Luxury bespoke hotel holidays to the Walaker Hotel, Norway
Facts in brief
Official star rating 4 star equivalent
Location In the village of Solvorn, on the edge of the Lustrafjord, a northern branch of the Sognefjord
Annual opening All year
Closest airport Sogndal
Distance from airport About 40 minutes by car
Hotel facilities and services
Restaurant, garden, art gallery.
Land sports
There are hikes from the hotel, kayaking on the fjord, RIB-boat rides, cycling, and glacier hikes can be arranged
Out and about nearby
Urnes stave church, RIB-boat rides on the Sognefjord, Jostedal glacier, ferry trips from Naeroyfjorden to Gudvangen,drive to the book town of Fjaerland, Hike to the Jostedalsbreen glacier and hike to Bergsetdalen and Bergsetbreen. A local car ferry crosses the fjord from Solvorn to Ornes.
Sports nearby
Hiking, kayaking, cycling
Absolutely loved it. Bespoke sense of the trip is very good. Very pleasant and efficient service.Mrs H, Sep 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a Superior double room for 5 nights
From about
£2,290
Holiday Code EXH46609
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury bespoke hotel holidays to the Walaker Hotel, Norway
The Walaker Hotel is situated in the small village of Solvorn on the edge the fjord – where the Sognefjord branches north to the Lustrafjord. The hotel has been owned by the same family since 1690 and is the oldest family-run hotel in Norway. There are just 15 rooms in total. Located in the main building which dates from 1630-1650 and was once a coaching inn, are the historic rooms, with four on the upper floor with a fjord view and three rooms with valley view. In another building, Tingstova, the oldest building at Walaker, dating from 1630, are four unique historic guestrooms that share a veranda. Three of these rooms have a view of both garden and fjord, whilst one has a view of the valley. This building has been renovated in styles that reflect the four epochs of the hotel. The superior rooms are housed in the hotel’s newest building, dating from 1964. They have large bathrooms and are equipped with garden furniture in front of every room. The wooden-clad main building has a beautiful garden to the front and outside seating to the side. White bryony climbs the walls and there are lilacs and fruit trees. There is plenty of seating and space to sit and relax with a book or just to soak in the scenery of the fjord to the front and the mountains in the distance. A feature of the hotel is the included evening meal, a 4-course dinner, served at 19.30 each evening. The hotel opened its own art gallery in a converted building a few years ago to celebrate the 300-year history of the Nitter Walaker family. This building dates from 1883 when material from a wooden church built in Solvorn about 1600 was used. Local and nationally-renowned artists exhibit here in this heritage building. The Walaker is in the village of Solvorn which has about 220 inhabitants. There is a small historic heart of the village, a small sandy strip of beach on the fjord where people sit and bathe in warm weather, and the sloping sides of the hills behind the village are populated by farmsteads. There are many walking paths and tracks out of the village, and a car ferry runs between Solvorn and Ornes, home to the ancient stave Urnes stave church, just across the fjord. There are numerous other activities in this part of the Sognefjord area, including cycling, day excursions by car to Fjaerland and Balestrand. From Kaupanger, about 30 minutes away by car, you can take a ferry to Gudvangen on the southern side of the Sognefjord.
Room descriptions
The Walaker Hotel has 15 rooms.
Absolutely loved it. Bespoke sense of the trip is very good. Very pleasant and efficient service.Mrs H, Sep 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a Superior double room for 5 nights
From about
£2,290
Holiday Code EXH46609
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury bespoke hotel holidays to the Walaker Hotel, Norway
The journey and how you get there
For a holiday to the Walaker Hotel, we include a scheduled flight from London to Sogndal via Oslo. From Sogndal airport to the hotel it takes about 40 minutes by car. We include the use of a hire-car during your stay as this will maximise your opportunities for sightseeing locally.
