White water adventures in Norway
The prospect of navigating through Norwegian waters typically brings to mind images of ships gliding along serene fjords with stately mountains rising on all sides. In the town of Voss, however, taking a boat trip is an entirely different matter: one that involves raging torrents of water, frantic paddling and a considerable likelihood of capsizing. Late summer is a perfect time to head out on a rafting trip in the region, with river temperatures as kind as they ever get at these northerly latitudes. Captained by expert tutors, deckhands paddle their way down the cascades of the Stranda River, snatching glimpses of forested slopes and rocky cliffs in the surrounding countryside. If the water levels in the river get too low, participants go canyoning instead. Like rafting, it involves foating with the current and steering between boulders (except without the boat). Having wrung out your soggy underwear, bear westwards to Bergen, Norway’s most handsome city. At its core lies the World Heritage-listed Bryggen quarter, with its higgledy-piggledy wooden warehouses, many from the early 18th century, which now house boutiques and cafés, but once were a home to fearless Norwegian seafarers of old.
Rafting trips cover around five miles of the Stranda River, at difficulty grades 3 to 4