Where to Stay in Ålesund, Møre og Romsdal fylke

What is Ålesund known for?

The town spreads across the islands of Hessa, Aspøya and Nørve, the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality and a working fishing port on the western coast. Jugendstilsenteret keeps that Jugendstil heritage. Ålesund kirke rises over the centre, the Atlanterhavsparken draws visitors to the sea life of the outer shore, and the harbour ties the islands of Møre og Romsdal to the open Atlantic beyond.

What are the main landmarks in Ålesund?

The town's marks run from museum to sea-park. Jugendstilsenteret holds the Jugendstil heritage of the islands, Ålesund kirke and Volsdalen kirke stand over the centre and the eastern shore, and the Atlanterhavsparken carries the sea life of the outer coast for its visitors. The harbour keeps its history close.

Fiskerimuseet i Ålesund records the fishing trade that built the port, Kunstmuseet KUBE holds the art of the region, and across the islands Valderøy kirke and the football ground at Kråmyra Stadion mark the wider town of Møre og Romsdal.

What is the history of Ålesund?

The sea built Ålesund. Ålesund grew on the low islands of Hessa, Aspøya and Nørve where the fishing fleets of the western coast found shelter, drawing the trade of the surrounding islands of Møre og Romsdal into one harbour. The fish built the port. Fiskerimuseet i Ålesund records that trade, the salt and the stockfish that crossed the water to England and the markets beyond, and the monuments of the harbour still mark the long reach of its sailors.

The Jugendstil core gives the town its face, the close-packed streets that Jugendstilsenteret now keeps as the centre of that Art Nouveau heritage, with Ålesund kirke rising at the heart of the islands. Over time the town reached outward across the water, the newer development spreading onto Uksenøya and the urban edge stretching toward Sula, while the older parishes of Valderøy kirke and Volsdalen kirke held their islands around the growing centre. The administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality settled here.

The port still works the Atlantic, the fishing and the coastal traffic that have long carried this island town.

Where is Ålesund?

Ålesund lies in western Norway, in the south-western part of Møre og Romsdal, spread across a cluster of low coastal islands. The centre fills Hessa, Aspøya and Nørve, with the newer ground reaching onto Uksenøya and the urban edge stretching toward Sula across the water. The Atlantic breaks against the outer shore.

Channels and bridges thread the islands of the town together, the open sea on the western side and the sheltered sounds between, where the harbour and the church islands of Valderøy kirke ring the centre of Møre og Romsdal.

What is the climate of Ålesund?

Ålesund has the wet, mild weather of the western coast, the open Atlantic keeping the seasons even across the low islands of Møre og Romsdal. Winters stay grey and damp rather than hard, the sea air holding the frost off Hessa, Aspøya and Nørve, while the summers run cool and bright under the long northern daylight that lingers late over the harbour. The wind comes straight off the water.

Rain crosses the islands often, sweeping in from the open sea on the western side and breaking against the outer shore of the town.

How do you get to Ålesund?

Ålesund Airport, Vigra, is on the island of Vigra in Giske Municipality. Subsea tunnels lead there. National Road 658 runs from the town under the Ellingsøyfjorden in the Ellingsøy Tunnel, then on through the Valderøy Tunnel.

By road from the east, the E136 starts in Ålesund and runs up through the Romsdalen valley to Dombås, and the E39 joins it at Spjelkavik.