The fjord is one of Norway's most visited tourist sites and has been
listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, jointly with N�r�yfjord, since
2005, although this status is now threatened by the disputed plans to
build power lines across the fjord. A car ferry, which doubles as a
sightseeing trip, is operated by Fjord1 Nordvest landske. It runs
lengthwise along the fjord between the small towns of Geiranger and
Hellesylt.
Along the fjord's sides there lie a number of now
abandoned farms. Some restoration has been made by the Storfjordens
venner association. The most commonly visited among these are Skagefl�,
Knivsfl�, and Blomberg. Skagefl� may also be reached on foot from
Geiranger, while the others require a boat excursion. The fjord is also
host to several impressive waterfalls.
Magdalene Thoresen, Henrik Ibsen's mother-in-law, said of the area:
This
fjord is surrounded by the steepest and, one is almost tempted to say,
the most preposterous mountains on the entire west coast. It is very
narrow and has no habitable shore area, for the precipitous heights rise
in sheer and rugged strata almost straight out of the water. Foaming
waterfalls plunge into the fjord from jagged peaks. There are, however, a
few mountain farms here, and of these one or two have such hazardous
access, by paths that wind around steep precipices, and by bridges that
are fixed to the mountain with iron bolts and rings, that they bear
witness in a most striking way to the remarkable powers of invention
which the challenges of nature have developed in man
