Is Trollstigen open today?
The short answer: Not yet.
Trollstigen, also known as the Troll Road or Troll’s Ladder, is on almost everyone’s Norway bucket list. With its eleven hairpin bends, dramatic mountain drops, and epic views, it’s easy to see why.
That’s why so many people were disappointed when the road stayed closed for the entire summer season of 2024 following a series of rockfalls.
It turned out that Trollstigen needs major safety upgrades, especially rockfall protection — and those don’t happen overnight.
So far, the Trollstigen road itself (the hairpin road) is scheduled to open on July 14. But the road between Valldal and the upper viewpoint, from where you can see the hairpin road, opened on April 25.
We’ll update this article as soon as something becomes official, so if you’re planning to visit Trollstigen in 2025, check back here before you go.
April 25, 2025: According to Visit Ålesund, Road 63 between Valldal and the upper parking area for Trollstigen — from where you can walk to the viewpoint and see the hairpin section of the road (which remains closed until July 14) — opened today at noon. On Vegvesen, however, it still shows that this section of the road is closed.
April 11, 2025: Today, Møre og Romsdal County Municipality will open the stretch of Valldal–Slettvikane on County Road 63. The road further up toward the Trollstigen plateau is expected to open after Easter.
“We have conducted an inspection and assessed snow conditions, avalanche risk, and other factors along the stretch from Valldal up to the Trollstigen plateau. Based on this, we are opening today the partial stretch up to Slettvikane. The road further up to the Trollstigen plateau is expected to open after Easter. There is still some snow falling from the snowbanks along the road, forecasts of fresh snow, and currently a lack of passing places on that stretch,” says Brynjulv Eide, team leader for road maintenance in Møre og Romsdal County Municipality.
Source: NRK, confirmed via email by the Director of Tourism at Visit Northwest.
April 9, 2025: The section of road 63 between Geiranger and Trollstigen, specifically the stretch from Slettvikbrua bridge up to the Trollstigen viewing platform — including the iconic hairpin bends — is planned to open on July 14, 2025.
April 1, 2025: Statens Vegvesen plans to open the road from Valldal up to the Trollstigen parking lot on May 15, while the iconic hairpin bends will remain closed until July 14 due to ongoing rockfall protection work.
Trollstigen isn’t just a road — it’s a piece of Norwegian history, landscape, and engineering all wrapped into one dramatic mountain pass.
The road officially opened in 1936, after eight years of tough, hands-on construction through steep, rugged terrain. Back then, it was a huge feat of engineering. Narrow, winding, and carved straight into the mountainside, it quickly earned respect (and a little fear) from those who dared to drive it.
But what started as a practical route between Valldal and Åndalsnes slowly transformed into something much bigger. As Norway’s tourism grew, so did the fame of Trollstigen.
In 2012, Trollstigen was officially included as one of Norway’s 18 National Scenic Routes — roads selected not just for their beauty, but for how they connect visitors with the landscape. And with that came upgrades: better viewpoints, walking paths, parking… and the now-famous Trollstigen Visitor Center at the top.
The building is pure modern architecture, but it blends into the landscape. From the viewing platforms, you can see the whole zig-zag of the road laid out beneath you, framed by waterfalls and towering peaks.
So yeah, Trollstigen is just a road. But it’s also a destination in itself.
Trollstigen often shows up on lists of the most dangerous roads in the world, but to be honest — by Norwegian standards, it’s not that bad.
The road is fully paved the entire way, and you’ll regularly meet motorhomes and even full-size tourist buses on the route. In fact, buses up to 13.3 meters in length are allowed.
There are plenty of smaller, steeper, narrower roads around the country that feel way sketchier to drive.
The real danger with Trollstigen isn’t the hairpin bends — it’s the terrain around the road. The area is steep, unstable, and constantly shifting. With increasing landslide and rockfall activity, the risk has become impossible to ignore.
Here’s just a short list of what’s happened in recent years: (Source: NRK)
• 2021: A large rock hit the hood of a car
• 2022: A snow avalanche damaged both the café building and parts of the road
• 2023: A motorcyclist was hit by a rockfall
• April 2024: A landslide destroyed part of the road
• June 2024: A rock smashed through the passenger window of a car
Luckily, there have been no serious injuries or casualties so far.
So yes, the Troll road is stunning. But it’s also unstable. That’s why major rassikring (rockfall protection) work is planned for the coming years.
The 2024 season was supposed to be business as usual — but it turned out to be anything but.
In mid-May 2024, only the section of the scenic road between Valldal and the Trollstigen plateau opened. This was unusual; in previous years, the entire road typically opened at once.
But this year, the Kjellstad Line, one of the more unstable areas, was showing worrying signs.
By early June, after several risk assessments and temporary fixes, the county cautiously opened the full road. But it didn’t last long.
Within ten days, six more rockfalls were recorded, and on June 17, a rock hit a car. The road was shut down again — and this time, it was clear: Trollstigen would stay closed for the rest of 2024.
