Voss – A destination for everyone
A shared goal for Voss as a destination is to make both the village and our activities accessible to everyone. Voss, known as the action sport town, stands for adrenaline, achievement, and great emotions. Everyone should have the opportunity to experience these feelings, and in Voss we go the extra mile to make that possible for you. Everyone can fly. Everyone can raft. Everyone can skydive.
The purpose of this page and guide is to make it easier for you to plan your visit to Voss. We are continuously working to improve information about accessibility and universal design. If you have feedback, please contact us at [email protected].
Do you have needs that are not covered on this page? Get in touch – we are happy to help.
Voss Station and Voss town centre
Voss has a compact and easy-to-navigate town centre, with short distances between the train station, accommodation, restaurants, and shops.
Strengths:
Step-free access from street level to the train station and the different platforms.
Accessible toilet in the waiting area at Voss Station (payment by card).
Step-free entrance and automatic door at Voss Tourist Information, with spacious and accessible premises.
Wide pavements with generally good accessibility for wheelchair users.
Accessible toilet at Voss Outdoor Pool / Prestegardsmoen.
Clear and easy-to-navigate town centre layout.
Activities
We aim to provide clear and realistic descriptions of accessibility levels for different activities. Visit Voss is working to test various providers together with different user groups. Below, you will find an overview of accessibility measures offered by selected providers.
(click on the names below to read more)
Other activities:
Companies in Voss and the activities they offer, which can be adapted to suit you and your needs:
Voss Bowling: Wheelchair ramp access to the bowling lanes and spacious facilities.
Also offers private hire of the entire venue for closed group events.
Outdoor Norway: Tandem kayaking, river canoeing, and sea kayaking.
Voss Resort: Gondola, Hangurstoppen Restaurant, and the Panoramic Trail.
Voss Active: Grade 2 rafting.
Myrkdalen: Myrkdalen Ski School.
Voss Skydiving Club: Tandem skydiving.
Ekstremsportveko: Wheelchair-friendly festival area and raised platforms for wheelchair users in the concert areas.
Watch videos and read about how different companies can adapt their activities for various accessibility needs:
Voss Vind
Video: Meet Catho Pettersbakken. A truly boundary-breaking flyer who was involved in a motorcycle accident in 2002.
We adapt our activities to suit most types of functional disabilities. We have welcomed participants who are visually impaired, blind, and deaf, as well as former cancer and MS patients who have sufficient energy and are feeling well on the day of flying.
We have also had visitors with prosthetics or amputations, in addition to a range of other physical disabilities. For participants with greater challenges, we are happy to provide two instructors to ensure a safe experience and give them the chance to feel the sensation of weightless flight.
We ask anyone with shoulder, neck, or back injuries to contact us in advance. In particular, individuals who have previously dislocated a shoulder and continue to experience instability are advised not to fly, as the flying position can increase the risk of it happening again.
Voss Resort
Both the gondola and Hangurstoppen Restaurant are accessible for wheelchair users.
The gondola building has a dedicated wheelchair entrance and lift. In addition, the central divider has been removed in all the yellow cabins to create extra floor space. We can also reduce the speed during boarding and disembarking if needed.
At Hangurstoppen, there is a separate entrance to the restaurant for wheelchair users. Inside, you will find a lift, an accessible toilet, and plenty of space for wheelchairs in the restaurant area. The mezzanine and meeting rooms are also accessible by lift.
The Panoramic Trail can also work well for wheelchair users. The path is gravelled and gently undulating, making it suitable for both pushing and self-propelling a wheelchair. It is approximately 1 km long, with beautiful viewpoints along the way.
Outdoor Norway
Tandem kayaking with Outdoor Norway
The following activities are generally easy to adapt for most participants: tandem river kayaking, river canoeing, and guided sea kayaking tours. We do not have a lift, but we are happy to assist with getting in and out of the kayak.
For many guests, it is also possible to join a guided mountain bike tour or a guided SUP tour (stand-up paddleboarding).
Myrkdalen Ski School
Peter Nilsson on a sit-ski in Myrkdalen
The ski school offers instruction in sit-skiing and can also provide guides to accompany sit-ski users. The ski school, has taught many leg amputees to ski and has trained two of them to become professional ski instructors at the second-highest certification level.
We also provide instruction and tailored support for visually impaired and blind skiers. Beyond that, we place no limits on who can take part in alpine skiing, snowboarding, or cross-country skiing. Whether someone is missing arms or legs, has hearing or visual impairments, or faces other challenges – we will find a solution.
Ekstremsportveko
Everyone Can Skydive! Video from Ekstremsportveko 2019.
Get in touch with us in advanced and tell us what you would like to try and what challenges you may have. We will do our very best to create a tailored experience for you. We need some time to involve the right people and assess what can be arranged.
There is no simple yes-or-no answer to what is possible. We have a strong network of skilled professionals, and with enough time to plan, there is a great deal we can make happen.
Skydive Voss
We have carried out several tandem skydives with participants who have various disabilities. Our experience has been very positive, as long as communication is clear in advance.
Voss Skydiving Club must apply for approval from the Norwegian Parachute Federation before conducting a tandem skydive in such cases, so it is important to begin the dialogue well ahead of the planned jump. Every situation is different, and each case is assessed individually. In advance, we need information about the tandem student’s limitations and challenges, such as mobility restrictions, paralysis, or strength in arms and legs. We also need to know about any issues such as spasms or similar conditions.
On the day of the jump, instructions will be given to ensure a safe skydive. It is therefore important that we are informed in advance if the participant has any difficulties with communication or understanding instructions in Norwegian or English, as most of our tandem instructors are not native Norwegian speakers.
Once the practical details have been clarified, we submit an application to the Norwegian Parachute Federation. We usually receive a response fairly quickly, after which we will contact you.
Accommodation:
Scandic Voss:
33 Accessible rooms
Pet-friendly rooms
Allergy-friendly rooms
Elva Hotell
2 Accessible rooms
Several rooms suitable for manual wheelchair users
Accessible toilet
Voss Hostel:
Adapted for wheelchair users