Easy
The hill above Molde where 222 mountain peaks line up in a single panoramic sweep across Romsdalsfjorden. At 407 metres, Varden is the definitive viewpoint for the Moldepanoramaet, one of the most celebrated mountain vistas in Norway.
People have been climbing up here since the 1850s, when a flagpole at the summit became a gathering point for the town. By 1868 the demand for refreshments was so strong that Selskabet for Molde Byes Vel had a wooden hut dragged up from Langvatnet and placed on top, equipped with a long table, two benches, a cooking stove and a coffee kettle. That simple hut was the beginning of a 150-year tradition of serving visitors on the summit.
The car road to the top, Vardevegen, was built in the 1930s as relief work for the unemployed during the Depression. Director Harald Rasmussen of the Alexandra Hotel was the driving force. The road opened in July 1935, and Rasmussen gave a famously grandiloquent speech declaring that the view would "imprint itself indelibly on thousands upon thousands of minds, through the irresistible language of creation itself." Once the road was in place, cruise ships began offering shore excursions to the summit.
The modern Vardestua restaurant was built in 1958, designed by architect Knut P. Bugge. On the night of 25 October 1987, it burned to the ground. A new Vardestua was completed in 1989, designed by the same architect. The replacement is a log-built structure with slate floors, a fireplace and a turf roof, framed by large panorama windows so guests can take in the view regardless of weather. The restaurant is open roughly May through October.
The walk up from the town centre follows Den Grønne Korridoren (the Green Corridor), a nature trail that takes about an hour. By car it is ten minutes.
People have been climbing up here since the 1850s, when a flagpole at the summit became a gathering point for the town. By 1868 the demand for refreshments was so strong that Selskabet for Molde Byes Vel had a wooden hut dragged up from Langvatnet and placed on top, equipped with a long table, two benches, a cooking stove and a coffee kettle. That simple hut was the beginning of a 150-year tradition of serving visitors on the summit.
The car road to the top, Vardevegen, was built in the 1930s as relief work for the unemployed during the Depression. Director Harald Rasmussen of the Alexandra Hotel was the driving force. The road opened in July 1935, and Rasmussen gave a famously grandiloquent speech declaring that the view would "imprint itself indelibly on thousands upon thousands of minds, through the irresistible language of creation itself." Once the road was in place, cruise ships began offering shore excursions to the summit.
The modern Vardestua restaurant was built in 1958, designed by architect Knut P. Bugge. On the night of 25 October 1987, it burned to the ground. A new Vardestua was completed in 1989, designed by the same architect. The replacement is a log-built structure with slate floors, a fireplace and a turf roof, framed by large panorama windows so guests can take in the view regardless of weather. The restaurant is open roughly May through October.
The walk up from the town centre follows Den Grønne Korridoren (the Green Corridor), a nature trail that takes about an hour. By car it is ten minutes.