Hopperstad Stave Church — Attraction in Vik

Wonderful. Not crowded. Has bathrooms in the parking lot. Hopperstad opens at 10 am. We were on the 7:50 am ferry from Balestrand so we walked around the exterior of Hopperstad and then walked to the stone church, also from the 12th century. Then walked back to Hopperstad by a different (correct) path to see the Hopperstad interior (not to be missed). The correct path we took back from the stone church passed by some ancient Viking burial mounds. A sign will tell you more about them. The correct (fastest, easiest) path from the Stone "Hove" Church goes along Vangsvegen to Moahaugane then left (westnorthwest) past the burial mounds. Snake down the modest hillside and cross the main road called Boadalsvegen and continue WNW to the parking lot for the stave church. Reverse these directions to go from Hopperstad to Hove. This whole valley is jawdroppingly gorgeous...

Amazingly in good shape, for a 1030 AD structure. We ferried from Balestrand to Vik, walked approx 20 minutes to reach this amazing place. In June the young man who gave us a tour was amazing, articulate and obviously cared deeply about history. He knew every detail of the building, its history, where farmers were allowed to stand during services & how they lived, simply every detail. There is a cemetery in the church yard and it was interesting to read the inscriptions and view the icons. // VIk is a small village of 7,000 people, coffee shop or 2 in the village, which you pass through while returning to the ferry dock. A warning about Norway's ferries and all transportation - they're always on time and actually ahead of time and don't wait if no one is...

An easy 15 minutes by boat from Balestrand and then a lovely walk to the church. The guide shared interesting historic & architectural facts with us....and as Rick Steves suggested we lied down on the floor and took sensational photos of the wooden arches and ceiling. It did feel as though we werr protected by an over turned wooden ship. This Is maybe the only stave church I will see on this trip....and visiting this one built around the year 1000 was well worth the time spent getting here. 5 stars from me....simple and easy...and...