Walking the Kongevegen, the old road over Filefjell

The Kongevegen was cut over Filefjell between 1793 and 1806, which places it within a few years of the great Highland military roads and the same engineering moment. The principles are the ones a British walker will recognise from Wade or Telford: run straight where the ground allows, drain both sides, build the bed properly and let the surface look after itself. Two centuries on, long stretches are still there to walk.

Four walking days of 12.5, 11, 5 and 14 km, topping out at 1,247 metres. The short middle day is the one people remember: Vindhella drops through forest in tight cobbled zigzags held up by a dry-stone wall, and Borgund stave church, standing since about 1180, is a few minutes off the route. The last day loops through the Galdane gorge, called the most dangerous part of the crossing in its own day, where concrete from the German occupation still sits in the scree.

Two bases rather than five, which makes it a gentler week than the mileage suggests: three nights at a staging inn on the mountain, two at a hotel down in Laerdal. A Norwegian operator runs it self-guided, with coaches from Oslo or Bergen at each end and transport to and from each stage, so the days stay genuinely short. Bags move once.