Where to stay in Vikeså
The Vikeså village centre is the natural base. It gathers the shops, the services and Bjerkreim kirke on the valley floor, with the low fells of the Dalane uplands rising around and the lakes and river of Bjerkreim close at hand. Staying here keeps you central in this quiet inland reach of the south-eastern part of Rogaland, within easy distance of the surrounding heath and water.
Up the side valley the parish of Ivesdal offers a more remote setting. Its little Ivesdal kirke stands among the scattered farms away from the main village, deeper into the fells. Beds are scarce throughout.
Take a room in the Vikeså centre first. Choose an Ivesdal farm stay if you want the quiet of the upland valley over the village floor. Either makes a low-key stop in Bjerkreim.
About Vikeså
What is Vikeså known for?
Vikeså is Bjerkreim's village. It serves as the administrative seat of the municipality, set among the lakes and low fells of the Dalane uplands in the south-eastern part of Rogaland. Bjerkreim kirke stands at the heart of it.
Up the side valley the small Ivesdal kirke serves the parish of Ivesdal, and the heath, water and rounded hills of inland Rogaland spread out around the settlement.
What are the main landmarks in Vikeså?
Churches mark the parishes of Bjerkreim. Bjerkreim kirke stands at Vikeså on the valley floor, the focus of the main settlement in the Dalane uplands. The side valley keeps its own chapel.
Up in Ivesdal the small heritage-listed Ivesdal kirke serves the scattered upland farms, the second of the municipality's old worship sites set among the lakes and fells of this south-eastern part of Rogaland.
What is the history of Vikeså?
The uplands shaped Vikeså. The village grew on the valley floor where the river and lakes of Bjerkreim drain the Dalane fells in the south-eastern part of Rogaland, a meeting point for the scattered farms of the high inland parish. Bjerkreim kirke fixed the centre, pulling the holdings of the surrounding heath and water toward a single church and market spot.
The land was thin and the winters long. Up the side valley the small community of Ivesdal kept its own life, and its little Ivesdal kirke served the farms set deeper among the fells. Bjerkreim stayed a sparse upland municipality, its people spread across the lakes and moors with Vikeså as the working centre.
The two churches still trace that division between the main valley village and the remote parish in the hills of this corner of western Norway.
Where is Vikeså?
Vikeså lies inland on a valley floor in the south-eastern part of Rogaland, set among the lakes and low fells of the Dalane uplands. The village gathers on the level ground by Bjerkreim kirke, where the river and lakes of Bjerkreim thread between rounded hills. Heath and water fill the wider country.
Northward the side valley of Ivesdal runs deeper into the fells, a higher and more remote landscape than the main valley in this corner of western Norway.
What is the climate of Vikeså?
Vikeså has a raw upland climate. Lying inland among the Dalane fells, the village sees colder, snowier winters than the coast and cool, often wet summers across the south-eastern part of Rogaland. The fells hold the weather.
Cloud and rain bank against the hills around Bjerkreim kirke, and the lakes and heath of Bjerkreim stay green and well watered through the short, mild summer of this corner of western Norway.
How do you get to Vikeså?
Vikeså sits on the inland highway. The main road across the south-eastern part of Rogaland runs through the village, linking Bjerkreim to the coast towns and on through the Dalane uplands. The side road climbs to Ivesdal.
It threads the fells past the scattered farms of the upper valley, and most visitors arrive by car along the inland route rather than by rail.