Absolutely loved it. Bespoke sense of the trip is very good. Very pleasant and efficient service.Mrs H, Sep 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a Superior double room for 5 nights
From about
£2,290
Holiday Code EXH46609
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury bespoke hotel holidays to the Walaker Hotel, Norway
About Norway
Norway is a fascinating destination for a luxury, tailor-made holiday. The land and the culture of Norway lend themselves to a diverse and rich array of holiday experiences and a choice of mode of transport. At first glance, Norway offers magnificent, dramatic, severe and wild natural surroundings in its glaciers, Arctic snow and ice, majestic fjords, crashing waterfalls and mystical natural phenomena such as the Aurora Borealis and Fata Morgana. However, Norway also offers cultural ties, a shared history dating from the days of the Vikings, a cosiness in its orchards and pastures, brightly-painted wooden houses, folk tales and mythology, world-class art, literature and music in the works of Munch, Ibsen and Grieg, to name but three, and international philanthropy as exemplified by the Nobel prize. Many towns have superb museums, ancient wooden stave churches are well-preserved, the heritage of the Vikings is visible not just in major centres such as Oslo but all around, and seemingly small places are rich with music and drama festivals. Whilst the length of Norway with is 2518 km poses a challenge to the visitor, this also means that it makes sense to use a variety of transport modes to travel around; scenic trains, sleeper trains, boat rides, coastal cruises and car-hire can all be incorporated. The landscape lends itself well to hiking and cycling and there are many national parks that offer a variety of conditions depending on your ability. Norway’s cities are vibrant and manage to blend modernity with tradition. The iconic Oslo Opera House sits a short distance from the Akershus fortress, the Old Town Hall dating from 1641 is a stroll away from the Akrobaten pedestrian bridge, a near-futuristic construction of steel and glass.
Highlights of Norway
The numerous fjords: Eidfjord – branch of the Hardangerfjord, Geirangerfjord – precipitous, one of Norway’s signature images, Hardangerfjord – rolling hills and pretty villages, Jossingfjord – vertiginous fjord in the flatlands of the south, Lysefjord – plunging cliffs, cruises and look out points, Naeroyfjord – narrow and very pretty, Sognefjord – Norway’s longest and one of the most beautiful, Trollfjord – very steep fjord on Lofoten, Vestfjord – sheltered bays and pretty villages separating Lofoten from the mainland. The Hurtigruten ferry that covers over 2500 km from Bergen to Kirkenes with over 30 stops. The Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights. Stave churches, beautifully preserved in wood, dating from Viking times, for example at Borgund, Lom, Ringebu and Urnes. Viking ships and artefacts, burial mounds and trinkets in museums throughout the country. The red, wooden houses perched stilts over the sea on the Lofoten Islands. The modern architecture of Oslo. Picking wild blueberries, sampling aquavit made from potatoes and caraway, and tasting reindeer steak with cranberries. The charm of Oslofjorden with its pretty, arty village and towns, harbours with sailing boats, islands offshore and beaches. Hike over the Jotunheimen and relish the natural landscape of this stunning National Park.
Cultural highlights of Norway
The architecture of stave churches dating from the Viking era and Viking treasure in museums around the country. The literature of Henrik Ibsen and Knut Hamsun. Folk tales and mythology. The music of Edvard Grieg and the art of Edvard Munch. Contemporary jazz and folk music.
Gastronomy of Norway
Norway’s gastronomy is a clear reflection of its land and sea. From the land come reindeer, venison, lamb, cured meats and potatoes of all types: boiled, roasted and fried. From the freshwater lakes and streams come salmon served grilled and smoked, and freshwater fish. Sea fish is a vast array of cod, haddock, shrimps, mackerel, fish soup, fish balls, salt cod. From the orchards particularly around the Hardangerfjord come apples, cherries and plums as well as berries of all sorts including blueberries, cranberries, bilberries and, a great delicacy, cloudberries. Cheeses include Jarlsberg and brown cheese. Coffee is almost certainly the national drink, followed by beer, of which there are all sorts of craft beers brewed locally, and Aquavit is the national spirit made from potatoes and caraway.
Facts in brief
Capital OsloAirport Oslo Gardermoen
Size 323,878 sq km
Population 4.4 million
