The road across Aurlandsfjellet, located three hours by car north-east of the city of Bergen, is only passable for five months in the year. Over a length of less than 50 kilometres, it winds from sea level to far above the tree line and back down to the fjord. Only buses up to a length of 12.4 metres are allowed to drive this route – with good reason.

After just a few hundred metres, things get interesting. Having barely left the last houses in the little town of Lærdalsøyri on Sognefjord in western Norway behind, the driver, Manfred Wandl, faces the first challenge of the day. Turning sharp right, the road crosses a narrow bridge, just wide enough for the Mercedes-Benz Tourismo. Even though the experienced coach driver masters this first tight spot slickly and with precision, at this moment he has no chance to look at the wild, romantic stream tumbling below him down to the valley. And it will not be the last difficulty over the next 46 kilometres.

We are on our way on the Fylkesveg (in English: country road) Fv243, also known in Norway as Snøvegen (snow road) or Aurlandsvegen. Since 1997, the small side road has been officially designated as one of the nation’s 18 scenic routes by the Norwegian Ministry for Tourism and runs from Lærdalsøyri to Aurlandsvangen. In between is Mount Aurland (Norwegian: Aurlandsfjellet), which rises over 1,300 metres and whose rocky high plateau stays covered with snow well into summer. The route is only opened to traffic in early June and is usually closed again by mid October. The alternative – Laerdal Tunnel, which at 24.5 kilometres is the longest road tunnel in the world – is indeed accessible all year round and much faster, but anyone opting for the route across Aurlandsfjellet is rewarded with spectacular views and the lonely expanse of the fjell.

Coach driver Manfred Wandl has already seen much of north Norway. After the passengers boarded a Hurtigruten post ship in Tromsø, 1,500 kilometres to the north, he made his way south over land with the Mercedes-Benz Tourismo, operated by the travel company Contempi Reisen (see box) from Schwäbisch Hall, to pick up the passengers again four days later in the port of Bergen. Even for the experienced bus professional, the drive across Aurlandsfjellet is quite special: “The contrast between the green on the coast and the snow-covered higher altitudes in so few kilometres is really unique.” Added to that is a demanding route with numerous tight spots that require all of the driver’s ability. Yet the 59-year-old Bavarian clearly enjoys this in particular. When one bend comes after the other, when the road width is just enough for a coach, when there is no longer a hand’s width between the mirror and rock face, that is when Wandl is in his element: “It is really fun, this route,” he grins whilst tackling the next bend.

The six-cylinder Euro 6 engine with 315 kW (428 BHP) propels the 12.3-metre-long Mercedes-Benz Tourismo effortlessly uphill and just a little later, the tree line is reached. The scenery at an altitude of almost 1,000 metres changes suddenly. Trees and flowers give way to a rocky heath landscape and open up views across a breathtaking high mountain landscape. The road now snakes past fields of snow, ice-covered mountain lakes, sumptuous waterfalls and moss-covered rock formations. A sheer endless expanse, inhospitable and yet fascinatingly beautiful.

Hardly any other vehicle has been seen so far, and just as well. Because even at the passing points there is hardly enough room left to let even one car past the coach, not to mention one of the rented motorhomes, whose more or less experienced drivers go pale at the sight of the oncoming coach. Yet the nearer we approach the western end of the route, the more often we encounter day trippers who have driven up from Aurlandsvangen to catch a spectacular view of Aurlandsfjord. 650 metres above sea level, the Stegastein viewing platform juts out 30 metres from the mountain here offering visitors a unique panorama of the extensive fjord landscape.

What the view looking down already suggested is fulfilled over the following six kilometres until reaching Aurlandsvagen. This is the most difficult part of the journey. One hairpin bend follows the next on the short steep section and, because of the mountainside that drops away steeply, the road almost appears even a bit narrower. Lots of day traffic is also driving up to the viewing platform. If not before, it now becomes clear why the route across Aurlandsfjellet is closed to buses over 12.4-metres long.