Alesund, Norway's Art Nouveau town

In Sept 2016 I had a few days in Alesund, Norway. Alesund is situated on the west coast surrounded by fjords and mountains. The municipality of Ålesund occupies several islands. The airport is located on Vigra island. The road to Alesund town goes through tunnels. I was amazed at the number of tunnels in the area, quite a feat of work, especially considering the population of Norway is only about 6 million.

The old town of Alesund burnt down in 1904. It was decided to rebuild it as a 'showcase' town and several architects came in to design the new Art Nouveau town, which was completed by 1907. The Art Nouveau style is full of towers and turrets and ornamentation on the buildings.
This is the location that you see in all articles about Alesund -

This is the old pharmacy, now the Art Nouveau visitor centre -

Art Nouveau furniture -

The main street is cobbled and pedestrianised -

The narrowest building -

Keyhole windows on the theatre -

More flower decorations -

Typical Viking faces -

Old buildings that survived the fire -

From the city park, you can climb Mount Aksla, which is part of the Sunnmore Alps. There are 418 steps up the hill to get great views over the town and surroundings -

Ambulance to serve the islands -

The town is so small it is easy to walk round. One thing of note is the heated seats. Even though I was there in September and it was quite warm, 15C or more, the heated seats were already working. The worst thing about Norway is it is sooooooooo expensive. Alesund is a shipping and fishing town. It is known for klipfish, salted and dried cod. I had cod twice for dinner, and an average price for a cod dish is £26!

© Liz Price