Where to stay in Mo
Most beds in Mo gather at the head of the fjord at the centre of Modalen, where the guest rooms and holiday houses of the village stand within reach of the shore, the small shops and Mo kirke. The waterside is the natural base. It suits visitors who want the fjord village and the parish centre of the western part of Vestland close by, with the steep slopes of western Norway rising behind the houses and the valley reaching back from the water.
Rooms there fill in summer. Up the valley behind the village, lodging thins to scattered farm stays among the fields and the slopes that climb away from the fjord. Stock is scarce in this small place.
Across the rest of the Modalen country, a handful of holiday houses spread among the farms along the valley floor, a quiet footing for travellers touring the fjord slopes of western Norway by car. Reserve well ahead in the busy months, when the fjord, the valley and the church at Mo draw the few visitors to Modalen.
About Mo
What is Mo known for?
Mo is the centre of Modalen, in the western part of Vestland. The village gathers at the head of the fjord where the valley narrows below the steep slopes, the gathering point of the surrounding farms. One church marks the parish.
Mo kirke stands as the protected parish church of the district, the fixed point of this small fjordside place in western Norway (Vestlandet).
What are the main landmarks in Mo?
The old church is the chief sight of Modalen. Mo kirke stands at the centre by the head of the fjord, the protected parish church and the fixed point of the village. It marks the gathered parish of the valley.
The church draws the eye on the narrow shore, the one built landmark of this small fjordside place, where the steep slopes and the valley reach away from the water in this corner of western Norway.
What is the history of Mo?
Mo grew as the gathered village of Modalen, in the western part of Vestland, where the valley meets the head of the fjord below the steep slopes. The farms of the valley worked the narrow land between the water and the fells, and the parish drew its life around the church and the boats that ran the fjord to the wider water. Farms worked the slopes.
Mo kirke rose at the centre as the parish church, the gathering point of the scattered farms in this corner of western Norway. The village settled into its quiet role as the centre of the district. Mo became the gathering and service place of the Modalen valley, drawing the few farms and the traffic along the fjord and the valley floor.
The mountain farms and the hard upland fields shaped the working life of this small place, set deep among the slopes at the head of the water. The settlement held its footing as the centre of Modalen, a fjordside village where the church, the fjord and the steep valley still mark the long, quiet story of Mo.
Where is Mo?
Mo lies at the head of the fjord in Modalen, in the western part of Vestland, in western Norway. The village sits where the valley meets the water below the steep slopes, its centre gathered around Mo kirke on the narrow shore. Fjord and valley frame the place.
The Modalen country reaches back from the head of the water up the valley floor and into the high fells, whose slopes rise close behind the village in this corner of western Norway (Vestlandet).
What is the climate of Mo?
Mo has the wet, sheltered climate of the inner fjords of western Norway. Winters stay cold and damp in the lee of the high fells, the deep fjord water holding the worst frost off the low shore around the village while the snow lasts long on the slopes above. The valley greens late in spring.
Heavy rain off the Atlantic reaches the head of the fjord through much of the year, watering the slopes and farms around Mo and the Modalen valley, where the long northern daylight brings the warmer spells to the narrow shore.
How do you get to Mo?
Mo sits at the head of the fjord road in Modalen, in the western part of Vestland. The valley road runs in along the water to the village, and the centre lies a short walk from the shore and Mo kirke. Many arrive by car.
The fjord road links Mo with the wider towns of western Norway down the water, while the valley road climbs back into the fells behind the village, and the nearer airport handles the longer journeys of travellers reaching this small corner of Modalen from farther afield.