Cycling south of Bergen - island-hopping and the Sunnhordland coast

South of Bergen the coast breaks up into the Sunnhordland archipelago, a quiet web of islands, fjord arms and small farming valleys that sees surprisingly few foreign cyclists. This week rides through it, out from Bergen by passenger boat to Sunde, then round by way of Rosendal at the head of the fjord, the island of Tysnes, the working town of Stord and the old inn at Bekkjarvik, before a final boat back to the city.

The cycling is gentle: around 180 kilometres over five days of 20 to 55 kilometres, rolling but never severe, with short ferry crossings stitching the islands together. A Norwegian operator arranges it self-guided, your bags move between four hotels and a converted estate by vehicle, and hire bikes can be added, though the trip does need to be booked at least a month ahead. Bergen itself, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, is a fitting place to begin and end.

You will get the most from it if you treat the riding as the connective tissue between meals rather than the point of the week. Three of the hosts, at Rosendal, Haaheim Gaard and Bekkjarvik, keep serious kitchens and cook with local produce as a matter of course, so it reads a little like a Yorkshire Dales week with better fish and a boat between each stop.