The Most Beautiful Fjords in Europe
6 places in 2 countries · updated 13 October 2026
In short: By our ranking, the most beautiful fjords in Europe are Geirangerfjord (Norway), Nærøyfjord (Norway) and Lysefjord (Norway). The list covers 6 fjords in 2 countries. Norway has the most, with 5. Last updated 13 October 2026.
Fjords are the signature landscape of glaciated coasts, and Norway has more of them than anywhere else in Europe. During the ice ages, glaciers flowing from the high plateau to the sea gouged valleys far below sea level; when the ice retreated, the sea flooded in, leaving long, deep inlets between near-vertical walls. Waterfalls pour from hanging valleys left stranded above, and farms cling to ledges where the slope allows. Two Norwegian fjords are listed by UNESCO as among the finest examples on Earth.
Geirangerfjord, one of the two, winds between cliffs where the Seven Sisters waterfall faces the Suitor across the water. Nærøyfjord, the other, is an arm of the Sognefjord that narrows to about 250 metres between mountains rising more than a thousand metres. Lysefjord, near Stavanger, is overlooked by the flat-topped Preikestolen cliff some 600 metres above the water and by the Kjerag boulder wedged in a crevice.
In the north, Trollfjord is a short side arm of the Raftsundet, its narrow entrance flanked by steep mountains. Saltstraumen, near Bodø, is a strait where one of the strongest tidal currents in the world churns into whirlpools as the sea floods in and out of the fjord behind it. Far to the south, on the Amalfi Coast, the Fiordo di Furore is not glacial at all but a narrow ravine cut by a stream, ending in a tiny beach beneath a single-arched road bridge.
In this list
| # | Place | Type | Country | UNESCO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geirangerfjord | Fjord | Norway | ✓ |
| 2 | Nærøyfjord | Fjord | Norway | ✓ |
| 3 | Lysefjord | Fjord | Norway | |
| 4 | Trollfjord | Fjord | Norway | |
| 5 | Saltstraumen | Fjord | Norway | |
| 6 | Fiordo di Furore | Fjord | Italy |
01 Geirangerfjord
Norway62.094° N 7.081° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Image by ArvidO from Pixabay Seen from the water, the fjord's signature is its waterfalls. The Seven Sisters pour down one side in separate strands, and directly opposite falls the Suitor, which local legend casts as trying in vain to woo them. A third fall, the Bridal Veil, spreads so thinly over a rock edge that backlit by the sun it looks like gauze. Clinging to ledges high above the water are abandoned mountain farms such as Skageflå, Knivsflå and Blomberg, reached by paths so exposed that bridges were bolted to the rock face with iron rings. Skageflå can be reached on foot from Geiranger; the others need a boat.
Did you know? In 2025 a cold-water coral reef was discovered 140 to 200 metres down in the fjord, including rare stony corals.
02 Nærøyfjord
Norway60.944° N 6.931° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
- UNESCO natural beauty
Image by jogi031 from Pixabay The landscape is a textbook of glaciation. Ice sheets during the Quaternary cut a deep, narrow trough into ancient crystalline bedrock, and when they melted the sea flooded in. Waterfalls pour from hanging valleys hundreds of metres up, especially after snowmelt, and bare rock faces show the polish of the ice. In 2005 UNESCO inscribed the Nærøyfjord together with the Geirangerfjord as the West Norwegian Fjords, one of the best examples of fjord landscape on Earth. The protected area also takes in an old farming landscape, worked for centuries on the few patches of usable ground between the cliffs.
Did you know? The shallow sill at Bakka was built up by a glacial end moraine and debris from rockfalls.
03 Lysefjord
Norway · 39.3 km from Stavanger59.010° N 6.359° E
Image by oohajo from Pixabay Two famous viewpoints hang over it. Preikestolen, the Pulpit Rock, is a flat-topped cliff standing about 604 metres above the water; it can be seen from a boat but is far more dramatic from above, after a hike. Near the head of the fjord rises Kjerag, about 1,110 metres, with even greater drops and the Kjeragbolten, a boulder wedged in a crack high above the void. BASE jumping from the cliffs is legal here.
