After an amazing stay in Tyssedal, we had to move to Kinsarvik after finding out they over booked the hotel. They were extremely apologetic, and offered us a discounted rate and gave us both free meals (around $100 saved just on food). The lady from the previous hotel informed us a hike up the river that featured four large waterfalls, so we decided to make the most of our unexpected stay in Kinsarvik. After dropping our bags off in the hotel room, we took off toward the falls.
The bottom of the trail is a beautiful hike through a wooded forest that follows the river that feeds into the fjord. The water is incredibly clear and we nearly spent the entire hike rock hopping our way up the river. I don’t recommend it, though. It will take you forever and you will want to see the falls, trust me. The forest looked like it was straight from Narnia. After a few minutes getting lost where the trail joins the road, detouring around the helicopter company, we were headed back in the right direction. The first waterfall is beautiful (spoiler: they’re all beautiful). There is a small building and a parking lot at the bottom, so if you have a car, you can skip a bit of the hike and park at the bottom.
Continuing up, the hike gets sweaty. After the first waterfall, there is a lot more uphill climbing involved. The trail deviates from the river a bit, so don’t be enticed to walk along the banks. We detoured about 20 minutes trying to approach the second waterfall from the bottom. If you follow the trail, there is a perfect view of the fall about midway up. After we reached this point, we were tempted to stop, but we were feeling ambitious so we continued up, keeping in mind that we had to make it back for dinner.
The third waterfall is atop a beautiful open area. There were people fishing outside a small cabin and I was tempted to stay there and call it a night and never come home. The trek up toward the next fall is a little faster, but you can save some time by headed back toward the river once you reach the next plateau. We went just far enough to see the final waterfall, but did not reach the bottom. It was awesome from a distance, but we were getting hungry. Instead of venturing to the final fall, we spent some time hanging out right next to the third one. The water levels were relatively low and we were able to stand directly next to the rushing water. It was incredible until Kim nearly fell in and gave me a heart attack. Her foot was nearly over the edge and I was panicking because I was too far to do anything. Luckily she ended up sitting in a puddle and didn’t slide off, but I didn’t let her forget it.
Once my heart rate dropped and Kim found solid ground, we booked it back down to get some food. My feet had never been so sore, but it was completely worth it for the free food. When we returned, the receptionist had our itinerary for our trip to Stavanger planned out for us. They also had my phone charger that I left in our last room. Sadly, that wasn’t the last time on the trip that I forgot something. The dinner was the exact same food offered at our previous hotel, but it was equally as delicious. Kim needed chocolate for dessert, so we were limited to the gas station down the road where we purchased the grossest candy bars I’ve ever had. Just because they look like a Kit-Kat, does not mean they taste like one.
We woke up early to take some pictures before leaving. Our itinerary had us leaving from Odda and no way to get there so the kind lady from the hotel drove us forty-five minutes to the bus stop. Can’t stress enough how accommodating the people of the Tyssedal and Kinsarvik hotels were. I highly recommend staying there. Beautiful place.
