Introduction to Kinsarvik

119km (74 miles) E of Bergen; 38km (24 miles) S of Voss; 374km (232 miles) W of Oslo

The main village of Kinsarvik stands on a glacier-formed ridge at the mouth of the Kinso River, which flows into four magnificent waterfalls as it drops from the plateau to Husedalen on its way to the sea. Since early times, Kinsarvik has been the marketplace for the region.

Kinsarvik was Hardanger's principal timber port in the 17th and early 18th centuries. When the export of timber was transferred to Bergen in 1750, Kinsarvik developed a shipbuilding industry that continued until 1870, when the village became a center for woodcarving. Today one of its principal manufacturers is a pewter factory.

The plot of grass that slopes to a stony beach near the Kinsarvik ferry terminal is Skiperstod, site of a boathouse for naval long ships from about 900 until 1350.