The HM Queen Sonjas Panoramic Hiking Trail (Dronningstien) is enough of a challenge to make both knees and thighs protest. But the view it rewards you with is so dizzyingly beautiful that you quickly forget to feel the burn. The hike over Kvanndalshøgdi, from Kinsarvik to Lofthus, is unique. Maybe because the Norwegian Trekking Association’s usual Ts that mark hiking routes the length and breadth of Norway have been replaced by a royal blue “D” for dronning, which means queen in Norwegian. Or maybe because it is impossible not to be charmed into sharing a bit of our packed lunch with an itinerant goat along the way. It could even be because following in the footsteps of a queen – completely free of charge – makes us feel extra special.

Since Queen Sonja inaugurated the hiking trail in 2013, it has become one of Norway’s most popular hiking routes. Hikers pass lakes and bogs in a steeply upward trajectory. And, oh my gosh, isn’t that the Troll’s Tongue (Trolltunga) rock formation? No, it is the iconic Wolf’s Maw (Ulfskjaft), which, at first glance, is hard to distinguish from the super-celebrity that stands a little further up the fjord. An Insta-worthy shot that cannot be missed. At the top, where the cairn thrusts skyward at Duk, the surroundings are likely to take your breath away. For there is the Folgefonna glacier, there is Oksen on the other side of the fjord, and waaaay down there, 1,100 metres down to be exact, lies the scenic village of Lofthus surrounded by orchards. This is pure hiking pleasure! Foreign visitors coming here on a clear summer’s day will be shocked to realise that the romantic advertisements for Norway they have seen a thousand times are 100 per cent true to life.

But the day is not over, because now you are about to descend Norway’s oldest stone staircase – the Monk Steps (Munketreppene). They were laid by English monks in the early 13th century. The same monks who started cultivating fruit trees and making cider.