The head of the county road administration, Ole Jan Tønnesen, made it clear: “We’ve had so many incidents now that it’s just not justifiable to keep the road open. We need to stop before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.”
With over a million visitors in the months it’s open, Trollstigen isn’t just a pretty road — it’s a big deal for local tourism. And with the 2024 closure hitting right in the middle of peak season, the tourism industry was hit hard.
But rockfall protection work isn’t cheap. The estimated cost? 50 million NOK. So the big question quickly became: who’s going to pay for it?
By default, it’s the fylkeskommune’s (county’s) responsibility to maintain and operate the road. However, the scale of the work was way beyond their regular budget, and things quickly turned political.
As the county and the state argued over funding, private investors expressed interest in buying Trollstigen. That idea sparked a lot of debate — because who really wants one of Norway’s most iconic landmarks to go private?
In the end, the Norwegian government stepped in with 40 million NOK, and the county agreed to cover the remaining 10 million.
That means the work is finally underway. Throughout the autumn, rockfall specialists have released enormous boulders to make the road safer. — and the goal is to reopen Trollstigen for a short period in 2025.
However, it turns out that “rassikring” Trollstigen is not so easy. And definitely not cheap.
At a meeting in March 2025, two options were presented to the politicians:
1️⃣ Trollstigen closes each August for three consecutive seasons to carry out the work. Estimated cost: 305 million NOK.
2️⃣ Trollstigen closes completely for a season and a half, allowing the work to be completed in one go. Estimated cost: 247 million NOK.
* By the way, this project is separate from the emergency work that began in autumn 2024 — the one focused on clearing the most unstable slope of loose rock, with an estimated cost of 50 million NOK.
In the end, the transport committee in Møre og Romsdal county went with option 1 — to carry out the rassikring work over three summer seasons while keeping Trollstigen open during the main part of the tourist season each year.
This was the more expensive solution (estimated at 305 million NOK), but it avoids a full closure and gives local tourism a fighting chance.
Originally, the plan was to open the road only from June 1 to July 31, but several politicians pushed to extend that window into August — since most tourism businesses rely almost entirely on the short summer season to survive.
Trollstigen is closed in winter anyway, so losing part of August would mean losing a big chunk of their already limited income.
Short answer? The hairpin section of the road is expected to open on July 14, 2025.
After living in Lofoten and being part of the tourism industry here, we’ve gotten used to the fact that sometimes you have to dig for information and make a few phone calls if you want to find things out.
However, when it comes to a major tourist attraction like Trollstigen, we would expect clear and consistent information across all channels — from Visit Norway, municipality and county websites, to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Vegvesen).
Instead, it feels like the situation is just like what we deal with in Lofoten. Everyone says something different — and even for people like us, who speak Norwegian, know where to look, and pay for subscriptions to various local and national newspapers, it’s still a struggle to understand and keep up with what’s actually going on.
According to Visit Ålesund, Road 63 between Valldal and the upper parking area for Trollstigen — from where you can walk to the viewpoint and see the hairpin section of the road (which remains closed until July 14) — opened today at noon. On Vegvesen, however, it still shows that this section of the road is closed.
The latest update on the Vegvesen website (which many see as the ultimate source of road information) states that the entire Geiranger–Trollstigen stretch from Slettvikane to the upper Trollstigen viewpoint (the parking area at the Visitor Center) will remain closed until July 14. That would mean it’s not possible to drive up and see the famous viewpoint until the hairpin road itself opens in July.
Meanwhile, the national broadcaster NRK published an update on April 11 (a very small one, which many completely missed) saying that the section leading up to the Trollstigen Visitor Center and viewpoint should open sometime after Easter.
To clear up the confusion, we sent a few emails — and the Director of Tourism at Visit Northwest confirmed the information from NRK.
So… should people trust NRK or Vegvesen?How are you supposed to plan your itinerary when the official sources don’t match?
*I’ll update this map and this article as soon as there’s new information — but I hope you’ve picked up from the context above that the situation is constantly shifting.
There are new meetings, new risk assessments, and as we saw last year, the road can open and then close again just a few days later. Nothing is set in stone.
The numbers mentioned in the previous paragraphs are just estimates based on early planning, before any real deep-dive into what this work will take. Right now, the uncertainty is plus-minus 30 percent, which means costs could climb to 400 million NOK for just one part of the road.
Some politicians are already talking about total costs somewhere between 500 and 750 million NOK.
*Just for scale — Møre og Romsdal fylkeskommune only receives 127 million NOK a year for maintenance of all county roads combined. So this is a huge blow.
With costs rising and budgets already stretched thin, Møre og Romsdal fylkeskommune has made it clear — they don’t have the money for this. Which is why they’re now suggesting making Trollstigen a toll road.
To introduce toll collection on a scenic route like this, they’ll need a formal approval from Stortinget (the Norwegian parliament). But the reasoning is simple: no money, no rockfall protection.
