Trollstigen

Trollstigen — the Troll's Ladder — is Norway's most celebrated mountain road and one of the most dramatic cycling ascents in Europe. Eleven hairpins carved into a near-vertical cliff face above the Stigfossen waterfall, the road climbs 858m in 6km at an average of 9% with consistent ramps to 12%. The engineering achievement is extraordinary — the road was built by hand between 1916 and 1936, and the scale of the rock face above you as you navigate each hairpin is genuinely humbling. At the summit, the view back down the cascade of bends with the valley floor 800m below is among the most memorable in all of cycling. The road was widened in 2012 and carries tourist coach traffic in high summer — start before 08:00 to have the bends largely to yourself. The descent requires full attention and good brake pads: 11 hairpins with loose gravel on the outside of each apex and a sheer drop on the valley side.