Did you know? The Flørli power station opened in 1916 with a 740-metre drop; its equipment first had to be carried up the mountain on foot and by horse.
04 Trollfjord
Norway · 22.4 km from Svolvær68.364° N 14.977° E
Image by Ronile from Pixabay The fjord sits on the boundary between Lofoten and Vesterålen — it lies on Austvågøya, usually counted as Lofoten, but belongs to Hadsel municipality, usually counted as Vesterålen — and both regions claim it. It also has a place in Norwegian history. In 1890 the Battle of Trollfjord broke out here between fishermen in traditional open boats and crews of the new steam-driven fishing ships. Johan Bojer drew on it in his 1921 novel The Last of the Vikings, and Gunnar Berg painted it.
Did you know? At the narrows a reef of fallen rock leaves only about 30 metres of water, while the inner basin is around 60 metres deep.
05 Saltstraumen
Norway · 9.5 km from Bodø67.231° N 14.614° E
Image by 12019 from Pixabay The Norwegian pilot guides time the current by the high tide at Bodø: the strongest inflow comes about an hour and a quarter before high water, the strongest outflow some four and a half hours after it, reaching more than eight knots. Between the two, when the tide turns, the water briefly calms and the strait becomes navigable. Saltstraumen is young: it has existed in its present form for only two to three thousand years, since the land rebounded after the weight of the ice was lifted.
Did you know? Like all tidal currents, Saltstraumen runs at its fiercest just after new moon and full moon.
06 Fiordo di Furore
Italy · 19.7 km from Salerno40.614° N 14.554° E
Ugeorge · CC BY-SA 3.0 Hidden in the gorge is a hamlet of the comune of Furore, once a busy little working place. The Schiato valley powered a mill and a paper factory, and Furore was long known for papermaking, silk, pasta making and rope making alongside fishing and olive oil; the old mill buildings still stand by the stream. The fishermen's houses tucked into the rock attracted Roberto Rossellini and Anna Magnani, who lived here and shot scenes of the film "L'amore" (1948) in Furore. The church of Santa Caterina alla Ruota also stands within the fjord. Each year the bridge becomes a stage of a world cliff-diving championship, with divers dropping from the arch into the narrow inlet below.
Did you know? The old mill and paper mill in the gorge were turned into the Ecomuseum of the Fjord, with a small botanical garden and herbarium.
How this list is ranked
Places are chosen for how they look, not for how famous they are: each one has its own description and a photograph credited to its author. The order is a single world ranking that weighs the beauty of the place in curated photography together with how widely it is documented — the number of language editions of its encyclopedia article and how often that article is read in a year. The list is rebuilt as places are added, so the order and the counts on this page are always current.
Questions people ask
- What are the most beautiful fjords in Europe?
- On our list, Geirangerfjord (Norway) ranks first, followed by Nærøyfjord (Norway) and Lysefjord (Norway).
- Which country has the most fjords in Europe?
- In our collection, the most come from Norway (5) and Italy (1).
- How are fjords formed?
- Glaciers moving toward the sea carve deep U-shaped valleys, often far below present sea level. When the ice melts, the sea floods these valleys, creating long, narrow inlets with steep sides.
- What is Saltstraumen?
- It is a narrow strait near Bodø in northern Norway through which huge volumes of sea water rush with every tide, creating powerful currents and whirlpools. It is often described as the strongest tidal current in the world.
- Is the Fiordo di Furore a real fjord?
- Not in the geological sense. It is a deep, narrow gorge cut by a mountain stream into the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, named a fjord for its shape where it meets the sea.
- How many fjords are on this list in Europe?
- The list covers 6 fjords in 2 countries. Norway has the most, with 5.