Every Friday during the school holidays, the express boat between Bergen and Nordfjord goes to a place where there is no road, where no one lives, and which hides a big secret. Or rather, more than 2,300 secrets.
Vingenfeltet June 2026 @ Dag Ulvedal
People were here perhaps 6,000–7,000 years ago. How do we know? Because there are more than 2,300 rock carvings and other forms of rock art concentrated in a relatively small area.
The Vingen rock art area is located in Vingepollen by Hornelsfjorden, close to Europe’s steepest sea cliff. It is difficult to get there. But once you are there, it is something you never forget.
There are over 2,300 rock images here – the second largest rock art site in Norway after Alta. One of the largest concentrations of rock carvings in all of Europe. The motif that recurs most is the deer. Hundreds of them, carved into stone by people who lived here perhaps 7,000 years ago.
Why here? Why this small, weather-beaten land by the mouth of the fjord, for a short period? There are no certain answers. But something about this place made people come here. Something inspired them to leave their mark in the rock. Many researchers believe Vingen was a sacred place – a gathering point. If that is true, these rock surfaces are not just ancient art. They are a window into something we can barely comprehend: a spiritual life, a worldview, a language we have lost.
Visiting Vingen takes time and planning. The express boat departs from Bergen, Florø or Smørhamn on Fridays during the peak season, and returns to Florø or Smørhamn the same day. The area is closed to unrestricted access—you must book in advance. Each spring, Bremanger municipality presents the times for the next season.
To preserve the area for the future, visits are limited to guided tours by appointment. There is one open guided tour per week in peak season, and there can be a maximum of three visits to the site per week during the summer half-year. The municipality administers visiting rights in cooperation with the University Museum in Bergen and the County Governor of Vestland.
Unfortunately, the Vingen site is not universally accessible, and if you use walking poles they must be without spikes. Access is only by boat and there are no prepared trails.
@ Dag Ulvedal / Visit Nordfjord
Rock carvings at Vingenfeltet @ Dag Ulvedal / Visit Nordfjord
For those who want to experience Vingen before or after the peak season, the University Museum in Bergen has created Virtual Vingen, an interactive, three-dimensional version of the area where you can explore every single documented figure. For those who want to experience Vingen before or after the peak season, the University Museum in Bergen has created Virtual Vingen, an interactive, three-dimensional version of the area where you can explore every single documented figure.
Guided tour at the Vingen field in Bremanger @ Dag Ulvedal / Visit Nordfjord
