Møre og Romsdal (fylke), Norway — Towns & Travel Guide

This is the northern edge of Vestlandet. Møre og Romsdal sits on the western coast of Norway, facing the open sea, and its towns cling to a shore broken by fjords and islands. Ålesund stands as the largest town, with Molde holding the county administration and Kristiansund anchoring the northern coast. Volda and Ørsta lie to the south.

Western Norway where the land meets the Atlantic.

Møre og Romsdal lies along the northern part of western Norway, the Vestlandet seaboard, where the country faces the Atlantic. The coast is deeply cut. Fjords reach far inland between steep mountainsides, and a scatter of islands fringes the open water, so that the towns and the routes between them follow the shore, the fjord arms, and the ferry crossings rather than any flat plain.

The sea works its way deep into the land here. The county borders run inland to higher ground. It meets Trøndelag to the north, Innlandet across the mountains to the east, and Vestland to the south, while the western face stays open to the sea. Ålesund and the southern towns of Volda and Ørsta sit among the islands and fjord mouths, Molde lies on its own fjord, and Kristiansund holds the northern coast.

Mountain behind, fjord between, ocean in front: that is the geography of Møre og Romsdal.

The sea shapes life here. The culture of Møre og Romsdal grew from fishing, shipping, and boatbuilding along the western coast of Norway, a Vestlandet world turned toward the Atlantic, where fjord communities and island settlements lived by the water and the routes that crossed it. Fishing fleets and coastal trade built the towns.

The larger towns carry that maritime heritage. Ålesund, the largest, and Kristiansund on the northern coast keep the seafaring and fishing traditions strong, while Molde, the administrative seat, holds the county's institutions on its fjord. To the south, Volda and Ørsta hold an inland-fjord culture of farm and crossing, and Ulsteinvik keeps the boatbuilding memory of the outer coast. Between fishing port and fjord farm, Møre og Romsdal keeps the outward-facing character of Vestlandet.

Long a county of the western coast, Møre og Romsdal grew on the sea. Its towns rose as fishing and trading ports along the Vestlandet shore, with Ålesund becoming the largest and Kristiansund a leading fishing centre on the northern coast. Molde took the role of administrative seat.

The southern fjord communities of Volda and Ørsta lived by farm, ferry, and trade across the water. Fishing and shipping carried the county's fortunes through the centuries on Norway's western edge.

The coast stays mild and wet. Facing the Atlantic, Møre og Romsdal sees the soft, rainy maritime weather of the Vestlandet seaboard, with cool summers and winters kept from extreme cold by the sea around Ålesund and Kristiansund. Rain is frequent.

The fjord communities of Molde, Volda, and Ørsta share the damp coastal pattern, though the higher inland mountains toward Innlandet hold deeper snow and colder air well into spring. Wind and weather roll in off the open water.

Ålesund is the main gateway. The county's largest town carries the principal airport and a busy coastal port, making it the natural arrival point on the western seaboard. Molde and Kristiansund have airports and ports too, serving the central and northern coast.

Drivers cross from Innlandet over the eastern mountains and from Trøndelag in the north, riding the fjord ferries between towns. Volda, Ørsta, and Ulsteinvik sit on the southern crossings toward Vestland.