Jotunheimen Tour

Our approach to the Jotunheimen Tour
This Tour is a wonderful circuit of the Jotunheimen National Park, visiting the main valleys of the Park and experiencing the best of hiking available, in one week. We link fantastic catered huts with solid days of walking in the amazing Norwegian scenery. We also offer the option, as an additional extra, to climb Norway’s heighest mountain (Galdhopiggen).

Latest research on the Jotunheimen Tour by Alpine Exploratory’s Nicky

The Terrain
The terrain encountered on the Tour is predominantly rocky. Most days are generally a combination of boulder fields – where progress is slower and care must be taken – and good paths. On the rocky sections the path is less well-defined, but cairns mark the way, generally visible on the horizon for navigation in poor visibility. Small streams are quite common and mostly easily crossed. Throughout summer there is a good chance of snow patches lying on the higher paths (and the snow slopes of Glittertind are guaranteed) but the lower paths are likely to be snow-free. There are also short sections of scrambling where hands will be needed for stability. These sections are on the high end of of normal mountain walking, but they are not via ferrata.

Is it for me?
If you’re a confident hiker with experience of mountain walking and navigation then you should love the Norwegian hiking style. We recommend extra care when considering the Jotunheimen for those with old injuries or niggles in their knees and ankles that tend to get worse on uneven terrain. As the terrain is more consistently rocky underfoot than our other trips, especially on our 8-stage hike, sure-footedness is key.

Difficulty
Three stages on our normal 6-stage trek involve some Black-graded terrain, all of which can be missed by taking paths at Purple grade as described in our routecards. It is however impossible to avoid all sections of boulderfields which characterise the Jotunheimen. The Black-graded sections are the Glittertind ascent (routecard JHT2), the Bukkelaegret beyond Gjendebu (JHT5) and the Besseggen ridge (JHT6). The Besseggen ridge is a highlight and it would be a shame to miss it; we can advise further on its difficulty.

Our 8-stage trek includes a fourth section of Black terrain, being the extensive bouldery ground around Uradalsvatnet and Kvitevatnet (JHT8) that is difficult to bypass. Thus we recommend our 8-stage trek only to parties happy with especially bouldery and rocky ground.

 Jotunheimen Tour Walking Guide – more about the trail

 The making of our Jotunheimen Tour – photos from our research trips

How to get there

Your holiday starts and ends at the roadside mountain hut of Gjendesheim. The most convenient airport is Oslo, with travel from Bergen also feasible. Travel to Gjendesheim is on the excellent Norwegian bus network, and a bus runs directly from Oslo.

Of special note about the Jotunheimen Tour is that travel must be carefully planned. This is because, unlike on our Alpine routes, Norwegian buses and trains run 2 or 3 times a day as opposed to every hour throughout the day. We’d like to make sure your arrangements are suitable and we are here for advice any time. We recommend booking a night in Oslo before travelling to Gjendesheim. Please ask if you would like us to book you a night in Oslo.

If your plans include extra time in Norway then travel times are less critical. Please let us know your ideas and we’ll be glad to advise what to see in Norway, and how to get about.

At Alpine Exploratory we travel widely in the countries we visit and we love to try unusual routes to the mountains, so equally we love to advise hikers on their travel plans.

Travel to and from the trip is not included in the holiday price. We take care to give the most useful notes possible about all the travel options. We supply these both on booking and in your info pack, and we offer personalised tips at any point. The aim is that our trekkers arrange their travel by the simplest and most scenic means as suits their plan.