Ferries from Oppedal ferjekai

The Sognefjord is Norway's longest and deepest fjord, and the E39 has to get across it. Oppedal is the northern side of that crossing — twenty minutes of water standing in for a detour that would otherwise run more than a hundred kilometres inland around the head of the fjord.

The crossing

Oppedal to Lavik covers 5.7 km in about 20 minutes, with 195 active sailings in our timetable. It is part of E39 and is worked by Norled.

Oppedal is in Gulen on the north shore; Lavik is in Høyanger to the south.

⚠ Frequency here is a road-network decision, not a demand one

Nearly two hundred sailings exist because a national highway cannot have a two-hour gap in it. The consequence for a traveller is that this crossing behaves like a traffic signal: you do not consult a timetable, you drive to the slipway.

The exception is the very start and end of the day, when the intervals stretch and the assumption breaks.

Where the road goes from here

North the E39 continues toward Førde and eventually Ålesund, with more fjord crossings ahead — this is one of a sequence rather than an isolated gap. South it runs to Bergen.

Anyone driving the full western corridor should count the ferries on the route before estimating a day's travel; the individual crossings are short but they accumulate.

The fjord itself

The Sognefjord runs more than two hundred kilometres inland and exceeds a kilometre in depth in places. The crossing here is near its mouth, where it is at its widest and least dramatic — the scenery that draws visitors is much further in, around Flåm and Nærøyfjord.

This is a working crossing rather than a sightseeing one, and it does not pretend otherwise.

Practicalities

No booking, arrival order, AutoPASS plate billing, free for foot passengers. Facilities are minimal on both sides.

The Lavik page covers the vessel that made this route internationally known.