Bondhusvatnet: Easy Hike to a Lake with a Strange History | Hardanger

📱 Xplore Norway App - GPS-triggered audio guide for your Norway road trip: https://app.xplorenorway.com/ Bondhusvatnet in Hardanger has over 17,000 posts on Instagram. Travel blogs call it a hidden gem. But this place was already one of Norway's most famous tourist destinations 150 years ago — only back then, people came for the glacier, not the lake. In the 1800s, tourists arrived by ship, were carried on horseback to the Bondhusbreen glacier, and crossed the ice on horse-drawn sledges to Odda. A cabin called Breidablikk was built at the glacier's edge in 1893, stocked with beer and wine. It's said to be Norway's first self-service tourist cabin. When the glacier retreated, tourists stopped coming. For decades, hardly anyone visited. Then one photo on social media changed everything — not a photo of the glacier, but of the lake. One angle, one composition. Now thousands drive here every summer. We show you what Bondhusvatnet really looks like today, beyond the famous Instagram shot. Practical information: 📍 Location: Kvinnherad, Hardangerfjord 🚗 Access: From Road 550, short drive to car park in Sundal 💰 Parking: Paid via automat 🥾 Distance: 2.5 km to the lake (5 km round trip) ⏱️ Duration: About 1.5 hour round trip 🏷️ Difficulty: Green – Very Easy (suitable for strollers and wheelchairs) 📅 Season: Year-round, best May–October ⚠️ Warning: The river Bondhuselva has strong currents. Stay on the trail. Nearby: Furebergfossen – Large waterfall right by Road 550 Folgefonna National Park    • Odda - Edda from Ragnarok | Hardanger      • Trolltunga - Everything you wanted to know...   Want to actually see a glacier? →    • Svartisen - Hike to Engabreen | Helgeland   →    • Austdalsbreen - Norway's best glacier | Jo...   0:00 Norway's most Instagrammed lake 0:26 Getting there and parking 0:36 The walk to the lake 0:50 The Ice Road – built in 1863 1:13 Along the river (safety warning) 1:44 The famous Instagram viewpoint 2:03 The history – English tourists in the 1800s 2:23 Crossing the glacier by horse sledge 2:52 Why tourists stopped coming 3:13 The glacier today – what's left 3:42 If you want to see the glacier properly 3:57 Furebergfossen nearby 4:02 Final thoughts ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ABOUT THIS CHANNEL ▬▬▬▬▬▬ Xplore Norway gives you honest, practical travel advice from someone who actually lives here. No sponsorship hype, no "hidden gem" clickbait - just the information you need to plan your trip properly. 🔔 Subscribe for more Norway travel guides 📸 Instagram:   / xplore_norway   📘 Facebook:   / xplore.norway.no   If you are listening to the automatically dubbed audio track: Place names can be translated wrongly. Please check the subtitles or English soundtrack