The first destination on my first trip to Norway wasn’t the capital, Oslo, and it wasn’t the second largest city, Bergen. It was, in fact, to a small town called Ålesund, along the western coast of Norway, in the district known as Sunnmøre. With a population of only about about 45,000 people, it’s the 9th largest urban district in Norway.
The town has a distinctive architectural style, as most other locations in Norway. These differences mostly developed because before the invention of the trains, due to the divisions created by the vast mountains, it was difficult to get around, leading to the differences in dialect, culture, and cuisine. The city has a small airport, and is built over a series of small islands. It’s a major harbor that does lots of business in fishery. I recently saw an episode of New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad that featured the Spanish, dried fish of Bacalao that was being made in Ålesund. The city center is small, and I mean small– I walked through the entirety of it thoroughly in less than a few hours on the rainy night I arrived. It has a beautiful, old architecture and bright, colorful wooden buildings. The streets in the majority of the center are paved still with beautiful old stones.
Being that it’s a city made out of islands, there is water in every direction, making it virtually impossible to get lost. It is, however, beautiful to wander around in! Some of the highlights are the Fjellstua, the mountain steps inside the park. You can climb to the top and get a dazzling view of Ålesund from above, as well as turning different directions to see other parts of Norway close by. If you can’t walk it, don’t fret– there is accessibility to the top of Fjellstua by car as well. Speaking of which, getting to the sentrum was very easy by bus from the airport that runs regularly. If you need to get around Ålesund itself, there is limited public transportation, taxis available, or you can really just walk everywhere.
Also of note is the variety of trips you can take from Ålesund itself. As a harbor, plenty of cruises stop in, or you can take ferries directly to other desirable locations.
If you’re considering a trip to Norway, definitely think about stopping in Ålesund! It’s a marvelous little city filled with the smell of the mountains and the sea.