A second inlet is to the north, through the Julsundet strait, bound by the island of Otrøya to the west and Molde Municipality to the east.

The fjord branches off to the minor Tresfjorden and Tomrefjorden to the south, while the main body continues an east-west bound direction.

The fjord then forks into three main branches: Moldefjorden (which flows into the Fannefjord) runs past the city of Molde north of the Molde Archipelago; Langfjorden, the longer arm of the fjord, with its branches Karlsøyfjorden, Rødvenfjorden, and the picturesque Eresfjorden, in the middle; and finally the southern arm past the town of Åndalsnes, terminating in Isfjorden.

Wolf Larsen, the main character in Jack London's novel 'The Sea-Wolf' claims that he was born in the vicinity of Romsdalsfjord.

Post-glacial rebound has lifted the land around Romsdalsfjord up to 100 m leaving previous subsea deposits of gravel and clay as wide terraces for instance in the valley mouths around Åndalsnes, Veblungsnes, Innfjorden and Isfjorden.

UK forces arrived along Romsdalsfjord and landed at Åndalsnes, then retreated along the fjord two weeks later during heavy fighting.