Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route opens
Next month marks the official opening of the Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route; a scenic mountain road that begins at a wooden viewing platform perched 650 metres above Norways's longest and deepest fjord (+ slideshow).
![Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Aurlandsfjellet_1sq.jpg)
The 30-mile road is a popular detour for travellers and winds across the Aurlandsfjellet mountain plateau from one branch of the Sognefjord to another.
![Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Aurlandsfjellet_1.jpg)
The Stegastein Viewing Platform was the first completed project on the route and was designed by architects Todd Saunders and Tommie Wilhelmsen.
![Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Aurlandsfjellet_3.jpg)
Architect Lars Berge later added a toilet stop within a tilted concrete cube, as well as a winding concrete pathway and bench offering views from the north-eastern end of the plateau.
![Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Aurlandsfjellet_5.jpg)
Most recently this path has been extended to lead into a cave, where artist Mark Dion has placed a sleeping model bear on top of a pile of human junk to question whether it is man or animal that reigns over civilization.
![Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Aurlandsfjellet_6.jpg)
Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route is one of 18 national tourist routes in Norway and will be officially opened on 7 September.
![Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Aurlandsfjellet_8.jpg)
Stops on some of the other tourist routes that we’ve written about include cantilevered viewing platforms, public toilets in a rusty steel cabin and a memorial commemorating suspected witches by Peter Zumthor.
![Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Aurlandsfjellet_11.jpg)
See all our stories about the Norwegian tourist routes »
![Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route Aurlandsfjellet Tourist Route](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Aurlandsfjellet_12.jpg)