The Hidden North
North European travel guide
self-guided walks
Ålesund
Explore the best of Ålesund with this self-guided walking tour.
What You Get
- Historic overview of Ålesund (with photos of what the city used to look like)
- Printable map with the route and major landmarks highlights
- Link to a Google Map that can located onto your phone
- Clear directions with English and Norwegian names of places, addresses and step-by-step buides
- Photos of each point of interest
- Detailed overview of buildings, landmarks, history, and people relevant to the tour
This guide is 9 pages and comes in a PDF format.
The Art Nouveau City
Regularly voted as one of the most beautiful cities in Norway, Ålesund is a charming art nouveau town built alongside a strait. Rebuilt in a uniform style after a major fire in 1904, the city attracted young architects who had been training in Germany to reconstruct the city. They used the fashion of the time – Jugendstil – and put Norwegian nationalistic motifs on the buildings. After all, Norway was on the verge of independence at the time.
Trip Highlights
- Learn about the historic fire and resonstruction
- See the most iconic Art Nouveau buildings
- See Ålesund's major landmarks
Distance
3km (2 miles)
Activity Level
Level 1 – flat path, no stairs, paved. The walk up Aksla (optional) is graded at Level 3.
Start Location
Coastal Ferry Terminal
End Location
Byparken/Aksla Hike
Example of what the guide looks like.
Itinerary
This is a summarised itinerary. More stops are included in the walk.
Kongens gate 25
The passageway you took is through number 25, so when you come out the other end make sure you turn around! The building burnt down in 1970. The only thing that was intact after the fire was the façade facing Kongens gate. There were discussions about demolishing it, but the town planning manager convinced the owner that it could survive.
The Thousand Steps
‘The Thousand steps’ is the name of the staircase hidden behind the tree at the end of Kongens gate. Despite being known as ‘The Thousand Steps’, these 53 steps lead up to Lihauggata, one of the few remaining hills in town. It’s a shortcut up to the shopping area above.
The Ronneberg Building
The sea originally came up to all the buildings that you see here (the road is built on reclaimed land. The Rønneberg Building was built for the firm Carl E. Rønneberg & Sons in 1907 on the point of land known as Noteneset, where the most traditional Ålesund companies have been since 1812. The area around has since been filled in. Across the street is “Dronning Sonjas Plass” – where you get the famous postcard shot of Ålesund.
Arbeideren Building
Arbeideren is the former trade union building that was completed in 1906. The distinctive façade is a mix of Art Nouveau detailing and ornamentation. It is now one of Norway’s finest public festivity centres and it is an important part of Ålesund’s social and cultural life. On the other side of the building from where you are you can see ‘Arbeiderforening’ written on the building, which refers to the trade union.
Ålesund Church
The church was ready to be consecrated in September 1909, so it is not an old church. It stands on the site of older holy ground. The first Ålesund Church was built in 1854. It was 50 years old when it burned down. The architectural competition jury received 63 proposals in response to its invitation to tender a new church.