Watching the still snow-clad Norwegian landscape unfurl from wide windows of a minibus that carries us to Smøla, our jaws reach the floor at every turn. Today we are participants to this impressive wintry view, one that arrives quite unexpectedly for this late in spring. On our laps sit cardboard lunch boxes marked ‘Pilegrimsleden’ – the Pilgrim’s trail, inside which we find many local ‘taste of history’ goodies, sating our appetites here on the beginning of our own food-inspired pilgrimage, along St. Olav’s way.
From the port of Smøla, we soon arrive to the fishing village of Veiholmen – a magical place of breathtaking wild beauty, reminiscent perhaps, for a first-time visitor, of bracken-clad scenes on Scottish moors. Here, moody skies take us over impressive humpbacked bridges, connecting this north-western archipelago of hamlets sewn together. When we arrive, we are greeted by two of Norway’s friendliest sisters, Line and Hilde, joy-clad, successful businesswomen, who love this part of Norway and own Moloen, a couple of old fishermen’s houses, now turned guesthouses, as well as a small restaurant whose interior wooden beams date back to the 1770s.
Robekk guesthouse (photo by Kathrine Sørgård)
Each of these residences looks over Veiholmen’s breakwaters, and the ‘white swan’ – a derelict house from the 1915 that sits on stilts on the water. Glancing at her from over the dinner table that evening, we soon learn that this wooden waterfowl is the object of some ambitious plans for the future – to transform it into the top-notch ‘Molo’ eco hotel, acting as a catalyst to draw the more adventurous luxury traveller to the area.
While we graze on pulled pork, bacalao, the ‘world’s best blue cheese’, and fluffy fish balls, conversation is added to by another ambitious Norwegian, Torunn Tronsvang, whose own business venture ‘Up Norway’ has brought us all here, together. Having worked for hotel groups such as Aman in Bhutan, and Jumeriah, since returning to Norway Torunn says she wanted to bring her own country to the rest of the world’s attention.
In a presentation over locally distilled Nine Sisters Ocean Gin and tonics, she highlights how she will only work with a certain kind of experience provider. By choosing people such as the mighty, cheerful Hilde and Line, she cites her desire for the journeys her company creates to inspire sustainable, positive change – seemingly more in her traveller’s mindsets beyond just the experience on the ground. As a certified B Corp, she is someone with a clear passion for authentic experience from genuine people as partners.
Veiholmen offers adventurous opportunity for sea kayaking, rib-riding, food foraging and delicious dining. There is one shop – jointly owned by 100 local people, and the Liebhaber Kaffebar ‘lover’s café’ which sets the tone of how we imagine the island’s summer parties to play out. We leave, on public transport, with eyes wide open to the opportunities that Line and Hilde have in mind for this special place.
Our journey continues by ferry, and then in a hired car along The Golden Road passing vast fjords and wide-open spaces, where much of the regionally proud produce grows. Inderøy, we are told, is known as Norway’s Tuscany. Here we stay overnight at Øyna, an eco hotel, owned and built by local farmer Frode and his wife Kristine in 2020. The hotel has a grass roof, minimalist wooden interiors and a fine dining restaurant.
We meet Head Chef Maren and Sommelier Astrid, who offer us an Ost & Most (apple juice and cheese) tasting from Maren and husband Yngve’s other venture – their Inderøy Mosteri, founded during Covid, before enjoying a fabulous evening meal of flying fish roe, local coffee-cured duck and regionally-sourced pollock, later on that evening.
In the afternoon we take e-bikes down towards the water, finding Saga Spa on our way to take in a hot sauna before dipping into the wildly cool waters of this guesthouse establishment that also doubles as a photography school and gallery by day. If, as Torunn suggests, dark sky travel is coming back into fashion, this small town certainly affords some magnificent night-time views, not only from the hotel’s skybar, where the staff will also prepare you Aquavit cocktails – made from this traditional caraway-infused Norwegian spirit.
Our visit here concludes with a breakfast of (very much local) champions – Norway’s famous sweet brown goat’s cheese, delicious deer sausage, and locally made honey; ‘you can’t quite see the beehives from here,‘ says the waitress pointing at the nearby horizon, ‘but they’re just behind that hill’. A spoonful of cod liver oil gives us one last healthy chance to breathe in the magnificent wraparound view over classically-coloured, red-painted Norwegian cottages and expounding waters below.
