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Trolltunga is one of the most famous places in the world for backpackers, hikers and travelers in general. Pictures of people sitting on the top of this Trolls’ tongue of stone in Norway are everywhere, and many think a trip to this country is not complete without seeing this natural wonder.

It is, indeed, a place to see: after a demanding and long hike through forests, rivers, lakes and amazing views, reaching this spot hundreds of meters above the ground is something unique, a must-do for nature lovers and thrill-seekers. Moreover, the greatest value of this place is its wilderness: even if thousands of tourists and local visit it every year, there is no camping site, no bar, no restaurant and no souvenir shop – just nature!

Unfortunately, like many other famous places, it is often overcrowded.

If you consider that a safe visit on your own to this place is possible only from June to September, you can easily imagine how many people you will find there everyday during these months, and what a long line you must do to take the famous picture on the top you hiked for for 11km.

You will see that most people visit this place as a day-long trek – leaving early in the morning and coming back in the evening after about 10-11 hours. Well, this is the WORST way to visit Trolltunga, and my advice would be to completely avoid going there if you have to do so – there are many other places in Norway where the view is amazing and you don’t have to line for a picture like at Disneyland!

What is the correct way to visit it, then? I think camping at Trolltunga is the best solution.

This will not only grant you an early access to the Rock (read it a “skip the line” ticket), but will also allow you to enjoy the hike on your own (instead of following dozens of other people) and to wake up to some amazing scenery.

Looking for information about Trolltunga, you will see that most of them are kind of scaring: it seems like a very difficult hike for a rock that tons of people climb every year! This is in part due to a local policy of preparing unprepared tourists to the hazards of high mountain, and in part due to the undeniable difficulty of the trail itself. Of the 11 km you will need to hike to reach the spot, the first 4 are actually pretty difficult and with an ascent of 900 meters.

In particular, the first 2km are knee-killers, with hundreds of steep rocky steps covered with water and slippery mud (Norway is home to thousands of rivers, and almost half of them seem to be passing by this trail).

Climbing up this part is physically demanding, and coming back down is even more stressful due to tiredness and the risk of falling – both of them become really bad with rain, so try to avoid as much as possible days with bad weather forecasts. Unfortunately, these won’t always be accurate, and you will probably have some rain anyway during any given day (I have never seen such a variable weather in my life!), so be prepared and cross your fingers!

I would advice to bring or rent hiking sticks – this can be done at the Information Center in Odda. From this (nice?) tiny town also leave some buses that will bring you to Skjeggedal parking lot, where the trail to Trolltunga starts – 2 in the early mornings to go (6.30 and 7.30am) and 2 in the evening to come back (6.10 and 7.10 pm)…these timings are perfect for people who want to do it in one day, but totally nonsense for campers! If you want to do it at your own pace, then you’d better opt for a bus to Tyssedal and then hitchhiking, or for a taxi (400nok or 40€ from Odda, if you share it is not that bad).

So what are the best advices for camping at Trolltunga?

First, try to pack your backpack light. As I said, the ascent is demanding and with 20kg more on your shoulders it would be even more. If you have a car leave everything you don’t need in it, or in a camping, or in a storage place (they do a storage service at the same information center in Odda), just remember to bring with you a full change of clothes (full means everything, including underwear – rain can be really bad and unexpected in Norway!). A change of shoes could be a good idea, too: you will see that during all the trek you have to pass an incredible number of rivers, and jumping from stone to stone will not always be easy…so either you have very good water-resistant shoes, or you should consider a new warm and dry pair for the evening. As you can imagine, then, there is no need to bring water with you. One filled bottle should work fine, you will refill it on the way at every river you meet!

Other items you should bring with you for camping at Trolltunga are:

• a water resistant and wind-proof tent, a light trekking one should do fine.
• a good sleeping bag – in August temperature dropped near 0°C during the night, so be prepared. If you have a lighter one, bring with you an emergency blanket to wrap yourself in before entering the sleeping bag – not very comfy but should keep you warmer.
• a matters, even if the grass in Norway is super soft thanks to the spongy and wet soil, so you could sleep well even without.
• camping stove and pots, with a lot of food. Everything will probably be very wet, so if you plan on lighting a fire you will have a really hard time!

Where exactly should you pitch your tent for camping at Trolltunga, then?

There are different options for wild camping, depending on where you prefer to camp and how tired you are. After the first 3km everywhere is fine (before that it is too close to the city so it’s illegal, but anyway why would you want to stop so early?!). We saw people camping exactly AT Trolltunga, on some grass above the rock, as you can see from the picture.

Keep in mind, though, that in this area there is few grass and you could end up sleeping on the rocks, and that the place is super windy, especially at night. As we were running late and rainy clouds were approaching, we camped just below the 8km sign, on an amazingly soft grass, with a beautiful view over the lake and a nice river passing just near us, perfect for drinking and washing our stuff.

This option, instead of camping at Trolltunga, has the advantage that you can wake up early in the morning and leave all your stuff there, finishing the trek with a much lighter backpack! On the other hand, you will clearly have to wake up pretty early: we woke up at 6.30, just after the sun rose, enjoyed a good breakfast with a view and walked to Trolltunga by 8 am, and people were already there taking pictures! Not many of course, maybe 10-15 people, so it was fine and we were able to go on the rock many times and to take a lot of pictures, but this gives you an idea of how many people will visit the rock (this happened in late August).

By 10/10.30 am, much more people will have arrived, and by midday the line to go on the rock and take a picture will be so long that it will take you 40 minutes and will ruin all the beauty of the place. So, make yourself a favor and wake up early ;)

As a last advice, an important consideration: the nature around Trolltunga is amazing and that piece of rock that resembles a troll’s tongue is surely wonderful, but it’s not the only one. As you will be lucky enough to arrive there early, to avoid the line, and not to be tired from a 6 hours walk, you should totally keep following the trail for a while and see other impressive spots. For examples, just about 1 km after Trolltunga there is an incredibly beautiful but much less crowded spot, called “the small pulpit rock” because it somehow resembles the one near Stavanger. You will see it on the way to Trolltunga, it’s a rock standing out from the cliff that you can easily reach in a 20 minutes walk from Trolltunga, that will give you an amazing view of the lake from a different perspective. Don’t miss this or other spots, don’t stop where everyone stops: keep exploring, be amazed by Norwegian nature, be curious (but also cautious!).

I wish you a good trek and a beautiful sun shining on your Trolltunga pictures!

If you liked the article, if you think it is a good source of information and you want to help others have the trek of their lives camping at Trolltunga, please share it with your friends! And if you think I missed something, want to add your experience or ask a question, feel free to do so in the comments!

Happy travels,

GWaS

ALMOST THERE!