Lofthus

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About Lofthus

Lofthus is a village on the east shore of the Sørfjord, about 30 km from Odda, with wooden houses, waterfront hotels and slopes covered in orchards. Hardanger is Norway's main fruit region, and Lofthus and neighbouring Ullensvang concentrate orchards of apple, pear, plum and cherry that come down toward the fjord with the Folgefonna glacier on the opposite side.

In May the trees usually blossom and cover the slopes in white and pink. From July to September the harvests arrive, and farms sell fruit, juices and Hardanger cider, made from apples from the region and bearing a protected designation of origin. Several farms have shops and tastings along the cider route that follows the shores of the Sørfjord.

In Ullensvang is the medieval stone church from the late 13th century, with the cemetery on the water's edge. In the garden of Hotel Ullensvang, a small wooden cabin, the Komposten, is the house where Edvard Grieg composed part of his works while looking over the fjord. Behind the village, the Munkatrappene, stone steps that tradition says were made by monks, climb the slope up to the plateau.

Lofthus is a good place to stay between Odda and Eidfjord, with a calm fjord and the late-afternoon light over Folgefonna.