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Travelling north from Oslo by train, the line forks at Dombas - the Dovre line continuing northwards over the fells to Oppdal, and ultimately Trondheim, the Rauma line beginning a thrilling ninety-minute, roller-coaster rattle west down through the mountains to the Romsdalsfjord . Apart from the Sognefjord, reached from Bergen, the Romsdalsfjord is the only other Norwegian fjord accessible by train, which explains the number of backpackers wandering its principal town of ANDALSNES , many people's first - sometimes only - contact with fjord country. Despite a wonderful setting between lofty peaks and looking-glass water, the town is unexciting, but it does make a convenient base for further explorations. The pick of the local routes is the journey south to the Geirangerfjord, over the Trollstigen Highway. From June to August, there are two buses a day from Andalsnes to Geiranger, and three or four buses daily to another tempting destination, Alesund. Andalsnes has an outstanding hostel (tel 71 22 13 82; GBP10-15/$16-24; mid-May to mid-Sept), which occupies a group of charming wooden buildings in a rural setting 2km along the E136 towards Alesund. Another very good option is the riverside Andalsnes Camping og Motell (tel 71 22 16 29), with cabins (GBP10-15/$16-24), rowboats and bikes for rent, a 25-minute walk from the train station - take the first left after the river on the road out to the hostel. The tourist office at the train station (late June to late Aug Mon-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 1-7pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 10am-3.30pm) has a free and comprehensive guide to local hikes as well as bus, boat and train timetables. At the end of the E136, some 120km west of Andalsnes, the fishing and ferry port of ALESUND is immediately - and obviously - different from any other Norwegian town. Instead of old clapboard houses and functional concrete and glass, there's a conglomeration of proud grey-and-white facades, lavishly decorated and topped with a forest of turrets and pinnacles. In 1904, a disastrous fire left 10,000 people homeless and the town centre destroyed. A hectic reconstruction programme saw almost the entire area rebuilt by 1907 in a style that borrowed heavily from the German Jugendstil movement. Kaiser Wilhelm II, who used to holiday hereabouts, gave assistance, and the architects ended up creating a strange but fetching hybrid of up-to-date foreign influences and folksy local elements, with dragons, faces, flowers and even a decorative pharaoh or two. The finest buildings are concentrated on the main street, Kongensgate, and around the slender, central harbour, the Brosundet . Alesund bus station is situated on the waterfront a few metres south of the Brosundet and across from the tourist office in the Radhus (June-Aug Mon-Fri 8.30am-7pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 8.30am-4pm). The pick of the town's hotels are the Comfort Home Hotel Bryggen , an elegantly converted waterside warehouse at Apotekergata 1 (tel 70 12 64 00; GBP40/$64 and over), and the similar Brosundet Gjestehus along the street at no. 5 (tel 70 12 10 00, www.brosundet.no ; GBP40/$64 and over). There's also a small and central hostel at Parkgata 14, at the top of Radstuggata (tel 70 11 58 30; GBP10-15/$16-24; May-Sept). For eating , the Sjøbua Fiskerestaurant , Brunholmgata 1, is an expensive but first-rate seafood restaurant, which comes complete with its own lobster tank. A cheaper option is Nilles Pizza at Kirkegata 1. If it's sunny, everyone flocks to the terrace of the Metz , a cafe-restaurant overlooking the Brosundet.
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