There are a couple of ways this could go. One model suggests waiting until the entire safety project is completed before starting toll collection. That would mean more bank loans, higher interest — and a toll price around 147 NOK.
The other model spreads the cost out over 15 years and starts collecting tolls right away — resulting in lower interest costs and a more reasonable toll price of about 94 NOK.
It’ll be interesting to look back at this article in a few years and see where we actually landed. My guess? At least 200 NOK per car. Let’s see :)
Planning to visit before July 14? Good news — you can still get that famous view of the Trollstigen road!
The section from Valldal up to the Trollstigen Visitor Centershouldopen after Easter holidays. (Source: NRK, confirmed via email by the Director of Tourism at Visit Northwest.)
According to Visit Ålesund, Road 63 between Valldal and the upper parking area for Trollstigen — from where you can walk to the viewpoint and see the hairpin section of the road (which remains closed until July 14) — opened on April 25 at noon. On Vegvesen, however, it still shows that this section of the road is closed.
That means you can drive all the way up to the top, park your car, and walk out to the viewing platforms.
You’ll get the classic view down over the zig-zag hairpin bends, even if the road itself is still closed below. Bring your camera — the waterfalls and mountain views are just as good without traffic. I would personally kill for a shot of Trollstigen road without any cars on it!
Trollstigen might be the one everyone’s heard of, but it’s definitely not the only mountain road with tight bends and big views.
Here are a few others worth checking out if you’re into that kind of thing:
• 27 hairpin bends, including one inside a tunnel
• Climbs nearly 900 meters from Lysebotn up to the plateau
• Ends near the trail to Kjeragbolten (the famous boulder)
• Private toll road that climbs to 1,500 meters above sea level
• Epic view over Geirangerfjord from the top
• Paved, steep, and often flanked by snow even in July
• Historic road with gravel sections, stone walls, and glacial lakes
• Narrow, slow, and not open to buses — which makes it even better
• More winding than hairpin-heavy but climbs high with great scenery
• Often has snow along the roadside well into summer
• One of Europe’s steepest roads: 13 hairpins in just over 1 km
• Closed to traffic, but you can walk it — and it’s steep!
These roads don’t get as much attention as Trollstigen, but some of them are every bit as fun — or frustrating — to drive.
If you’re planning to explore Trollstigen and the surrounding region, there are two great bases to choose from: Valldal and Åndalsnes.
I absolutely love Valldal — it’s totally underrated.
The location is perfect if you want to explore the Geirangerfjord (yes, it’s touristy), Flydalsjuvet, Trollstigen, or even head into the wild mountains of Tafjordfjella (my favourite, and not touristy at all — so don’t go there, hihi).
Valldal also gives you fairly quick access to Hjørundfjord (Sunnmørsalpene) or Ålesund, so it really makes sense to base yourself there for a few days. I’d stay at least 3 to 4 nights and do day trips.
On top of that, there’s a great selection of outdoor activities: wild river rafting, canyoning, or even rappelling off the Zakariasdammen.
Places to stay in Valldal:
🏡 Valldal Fjordhotell – modern, great views of the fjord, nice restaurant
🏡 Juvet Landscape Hotel – splurge-worthy, pure design in nature
🏡 Valldal Fjord Lodge – cozy, local, and centrally located
🏡 Blåtind Boutique Hotel
And don’t leave without trying the strawberries — Valldal is famous for them!
I also really loved Åndalsnes — to the point that we wanted to move there (but eventually, we chose Lofoten). That is, until they built the Romsdalen Gondola up Nesaksla and (for me) kind of ruined the Romsdalseggen hike.
But hey — if you prefer taking a cable car to the top instead of hiking and like your destinations a bit more on the touristy side (with all the good and bad that brings), then Åndalsnes might just be perfect for you. You can easily spend a few days here too…
What to do in Åndalsnes:
⛰️ Hike Romsdalseggen or climb Romsdalshorn
🚂 Ride the beautiful Rauma Railway to Dombås (honestly more scenic than the Oslo–Bergen train)
🧗 Try a via ferrata
🌊 Do day trips to Ålesund or the Atlantic Ocean Road (Atlanterhavsveien)
Places to stay in Åndalsnes:
🏡 Hotel Aak – historic, outdoorsy, and very welcoming
🏡 Grand Hotel – central and comfortable
🏡 Trollstigen Resort – closer to the actual road, more rustic
🏡 Trollstigen Camping and Gjestegård
Both towns are solid bases, so just pick based on your vibe and budget.
❓ Got a question? Curious about road conditions, detours, or where to stop for cake? Ask in the comments! I’m happy to help.
Hi! We are Ivar & Radka, an international couple who runs the Guide to Lofoten. We met in Trondheim and lived together in western Norway, Narvik and Tromsø. At the moment we call western Lofoten our home. We hope our page will make it easier for you to explore the beautiful places that made us chose Norway for our home.
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Hi! We are Ivar & Radka, an international couple who runs the Guide to Lofoten.
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