Romsdalseggen ridge is a well-known mountain ridge and hiking route in western Norway, located above the town of Åndalsnes in the Romsdal region. It is a scenic ridge walk with dramatic views of fjords, valleys and the peaks of the Romsdal Alps. The route is popular with hikers from around the world and often appears on lists of the most beautiful hikes in Europe.
In the summer of 2024 we also hiked a large part of this iconic ridge – and of course we shared the experience with our dog Ibo.
Romsdalsgondolen gondola
We moved to the coastal town of Åndalsnes, where arguably one of Norway’s most famous treks begins. A big advantage of this hike is the option to significantly shorten it using the Romsdalsgondolen cable car, which starts right in the town centre. If you don’t use this option, you face a relatively steep and exhausting climb on a path directly from town up to the Nesaksla summit, where the upper station of the gondola is located.
If you decide to use the gondola, a return ticket costs roughly 47 € per person. It can be purchased online on the official website https://www.romsdalsgondolen.no or directly at the cable car. A nice bonus is a 10 % discount on the ticket price when you sign up for the newsletter on that site. For us, however, an even more important piece of information was that dogs travel in the gondola for free.
For Ibo the gondola ride itself was an experience. At first he didn’t like the gentle swaying of the cabin at all, but in the end he handled it perfectly. In the gondola we deliberately chose a spot in the very corner of the cabin, which eliminated potential disturbances such as children or other dogs. The gondola effortlessly carried us up to about 700 m a.s.l., and already during the ride we were treated to beautiful views of Åndalsnes, the surrounding coast and the dramatic mountain backdrop.
On the ridge with a dog
The route along the Romsdalseggen ridge itself is very clear, excellently marked and for most of the time runs right along the ridge. From our point of view it is also safe to proceed with a dog, which is not something you can always say about similarly exposed hikes.
We only encountered a few shorter, more exposed sections. These are, however, always well secured, technically undemanding and in reality do not pose a significant risk of injury. To be safe, we always put Ibo on a leash in those places. It goes without saying that on this hike Ibo wore a hiking harness instead of a regular collar, which we consider essential on even slightly exposed terrain.
There are also several small lakes on the ridge, which were especially useful for Ibo – he immediately refreshed himself in them. Despite not exactly ideal forecasts, the weather turned out great for us.
Spectacular views
The clouds stayed high, so we had almost uninterrupted views for most of the time – and they are truly incredible here! Below us stretched the Romsdalen valley, through which the Rauma River flows. It then flows into the Midfjorden. It was clearly visible that the river brings a large amount of nutrients from the interior – something is cultivated on every flat area in the valley.
The colorful fields create a strong contrast with the sharp, alpine-looking peaks in the surroundings. The meanders of the Rauma River, winding along the bottom of the Romsdalen valley, are utterly iconic.
In the distance it was possible to observe the surrounding glaciers, which added to the raw northern character of the landscape. Wherever you looked, it was one photogenic view after another.
Mjølvafjellet summit
Our goal was the summit of Mjølvafjellet at an elevation of 1216 m, which we eventually reached without major problems. It should be said, however, that in the last metres below the summit the path was a bit rougher and at times sharper rocks appeared on the route. In these, usually short sections I therefore held Ibo by his harness in my hand just to be safe.
We spent just under an hour at the summit of Mjølvafjellet (1216 m a.s.l.). The summit is fairly spacious, which paradoxically means somewhat less dramatic views into the valley than in earlier sections of the hike. On the other hand, from here there is a nice view of the continuation of the Romsdalseggen ridge toward the peaks Blånebba and the significantly lower Holstind.
I easily made up for the slightly limited views with a drone – the calm weather allowed me to fly around the summit from all sides and capture a few iconic shots.
Return to the gondola
We did not continue along the ridge further for time reasons and returned the same way to the upper cable car station. The gondola intervals are fairly frequent, so we didn’t have to wait long for a ride back to Åndalsnes.
Conclusion
Although we studied a lot of information online about the Romsdalseggen ridge hike before travelling, nothing compares to personal experience. The views are truly breathtaking and thanks to the option of using the cable car it is a relatively easy yet extremely impressive hike.
With a dog we were certainly something of a rarity here, but at the same time we were not the only ones. We can therefore recommend Romsdalseggen ridge without hesitation to active hikers with dogs who are looking for a combination of a safe ridge walk and some of the most beautiful views in Norway.
Basic facts about the hike
- Lokalita: Åndalsnes, región Romsdal, západné Nórsko
- Trail name: Romsdalseggen ridge
- Starting point: Åndalsnes town centre / upper station of the Romsdalsgondolen cable car (Nesaksla)
- Highest point: Mjølvafjellet – 1216 m a.s.l.
- Elevation gain: approximately 900–1000 m (significantly less if using the cable car)
- Length of the route: depending on the chosen variant, our there-and-back option was 8 km (approx. 4 hours)
- Difficulty: moderately demanding, briefly exposed in places
- Suitable for dogs: yes, with reasonable caution and the use of a leash and harness