In Norway, it’s practically impossible to drive from one place to another without making a mountain crossing or riding on a ferry across a fjord. It’s a beautiful country but its intricate geography created by a maze of fjords, glaciers, and mountains meant that many Norwegian communities remain isolated from one each other during the long winter months. Neighbors may live less than a mile from one another, but on opposite sides of the fjord or mountain, and that’s a world apart. That was before Norway started building an extensive network of tunnels. If a mountain stands on the way, they will drill through it. A fjord is too long to build a bridge? Go under. Tunnels make driving through the country much more easier than taking circuitous routes along mountains or ferry hopping.

There are over 900 road tunnels in Norway with total length exceeding 750 km, and at least 33 undersea tunnels. According to one source, the count is even higher – above one thousand. For a country the size of Norway, that’s an awfully lot of tunnels.

The Laerdal Tunnel. Photo credit