Ålesund is a town in Norway which is widely known for its characteristic Art Nouveau architecture. Art Nouveau is a style of art that was popular around 18th and 19th century in Europe.

We took the overnight hurtigruten MS Finnmarken from Bergen to  Ålesund as I didn’t want to spend a lot of time traveling during the day. The ship reaches Ålesund at 12.00 pm and leaves around 3.00 pm. So if you dont want to stay in this town you have sufficient time to catch the main spots.

The town of Ålesund looked so inviting from the ship deck.

We reached Ålesund at 12.00 pm and were booked at Thon hotel Alesund for 2 nights. You can read the review here.

Here is a list of things we did over a period of 2 days.

1. Ålesund town sightseeing train
As we were walking around we came across this train. The entire ride  duration is  70 minutes, including a stop at the viewpoint Fjellstua for 15 min. It starts at the Cruise Terminal/Sentral Bus Station near the tourist information centre.

The train ride is a journey that will take you through the beautiful streets of Ålesund. You can enjoy the views of fantastic Art Nouveau buildings.

It then climbs up the mountain to Fjellstua viewpoint. You will be greeted with snow capped Sunnmøre Alps and Ålesund town along with the ocean.

The guide of the train gave us a brief history of Alesund on the tour. On the night of January 23rd 1904, a devastating fire raged through Ålesund on a cold stormy night. After only 16 hours, 850 houses were burnt down and 10.000 people were rendered homeless. After the fire, only 230 houses were left in Ålesund’s town centre, but after a remarkable effort from the local population, travellers from near and far, and other contributors, the town had been rebuilt already in 1907.

2. Art Nouveau walk
The art Nouveau buildings are all over Alesund Ålesundand you can walk around to observe them closely. Here is a small trail on the map below.

I fell in love with the way the town looked. The streets looked like some movie set and everything looked so perfect.

After 3.00 pm the town starts getting quieter and by 3.30 pm most of the things shut!!!! I couldn’t bear to retain my curiosity and asked a local passing by the dumbest question I ever asked” What do you guys do after 3.30 pm?” and what a lovely answer I got. She was a young woman and she said “the people walk in the mountains, relax and enjoy their time.” Wow now thats what life actually should be but nevertheless the Mumbaikar in me was yelling ” Are you kidding me?”

3. Walk the 418 steps to Fjellstua viewpoint

Although we visited this viewpoint on the train on the first day, we went to climb the steps again on the second day. There is a small trail in the city park which leads to the steps. You will find many locals here.

As you keep climbing up you are greeted with splendid views of the mountains and city. There are cute rest planks and benches to soak in the views.

At the top of the steps is Fjellstau viewpoint with a viewing deck. The views of the ocean and the town are breathtaking. If you visit around dusk you can even catch a beautiful sunset.

4. Molde lighthouse hotel
We went to check the lighthouse hotel.  It’s a lighthouse converted to a bridal suite. However this room is a part of hotel Brosundet and since NTW ( Norwegian travel mart ) was on the hotel receptionist let us have a peek inside since there were no checked in guests.

The lighthouse has bedroom on 1st level and bathroom on ground level. Obviously I didn’t book this hotel as Prati was not with me;) However this room is a part of hotel Brosundet and since NTW ( Norwegian travel mart ) was on the hotel receptionist let us have a peek insid

As we start walking back we get to click the best postcard photo as the hurtigruten leaves at 3.00 pm

There are few other things that you can do if you visit in summer like the Geirangerfjord, Trollstigen and Atlantic road drive. There are many mountains in the Sunnmøre region where you can hike too.