A re-imagining of the classic road trip, the Norwegian Scenic Routes is built on a long history of scenic road design that started with the concept of the US Parkways in 1868. In 1900, The Automobilisation of the American Landscape encouraged states to develop scenic roads; 26 years later Route 66 was established.

The scenic parkways movement in the USA and the success of Route 66 spawned a global interest in harnessing the road trip to boost tourism, with examples including South Africa’s Garden Route, The Basque Route, The Great River Route (USA), and Canada’s Powder Highway. Recent additions include Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, The Wales Way, Scotland’s North Coast 500, and the innovative Catalan Cultural and Music Routes curated in conjunction with Spotify.

These road trips aspire to reach the heights of the Norwegian Scenic Routes but fail to reach the benchmark set by the Norwegian Public Roads Authority (NPRA) on almost every level.

The mandate
In the early 1990s, there was widely held view in Norway that the country was struggling to compete in the international tourism markets. The idea of the National Scenic Routes was to help address the issue of enhanced touristic appeal whilst stimulating economic and cultural development in remote and peripheral communities and, at the same time, harness the potential of tourism to diversify and strengthen job creation in the regions.

Art and architecture installations could be used as a means of adding value and uplifting the quality of the visitor experience.

In 1993, the Norwegian Parliament (the Storting) asked the Ministry of Transport and Communications to look at the relationship between roads and tourism.

A year later, in 1994, the NPRA began a four-year pilot project that gave four routes the status of National Scenic Routes. After the success of the pilot, the Storting agreed that the project should continue and 60 proposed routes became 18. It was April 2004 when the NPRA signed the directive to make the Norwegian Scenic Routes a priority, setting the long-tern direction, mission, and principles.

A sense of place
The purpose was to create a new concept of a tourist attraction for the international tourist markets by encouraging road-travelling to be the motivation to visit Norway. The roads through unique and majestic scenery already existed and many of the best places to stop had already been discovered. It was therefore decided that architecture and art would be used to enhance the experience based upon the unique atmosphere, environment, and sense of place at every site.

The existing 18 routes are to be found along the western, indented seaboard of Norway – from Jaeren and Ryfylke in the south to Havøsund and Varanger in the north high above the Arctic Circle. The routes closely follow the coast and fjords; then they dive inland to cross the grand landscapes of the high mountains before flowing through the fields and woodlands of the valleys and plains of central Norway.

They are threads that connect communities and destinations. This is a transformational scheme that has positively impacted on all the communities along their routes.

It has prompted imaginative tourism developments – such as the family-run Juvet Landscape Hotel (at Valldal Trollstein–Geranger Route) – and has also changed the world’s perception of Norway as a country.

Harnessing art and architecture
In Norway, there’s a long tradition for adapting buildings and structures to meet the harsh climatic conditions and the arduous terrain. Clearly, Norwegian architects and designers have drawn on this tradition in their efforts to enhance and elevate the tourist experience along these routes.

The goal is that the architectural and artistic interventions should not only help to enhance the visitor’s experience of nature, but also become an attraction in their own right. Norway’s untouched coasts, fjords and mountain valleys offer some of the most dramatic vistas in Europe, but by their nature they are pretty difficult to get to. How do you help people appreciate a wilderness without it ceasing to be one?’

The suitably apt Norwegian response to this challenge can be traced back to the country’s great modernist architect, Sverre Fehn. His philosophy was that architecture, if carefully considered, could serve to elevate nature without competing with it and, in so doing, become an experience in itself.

The tone for the project was set in the two pilot projects with the bold work of two young architects: Jan Olav Jensen and Carl-Vigge Hølmebakk in designing the routes at Sognefjellet and Gamle Strynefjellsvegen. These two routes – which remain among the most popular – combine extraordinary landscape-inspired architecture with thought-provoking art.

As a result, the decision was made to invite over 40 Norwegian architects and artists along with a small number of internationally-renowned personalities to design amenities and the ‘pauses’ along each of the tourist routes.

The artworks are there to reinforce the character of the route and to encourage the tourist to think deeply about what they are experiencing. The results are often jaw-dropping be they clever, witty designs for simple viewpoints and funky toilet blocks as at Akkarvikodden (Lofoten) or Jektvik (Helgelandskysten), or outrageous suspended viewpoints as at Trollstigen (Geiranger Trollstigen), Vøringfossen (Hardangervidda) or at Stegastein (Aurlandsfjellet).

In some locations a very profound story is told through contemporary architecture combining with art.

This is very definitely the case at Steilneset (Varanger) with a haunting memorial in memory of the 91 victims of witch trials in Finnmak designed by Peter Zumthor in collaboration with artist Louise Bourgeois, and the narrator Professor Liv Helene Willumsen.

There are now more than 170 initiatives, large and small along the 2,240 km of the 18 existing routes involving over 50 architects, landscape architects and artists. By 2029 a further 50 art and architecture projects will be completed.

In April 2023, the NPRA announced the appointment of Silje Myhre Amundsen as the new project director for Norwegian Scenic Routes. She takes over from Jan Andresen, who has led the Scenic Route work for 30 years.

Funding the initiative 
The total state investment over the three decades of the initiative, including the initial 1994 tourism pilots amounts to over NOK 4.37bn ($390m, £323m, E371m) with a further NOK 0.55m provided by local authorities. By the time the National Plan ends in 2029 the total spent will exceed NOK 5.9bn ($530m, £436m, E500m) of which NOK 5.3bn ($476m, £392m E449m) will have come from the state.

Over the 36 year period this means an average annual investment by the state of NOK 146m at 2023 rates. In terms of comparisons, the NPRA highlights that the new National Museum in Oslo cost NOK 6.15bn in 2022 ($553, £454m, E521m) and the recently opened Munch Museum NOK 2.3bn ($206m, £170m, E195m).

In terms of the economic impact, research highlights a significant uplift in turnover for businesses and communities served by the routes, especially following the completion of a major art or architectural installation.

The investment in art was at the heart of the initiative from the outset and established as a separate programme led by a curator and an advisory committee. The aim is to introduce at least one piece of art to every route thus creating what has been termed ‘a permanent museum of contemporary art across Norway.’