Our penultimate stop on this our culinary expedition treats us to the warmth and kindness of Carl Erik and Elin, Mother and Father Earth by all accounts, who run Skjølberg Søndre, a small farm holding up in the hills around an hour outside of Trondheim. Here we are welcomed as part of the family, to sniff , survey and taste finely farmed produce and the vast array of plants that gather under the glass in their small greenhouse, each sewn with the gentlest of touch to the earth.
In their kitchen they run a café visited by locals including an old lady who, on ski poles, would drop in from far (enough) away during Covid, to make regular contact with others nearby. The couple also have a small restaurant/dining room, housed in what was once a chapel, clad with woolly blankets and beautifully designed wooden furniture, whose tables will offer you hearty stews and soups galore. Along with their ten cows, rabbits and hens, the farm supplies many a top restaurant nearby, though Elin is keen to let us know that they can’t, and don’t, just grow to order (as many more highly engineered farms might). The former art teacher describes herself as something of an Abstract Gardener, and lovingly adds, “When I see three varieties of bumble bee on one plant [yess!] I jump for joy!”
The Nidelva river in Trondheim (Photo by Bernart Wood, courtesy of Trondelag.com)
One of the establishments they sell their 80-90 varieties of produce to is the Britannia hotel, our last stop in Norway’s pretty, river-lined, and third largest city of Trondheim. This place boasts an array of cool watering holes and traditionally fronted shops (Spontan wine bar and Kaffebrenneriet, for a slice of ‘Suksess Kake’, were two other itinerary highlights). The Britannia, however, is easily the most exclusive place to visit – our kayak instructor back in Veiholmen even extolling its virtues by way of his mother for their ‘Anglicised’ afternoon tea. Indeed, we are told ‘we speak English and serve afternoon tea at 5pm’ was a sign the first owner hung from the hotel, built in 1870, to attract visitors from the English aristocracy.
Today it is owned by Odd Reitan, of Norwegian corner shop ‘Rema’ fame, and has been restored to a level of real magnificence from his own childhood dream, while keeping intact its former elegance and yesteryear grandeur. There are four restaurants, a spa and the glorious Palmehaven breakfast room where eyes will feast as much as tongues. The highlight, outside of the penthouse suite, and world-famous cocktails shaken at the bar (try the Moonshine), comes in the form of the Spielsalen (Mirror Hall) restaurant, holder of a Michelin star, but clearly headed in the desired direction of more.
Britannia Hotel ‘Speilsalen’ (photo by Dreyer and Hensley Job)
With each dish lovingly unveiled by a different chef under Head Chef Håkon Solbakk’s watch each time, flavours are complemented in the glass by Henrik Dahl Jahnsen’s sommelier team– transporting us into lustful splendour through each beautifully presented dish, much of which is grown on the hotel’s own farm. Highlights from the menu, served in three acts, include each tiny but incredible seafood bite served as part of ‘humble beginnings’, closely followed by ‘feathers and fields’ – Chawanmushi, with asparagus and mussel, served alongside a 2018 Mersault 1er Cru Les Perrieres from Vincent Girardin, and ‘A Pilgrimage from Frøya’ – scallop, sea buckthorn and shiitake, served alongside glasses of stunning 170ème Èdition Grand Cuvée from Champagne house Krug – each course a sensory flashbulb when being recalled in detail again the next day.
Like the original pilgrims of the middle ages, we conclude our trip looking up to the sky that sits behind Trondheim’s Nidaros Cathedral, giving thanks for what mother nature has provided us with over the last few days, and the spirit in which many of the people on this visit lift it to light.
Sophie journeyed through Norway with travel specialist, Up Norway. For more information, and to start planning your trip, please visit www.upnorway.com. For more information on each of the properties and destinations mentioned, please follow the links in the copy. You can now book Spielsalen up to six months in advance.
For more information on Norway and the Trøndelag region, please visit the official tourism website at www.visitnorway.com. Flights go to Trondheim direct from London or Manchester with Norweigan Air.
Header photo: Veiholmen by Lena Knutsen
