Undredal is a village of around 100 people on the Aurlandsfjord, a short boat ride from Flåm. It has no through road — the only way in is by water or a steep narrow mountain track — which has preserved it almost completely from development. The stave church at its centre, built around 1150 and seating just 40 people, is the smallest stave church in active use in Scandinavia. The village is also known throughout Hardanger for its brown goat cheese (brunost), made from the milk of the goats that graze the steep hillsides above the fjord. A visit takes about two hours and requires a boat from Flåm.
The stave church
Undredal stave church is one of the oldest surviving wooden churches in Norway — built around 1150, with interior frescoes added in the 16th century. It seats 40 people in a space barely larger than a living room. The medieval frescoes on the wooden walls are in remarkable condition given the age of the building: biblical scenes painted in the flat, stylised manner of Romanesque religious art, still vivid after nearly 500 years. The church is still used for services by the tiny local congregation. Entry costs a small fee; the interior can be viewed at any time when the church is open to visitors in summer.
Goat cheese and village life
Undredal brunost — brown goat cheese made from whey — has been produced here for centuries and is considered among the finest in Norway. Several farms sell it directly; you can buy it at the village shop or from the small farms visible from the main path through the village. The cheese-making tradition is tied to the landscape: the steep hillsides above the fjord are ideal for the hardy Norwegian goat, which requires less flat grazing land than cattle. The village itself is small enough to walk through completely in 20 minutes — the interest is in the combination of the church, the fjord setting, and the unhurried pace of a place that has opted out of the tourist infrastructure that surrounds it.
Getting there from Bergen
Take the Bergen Railway to Myrdal (approximately 2 hours from Bergen), then the Flåmsbana mountain railway to Flåm (55 minutes). From Flåm, a local passenger ferry runs to Undredal several times daily in summer — the crossing takes about 25 minutes. Total journey time from Bergen: approximately 3h30min–4 hours each way. Plan return ferry and train times before you travel. By car: Bergen → E16 east to Aurland (approximately 220 kilometres via Voss and the E16 tunnel from Gudvangen, about 2h45min), then a very narrow one-lane road through the Undredal tunnel from Aurland to the village. The road is manageable in a standard car but requires care.