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Welcome to the World Heritage and the Norwegian Fjord Centre in Geiranger

The Norwegian Fjord Centre is a thriving visitor and education hub for the West Norwegian Fjords – the only area in Norway inscribed on UNESCO’s prestigious World Heritage List for its natural significance.

Photo Kristoffer Nærø Ytterland

World Heritage Visitor Centre

The Norwegian Fjord Centre is the visitor and education hub for the West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord World Heritage Site. The exhibitions showcase the exciting and unique fjord landscape that was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 2005.

Photo Kristoffer Nærø Ytterland

About the World Heritage

It was the natural attributes of the West Norwegian Fjords that warranted their inscription on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in 2005. The heritage site includes both the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord.

The heritage site incorporates a wide range of landscape formations that are associated with the innermost reaches of two of the longest and deepest fjords in the world.Many consider these fjordside areas to be the most beautiful on Earth, and the landscapes remain relatively unaffected by human activity.

Photo Vegard Lødøen

Fjord Ranger Programme

The Fjord Ranger Programme is a newly developed communication programme for the Geirangerfjorden UNESCO World Heritage area. We would like to provide you as a visitor with the best experiences available, as well as letting you discover the authentic and unique World Heritage.
A Fjord Ranger has a vast knowledge and is happy to share this generously with you. Join one of our programmes and lay the foundation for meaningful and close-up experiences of our common World Heritage.

Photo Hyke Studio

Explore the World Heritage

We encourage you to explore the World Heritage:  listen to the rush of the waterfalls, take in the scent of trees and moss. Use your eyes – perhaps you’ll catch sight of a deer at the edge of a clearing, or of porpoises playing on the fjord? Visit the fjordside farms and find traces of the people who made their living in the most incredible of places.

Exploring the World Heritage landscape on foot makes it easier to understand the importance of preserving this unique natural and cultural heritage.

Photo Martin Kristoffersen

Our work

Have you ever stopped to think how fantastic the World Heritage concept is – that something is so valuable that it belongs to the whole world? That it is yours and mine, and that we are all responsible for looking after it?

The Geirangerfjord World Heritage Foundation has a large and diverse task on its hands, including education and competence development designed to protect and preserve the natural heritage, and acting as a driving force for sustainable development. We seek to demonstrate environmentally friendly travel options; disseminate knowledge about the area and showcase its attributes to local and international visitors; provide an arena for site-specific academic research; and set framework conditions for various governing bodies.

Photo Merete Løvoll Rønneberg

Smart Fjord

Our most important task is to take care of the World Heritage area and to protect the vulnerable natural and cultural values. At the same time, we want to work for viable local communities where it is good to live, and where visitors feel welcome and taken care of. How can we manage to combine these ambitions?

Through the Smart Fjord initiative, we will put into use new technology, innovative methods, cooperation and co-creation. This is how we want our rural communities to become more sustainable and attractive. Over 90 individuals, companies and agencies are currently partners in Smart Fjord.

If you would like to influence the Smart Fjord developments, sign up as our partner!

Photo Hyke Studio