ABSTRACT
In Norway, tourism emerged in the first half of the eighteenth century. The European aristocracy targeted the wild and pristine landscape of the north and, from the 1850s, nature was highly targeted as an arena for physical activity. Scientists, anglers and mountaineers had formerly explored the unfamiliar areas, and they were followed by the gradually increasing number of travellers with the aim of hiking in Norwegian landscapes (Fabritius 2010). However, walking tourism in Western Norway revealed a need for transportation to desirable, remote hiking destinations and magnificent viewpoints. Tourism therefore appeared as a source of income to the poor Norwegian peasantry, settled far away from central areas.
