Loen Skylift — Attraction in Stryn

WE ARRIVED ON A CRUISE SHIP AND BOOKED THROUGH AN INDEPENDENT COMPANY We booked through a company independent from our cruise ship for the shuttle ride to Loen Skylift, which was more economical than the cruise ship excursion price. It was an 'all day' ticket, so you could come and go at times you pleased, which was an advantage so you could gage the weather.

LARGE GONDOLA When you arrive, you go up some stairs elevator and then present your ticket to enter the 'loading zone' to await the cable car. ("Skylift"). The cabin fits about 35 people, so be ready to be shoulder to shoulder.

TERRACE, RESTAURANT, GIFT SHOP AND TRAILS Once up the top, there is a terrace roof with views over the fjord where we took several photos. There's also a lower terrace, (where we saw a lone sheep), a gift shop, restaurant and trails. We could see our cruise ship docked below.

RECOMMEND NOT GOING FIRST THING IN THE DAY We were lucky to have decent weather in August 2025, but it was windy and cold enough for 4 layers of clothing, gloves and a hat. Fortunately, it was somewhat sunny, allowing for teal fjord waters in our photos. (See my photos). I wouldn't recommend going first thing in the morning as we noticed it seemed to take some time in most of our Norwegian ports for the weather to clear. (We were up the skylift around midday).

PRICEY RESTAURANT We had some soup and hot drinks at the restaurant while we were up there to make it more of an experience. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with great views, but expensive. Staff are not Norwegian and the host was a bit gruff and said we could only have an hour to dine since we didn't have a reservation. (That was enough). They offered free WiFi, which is always a bonus when you're visiting from a cruise ship.

WE WANDERED THE TRAILS FOR A SHORT TIME We wandered a trail for a short time (10 mins?) up to some stone stacks and came back down. It was a little uncomfortably windy and cold to do more and we didn't really know where we were going regarding taking the trails further. We could see zip-liners in the distance which looked fun.

The toilets/WCs were clean and busy with tourists. They could have done with a hook on the door.

The gift store had quality items.

WE SPENT ABOUT 2 HRS AT THE TOP, INCLUDING LUNCH Including eating lunch at the restaurant, we spent about 2 hours at the Loen Skylift from start to finish. (Allow about an another hour to include transportation to and from the skylift from the cruise dock).

THE MAIN ATTRACTION Other than walking in the town to see a few churches, a waterfall and shops, this seemed to be the main activity near the port of Olden, so I...

The place is spectacular enough, however there are multiple problems here.

Overcrowded and underdimensioned : The waiting lines are ridicilous for the lift, through the hallways and into the shops, through staircases, between entrances and elevators, creating lots of confusion and people passing by up/down, left and right, nobody has any form of control.

This was on a day with no cruiseships in the area, I can only dream of the chaos with 3000 more people in the area.

There are limited amounts of signs : Some areas nobody even knows what they are, the entrances aren't even written on what they are, from outdoors you don't really know what building is what.

The place is understaffed and things don't function : Toilets don't flush, comfort rooms completely flooded with used paper, building a paper TOWER in the garbage cans, entrance doors to grill area malfunctioning, almost have to bodyslam it open.

The staff, what little present themselves have to run through the same corridors already flooded with people, it's quite silly to watch.

This place needs to limit how many people they send up, place is completely flooded, I mean, rolling the garbage cans past 200 people so they have to hug the walls.

An expensive, badly planned infrastructure with costly wares and tickets, the only thing that is positive here is that the food is extremely good, friendly staff and view is fantastic.

If you go here and see the bottom skylift elevator area is having a line over the road, don't bother.

If there is no...

This was an amazing addition to our adventures on the fjords of Norway.

We visited Olden & Loen as part of a cruise, and when we saw the skylift simply had to book it. We booked independently and so upon leaving the ship simply had to look out for the staff from the company to direct us - easy peasy!

A short bus ride to Loen saw us at the foot of the cable car which takes you up to over 1000m. It’s quite exhilarating to step outside and see snowcapped mountains and the true majesty of the fjords. Honestly, I think this was one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen!

There’s a little cafe & gift shop by the terrace looking out over nordfjord & olden, and a restaurant downstairs with spectacular views.

I’d also recommend taking proper hiking shoes as there is the potential to climb further up - however, as I learned the hard way, sneakers won’t give you the grip you need to climb in the snow. I was gutted at my lack of forethought as I would have loved to climb to the top… next time!

Overall a wonderful day, and highly recommended if you’re...