The Filefjell Kongevegen () is the name of the old trail over

Filefjell Filefjell is a mountainous area in Norway. It is located between Lærdal in the Vestland county and Valdres in Innlandet county. It is the historical, as well as modern, main route, linking Western Norway and Eastern Norway. The European route E1 ...

, the mountainous area between

Lærdal Lærdal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the south side of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Lærdalsøyri. The old Filefjell Ko ...

/ Borgund, and

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre S ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is the historical main route linking

Western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...

and

Eastern Norway Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norw ...

. Due to the sometimes wet and marshy land in the valley bottom, the old trail runs further up in the hill than the modern asphalt road does today. The old trail is still used for

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

. It was named after King

Sverre of Norway Sverre Sigurdsson () (c. 1145/1151 – 9 March 1202) was the king of Norway from 1184 to 1202. Many consider him one of the most important rulers in Norwegian history. He assumed power as the leader of the rebel party known as the Birkebeiner i ...

(1184–1202) who traveled this route with his army. The first post route came this way in 1647. The road got official status as a main road in the year 1791. Maristova in

(built at Queen Margaret's command around 1390) and Nystuen in Vang (first mentioned in 1627, but believed to be much older) are guest houses that provided for travelers along the road. The owners were compensated by the king and commanded to aid travelers and provide shelter for those who used the road. This practice lasted until 1830.

Filefjell Kongevegen as a hiking trail

Today, Kongevegen has been restored, opening it up for hikers. Major sections such as Vindhella provide an insight into the skills in use by the road engineers of the time. The entire hiking trail takes between 3 and 6 days for most hikers. There are guided tours for group hikes, but it is also possible to hike alone. Some tourists spend the nights at the mountain cabins along the trail, while others opt for tenting. The hiking season for Filefjell Kongevegen is typically between May 1 and October 15. No-nb digibok 2014091028002 0037 1

References

{{Norway-road-stub Old roads of Norway