Granvin

🏘️ Town Urban Hardanger

Granvin

60 minutes
You're now in Granvin, a small village at the end of a side arm of the Hardangerfjord. The name comes from Old Norse and means 'spruce meadow' - this is one of the few places in Western Norway where spruce forests grow naturally.

Until 2020 Granvin was its own municipality, but then it merged with Voss. Before that, in 1891, this area split three ways - creating Granvin, Ulvik and Eidfjord as separate communities.

The village has a wooden church from 1726, which replaced an earlier stave church. There's also a small folk museum with buildings from the 18th century.

What Granvin is really known for is the Hardanger fiddle tradition. The village coat of arms shows a Hardingfele that ornate folk instrument with sympathetic strings underneath the main ones. The earliest known fiddle dates from 1651, and the tradition is still alive here. Master fiddler Anders Kjerland has a memorial at the local museum.

When heading toward Voss, you have a choice. The modern route goes through the Tunsberg Tunnel - over 4 kilometres long, opened in 2011. But in summer, the old road through Skjervet is still open. It has hairpin bends and passes the 150-metre Skjervsfossen waterfall. Norwegian troops fought Germans there in April 1940 - you can still see a bunker near the top.

Explore Norway

Discover more of Norway

Back to Map