Route 9
Lysefjord route via Seldal
The route is defined as extreme
Routes defined as extreme are suitable for people who are familiar with demanding lots and have extensive experienceTime
12:00 hours
Length
153 km
Popularity
5out of 10
Key elements of this tour are the trail from Sandnes to Lauvik. Then the ferry cruise into the Lysefjord and finally the main challenge with approx. 15 km of climbing up from Lysebotn with a final stage back to Sandnes of 115 km.
You'd think you'd have to cycle a long way into the trail before the nature experiences materialize. But no, on this trip you don't cycle many minutes before you are in the middle of a natural gem. After about 7 km you reach Lutsivatnet, where the road takes you towards Ims and Høle. On this just under 20 km long stretch, you cycle in an easy terrain without any major challenges, but with lots of idyllic nature to look at.
After approx. 1 hour of cycling you arrive at the ferry quay Lauvik where the fjord cruise into the Lysefjord starts. After about 2.5 hours of fjord cruise you arrive at Lysebotn where the climbing adventure starts. You now have about 130 km to cycle back to Sandnes, where the first 10 km are the most challenging. After about 2 km you arrive at the 1100 meter long tunnel (remember to bring lights at the front and back). The stretch up to Ørneredet (or Øygardsstøl as it is officially known) consists of 27 bends spread over about 7 km. The gradient is approximately 10%. Ørneredet is located at about 650 m above sea level, which means that there is still some distance and a few more altitude meters to cycle before reaching the summit at 932 m above sea level. When you reach the summit, you have cycled a distance of 15 km. This means that you have "only" 115 km before you return to the starting point in Sandnes.
From the highest point on Lysevegen, it's about 15 km of gently undulating cycling into Sirdal. In Sirdal, it's not unusual to make a quick stop to refill water bottles at the village's gas station, which goes by the name GP.
The hike then starts down Hunnedalen and to Byrkjedalstunet. Despite the sloping terrain, you should expect a headwind if the wind direction is not easterly. It will certainly be an advantage to cycle in a group to help each other in the headwind. Coffee and a chocolate cake or similar at Byrkjedalstunet is one of the many highlights of the tour.
After a well-deserved rest, cycle down to Dirdal, where we recommend cycling the "inner road" down to Frafjorden. From the fjord you have to cycle up to Røyrdalen (remember to take the old road outside the tunnel) and then cycle down to Oltedal. From Oltedal you cycle up to Spinneriet, which is the last chance to replenish your energy before the 3 km climb up Seldal. After Seldal, it's the "straight road" along Søredalen back to Sandnes.
Book your place on the fjord cruise via the following website - https://www.norwaysbest.com/no/ting-a-gjore/fjorder/fjord-cruise-lysefjord/
The season for fjord cruises (transportation to Lysebotn) is from mid-May to mid-September.
Support
How can I navigate the route?
This depends primarily on whether you have installed a GPS, navigate by App on your mobile phone or prefer paper printouts. Here we describe the most common workflows:
- Download the GPX file for the route you want to your computer
- Import the file to your route planning tool (e.g. Garmin's Basecamp or Tom Tom's MyDrive)
- Export the route to your GPS in the usual way
- Check that the route is calculated correctly in your GPS (It is recommended that the GPS is set to select the fastest route and any avoidance turned off for the route to be calculated as described).
- Have a great trip!
- Download the GPX file for the route you want to your mobile phone
- Send/open the file in the App that belongs to your GPS model (e.g. Garmin's Drive or Tom Tom's MyDrive)
- Send the route to your GPS (follow the instructions that come with your GPS and App)
- Check that the route is calculated correctly in your GPS (It is recommended that the GPS is set to select the fastest route and any avoidance turned off for the route to be calculated as described).
- Have a great trip!
Many of the routes on Hubriding use the app Ride with GPS app for route planning and navigation of the routes. You can download this as a free version or pay for extended use. Click on the Send to Device link on the map on this page, when the app has started and you see the current route, click Navigate and then just follow the route.
- Click on the link in the map on the page and the map will open in a new window
- Print the map, with or without description
- Have a great trip!
