Spiraltoppen

‘Spiralen’ in Drammen (the spiral) is a helical car tunnel in Bragernesåsen. The driveway is located in the Bragernes district, above Drammen Hospital.
The tunnel is 1650 meter long, winds up six and a half times around an axis and ends in the open air at Breidablikk (or ‘Spiraltoppen’ as it is popularly called) or Nedre skanse where there is a restaurant, outdoor seating and recreation area with a view of Drammensdalen.

This is probably the best place to an ‘arial’ photo of Drammen city and Drammenselva (Drammen river).

In the 1950’s two new streets were planned in Drammen; Rosenkrantzgata og Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsons gate. They needed a huge amount of stones for the construction. Where the entrence to the tunnel is located, there was a quarry that was going to supply the needs. But instead of creating a huge wound in the landscape, the city engineer Eivind Olsen, suggested to dig a tunnel, and by that create a tourist attraction – in addition to the new streets in the center.

CNN Travel has nominated Spiralen as one of the 10 most spectacular tunnels in the world. Their Top 10 list consists of:

1. Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland)
2. Channel Tunnel (UK and France)
3. Laerdal Tunnel (Aurland, Norway)
4. Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (Tokyo)
5. Eisenhower Tunnel (Colorado)
6. Spiralen Tunnel (Drammen, Norway)
7. Guoliang Tunnel (Henan Province, China)
8. SMART (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
9. Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (Shanghai)
10. Seikan Tunnel (Japan)

The Spiral top is a fun loction to visit, so put it on your bucket list.

Opening hours: 06.00 to 23.00 every day.