Odda lies at the southern end of the Sørfjord, a 38-kilometre arm of the Hardangerfjord. Around 5,000 people live here, surrounded by mountains rising to over 1,400 metres. It is an industrial town, and has been for over a century. But it was not always that way.
In the late 1800s, Odda was the most popular tourist destination in fjord Norway. English travellers came first, from the 1830s. Then came German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II, who visited every summer between 1891 and 1914. He liked it so much he gifted the town its first hospital and fire hydrants. By 1906, Odda had twelve hotels. The largest was Hotel Hardanger, one of the biggest wooden buildings in Norway at the time. Up to 80 cruise ships arrived each summer.
Then industry came. A hydropower plant was built in nearby Tyssedal in 1908, and factories followed. Carbide, cyanamide, zinc. The smoke turned Hotel Hardanger black. Tourism died. The hotel became the town hall and was eventually demolished in 1977.
Today, the Boliden zinc smelter still operates. But tourism has returned, this time because of Trolltunga. The famous rock formation is reached from nearby Tyssedal, and most hikers use Odda as their base.
The town has also appeared on screen. The Netflix series Ragnarok was filmed here, with Odda standing in for the fictional town of Edda. You can still see many filming locations around town, though the Jutul family mansion was added digitally. Odda is also one of the bases for the National Geographic series Ice Road Rescue, which follows local tow truck operators rescuing vehicles on treacherous mountain roads.
The town itself can be explored in an hour or two. But as a base for Trolltunga, Folgefonna glacier, and the waterfalls of Oddadalen, it is hard to beat.