Kinsarvik

The small U-shaped patch of greenery opposite the Kinsarvik tourist office is all that remains of the former Viking port. Kinsarvik also boats one of Norway's oldest stone churches. First built in around 1180, it was restored in the 1960s and the walls still bear traces of lime-and-chalk paintings that depict the weighing of souls by Michael the Archangel with the devil trying to weigh down the scales.

According to local legend, the church was built by Scottish invaders on the site of an earlier stave church. Kinsarvik also offers an appealing access trail past the cooling Husedalen waterfalls, along what's known as the Monk's Stairway and onto the network of tracks through the wild forest of Hardangervidda National Park.