Trolltunga is one of the most popular hiking trails in all of Norway, and there are thousands of tourists who travel to this rather difficult hike every summer. The hike trail starts at a place called Skjeggedal, about 5 kilometres away from the town Odda. Let’s take a closer look at how you can get to the Trolltunga hike!
You start the Trolltunga hike from Skjeggedal, about a 30 minute drive from Odda. There are plenty of shuttlebuses from Odda to Skjeggedal during the hiking season, but you can also drive your own car and park at Skjeggedal to start the hike.
That’s the short of it, but you have some options if you want to make the trip either cheaper or easier.

There are three different parking spots and two starting points for the Trolltunga hike
It’s a bit of a hassle to understand exactly where to park and where to start the trail to Trolltunga due to the fact that there are several different places you can park and start the trail.
The main starting point for Trolltunga is from Skjeggedal (P2). You can get there by shuttle bus from Odda, or park your car there, and start the trail directly from there. Travel to this place for the regular Trolltunga hike experience. There are about 180 parking spots at Skjeggedal in total.
The furthest option for starting the Trolltunga hike is from Tyssedal (P1). This is much further away, so you will need to catch a shuttle bus. The main reason to start here is when the parking space at Skjeggedal is completely full, you are already staying the night at Tyssefal, or you are driving an RV or a very big car that cannot drive the narrow roads up to Skjeggedal. There are 220 parking spots in Tyssedal.
The third option is to start the hike at Mågelitopp (P3). This is actually about 1 to 1.5 hours into the main hike, but you can get there by shuttle bus or car. Starting at Mågelitopp might be nice for people who are inexperienced with hiking and want to shorten the trip, or who wants to pay premium to arrive early. That said, don’t attempt Trolltunga if you are uncomfortable with hiking for many hours.
You need to pre-book a parking spot at Mågelitopp, and there are only 30 parking spots there. If you want to be guaranteed a parking spot there, reserve it early in the season.
The shuttle buses to Trolltunga
Both Skjeggedal and Mågelitopp can be reached by shuttle bus, and there are shuttle buses that depart from Odda at between 5 AM and 9 AM in the morning. Expect to pay around 300 – 400 NOK for a bus ticket that takes you both to and from Trolltunga. You can save a bit if money if you book the shuttle bus tickets online ahead of time.
If you want to start at Mågelitopp, you need to catch the shuttle bus from Skjeggedal to Målelitopp. This is a different bus that departs only from Skjeggedal in the peak hiking season, departing every 30 minutes between 06.30 and 11.00. Expect to pay around 130 NOK for a single ticket. There is no direct shuttle bus from Odda to Mågelitopp.
If you are staying or parking at Tyssedal, then you can also ride a shuttle bus up to Skjeggedal from there.
Which starting point should you choose?
You can pretty much choose if you want to start the hike at Skjeggedal or Mågelitop yourself. Most people start from Skjeggedal, and hike up to Mågelitopp and then towards Trolltunga.
If you decide to start at Mågelitopp, you save about 1 – 2 hours of hiking in pretty steep terrain, so it might make the trail a bit easier for you. The hike is about 7 kilometres shorter, so the total hike is only 20 km instead of 27 km.
It’s also possible to start the hike at Tyssedal, but this adds another 7 km to the hike, making it a total of 34 kilometres long. This is possible, but not common, but it will save you some money.

Getting to Trolltunga by car or taxi
It’s pretty easy to get to the starting point for the Trolltunga hike by car, and you can just drive to Skjeggedal to park there. The ride is about 20 – 25 minutes in total, and you simply drive Rv13 north from Odda.
When you get to Tyssedal, follow the signs towards Skjeggedal and Trolltunga. It’s very easy to follow the signs, and you should not have much trouble getting there. The road can be very narrow and kind of difficult, so be prepared to take it slow and steady.
You can also ride a taxi from Odda or Tyssedal to Skjeggedal if you want to, but remember that Norwegian taxis are very expensive. While it’s a nice option, be prepared to pay around 600 NOK from Odda to Skjeggdal, or 1,000 NOK if you want to get all the way up to Mågelitopp. And remember that this is the price for one-way rides.
Parking cost for Trollgunga
Parking at the Trolltunga hike parking spot is also pretty expensive. Staying at the main parking area at Skjeggedal (P2) will cost you 500 NOK for a single day!
It’s a bit cheaper if you park at Tyssedal (P1) and ride the shuttle bus to Skjeggedal, and the cost is “only” 300 NOK for a single day there. But now you have to pay the 200 NOK fee for the shuttle bus, so it gets a lot more expensive you are are travelling with a group (since you all need to pay for the shuttle bus instead of sharing on the parking cost).
If you want to start at Mågelitopp (P3), the parking fee is 600 NOK for a day.
PS. keep in mind that there’s also a toll booth just before you arrive at Skjeggedal. You pay for this at the same time as the parking. This adds another 200 NOK, so the “real” fee for driving to and parking your car at Skjeggedal is a total of 700 NOK for a single car. The total is 800 NOK if you park at Mågelitopp, since you also need to pay the toll booth to get there.
But how do you get to Odda in the first place?
All the shuttle buses to Trolltunga starts from either Odda or Tyssedal, so how do you get to Odda in the first place? The small town called Odda can be easily reached by bus from both Bergen and Oslo, and it’s in fact one of the stops on the bus ride between these two major cities.
The bus from Oslo to Odda takes about 6 hours. You can take the direct route, or ride the train to Voss, then catch a bus from Voss to Odda.
The bus ride from Bergen to Odda is just under 3 hours, and will take you directly to Odda.
And as you can expect, you can also easily get to Odda by driving on E134. Just drive to Skare, then change to Rv13 for a short while to get to Odda.
Why is it so expensive to get to Trolltunga?
Many tourists are shocked to learn that they have to pay 300 – 400 NOK for the shuttle buses or 700 NOK for toll booths and parking tickets to get to the Trolltunga hike. So why is it so expensive?
A lot of the income from the parking space and shuttle buses to Trolltunga are used to keep the trail in a good shape, pay rescue operations and safe shelters (there are lots of these on Trolltunga), and maintain bridges and other structures on the trail.
It is the municipality that gets the money from the parking lot and shuttle buses, and they claim that they do not make a profit on it.
There are usually a few tourists that drive to Skjeggedal, realize the high cost, then cancel the hike once they realize that they need to pay 700 NOK for toll booths and parking.