.
The one across from the church
Location: Google Maps for the church (the book shop is across the street from here, but not on Google Maps)
One other bookstore that I really liked was cozy and small, but had a lot of nice books and a large assortment of CDs. There were many books, a little chair for reading, and a window that looks out over the fjord.
Kayak
The Sognefjord is absolutely incredible (in addition to being the longest fjord in Norway) and Fjaerland is in the perfect point to enjoy the fjord by water. There are kayak rentals at Fjaerland Guiding, in which single kayaks start at 300NOK (around $30USD) for 2 hours). The water is bright blue-green and super reflective. It is some of the calmest water we encountered in the fjords. Some people have even reported that dolphins have swam up to them while kayaking around Fjaerland.
Sauna
At the edge of the fjord, there is a beautiful floating sauna. Saunas are really popular in Norway and Norwegian culture. They can be found all over the country. Some of the most beautiful saunas are ones located on a fjord where you can relax in the hot sauna and then take a quick dip in the crisp fjord.
The sauna at Fjaerland is managed by Fjaerland Guiding. Reservations for the sauna can be made on their website. Typical sauna rules apply, including sitting on your own towel on the benches.
Picnic along the fjord
Along the fjord in the main part of town, there is a boardwalk walkway that has numerous picnic tables. There are great views from the picnic tables here. The people of the town have even decorated the tables with little flowerpots of flowers. There is a Joker grocery store in town where you can get things for a picnic lunch if you didn’t bring your own. We couldn’t believe how beautiful the view was from here.
Visit the coffee shop Inkaleisn Kafe
There is an adorable coffee shop in the center of the small town. The coffee shop is also filled with books and is super charming. It is the perfect place to grab a coffee, a little snack, and sit in a comfy chair with a book.
Things to know about visiting the bookstores in Fjaerland
There are books in all languages
No matter where you care coming from, it is likely that you will be able to find a book in a language you understand in Fjaerland. Most books are in Norwegian, but there are also a lot of books in English, German, and other languages.
Bring Cash
If you’ve traveled around Norway for long, you’ll know that cash really isn’t used most places. However, Fjaerland is one place that you will want to bring a little bit of cash. To pay for books, some of the places are cash only into a box beside the shelves. The larger bookstores do have registers where you can pay with card if you don’t have in NOK cash with you.
How to get to Fjaerland
Fjaerland is located along the northern part of Sognefjord. It is slightly south of Jostedalsbreen National Park. The closest large city is Bergen, which is around 4 hours away. Fjaerland is best reached by car as there is minimal public transportation to the town (although not zero). There is parking in the middle of town near the Joker grocery store.
Lodging in Fjaerland
The most famous place to stay in Fjaerland is Hotel Mundal which as been a part of the town since the late 1800’s. Reservations can be made on their website.
Another popular hotel in town is Fjaerland Fjordstove Hotel & Restaurant. It is located on the fjord itself and has great views. Reservations can be made on their website.
There is a lot of camping and areas for boondocking nearby. We personally stayed at Kjornes Camping the night before which was around 30 minutes away and was one of our favorite campgrounds we stayed at in Norway. The tent camping spots are literally on the edge of Sognefjord and have incredible views.
Nearby things to do
Boyabreen glacier
Around 10 minutes away from Fjaerland is the Boyabreen Glacier Viewpoint. This viewpoint is the Boyabreen arm of the Jostedalsbreen Glacier. This is one of the easier points to see an arm of the glacier without much walking. To see Boyabreen Glacier, drive around 10 km north from Fjaerland and the parking area will be on the right. From the parking area, it is a short walk to the glacier viewpoint with a glacial lake. There are picnic tables around if you’re wanting to stay for a while near the glacier.
Skei
Around 30 km from Fjaerland, you can find the town of Skei. Skei is along the Jolstravatnet and has really reflective views on a calm day. There is a nice sauna on the water Fyrig Sauna Skei. A good coffee shop in Skei is Brunsj & Briller which also doubles as an eye glasses shop.
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Overall this is my guide to visiting Fjaerland. Let me know any comments or questions that you have in the comments section down below!
Thanks for reading!
-Liz
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