The goat cheese village on the Aurlandsfjord — the smallest stave church still in use in Norway, brown cheese from 500 goats, and an 800m cliff face dropping to the fjord
Undredal is a tiny fjord village on the Aurlandsfjord (the innermost arm of the Sognefjord) — 140 permanent residents, accessible by ferry from Flam (15 minutes) or by a precipitous road carved into the cliff face above the fjord. The village produces Norway's most celebrated brown goat cheese (geitost/brunost) — 500 goats produce milk for the village's two small dairy operations, whose brunost (produced by slow caramelisation of whey until the lactose turns dark brown and fudge-like) is distributed across Norway. The Undredal Stave Church (1147 CE, capacity 40 people) is the smallest stave c…
Undredal's stave church (1147 CE) is one of only 28 surviving stave churches in Norway — the only one still used for regular Sunday services (the others are museums). The village's goat herding and brunost tradition dates to the medieval period. The Aurlandsvegen (Snow Road, built 1974-1981, 1,300m above the fjord) passes directly above Undredal and is one of the most scenic roads in Norway.