Very positive thoughts (so far) on Northern Norway.. (1 Viewer)

[moulin 87]

For 35 years we've thought about Norway, the Fjords, mountains, lakes etc and this year having joined the MH brigade only last July we thought this was the time to do it. Perhaps 5 or 6 weeks door to door and at least 4 weeks in Norway...

Detailed plans drawn, route down to the mm, the garage full of every foodstuff we would need etc etc..

The route from home in central France was followed without change, 1800 kms, 3 days, our only problem was the heat in France melted the tarmac east of Paris and on one aire in northern Germany the payment system was so complicated the natives were asking me for help!!

We arrived on the ferry from Denmark, 1st June at Langesum to start our two or three week tour of Southern Norway starting in the Telemark region and meandering to Trondeim before heading north..

Unfortunately southern Norway, the little we saw, was a little disappointing, the weather was very mixed and the scenery a little claustrophobic, in that it was narrow roads, bounded by tall pine trees hiding lake after lake, waterfall after waterfall. By climbing out of the valleys, as long as the clouds weren't too low, the scenery would change to saturated moorland, sometimes snow covered and the lakes still frozen.

Moving westwards the lakes were replaced by Fjords but the trees, narrow roads and claustrophobia remained..Not withstanding, the weather didn't improve and the planned route was continually changed as roads were closed for maintenance or only open for short specific times during the day.

A chance meeting with a Dutch lady on Sunday evening when wild camping near Pulpit's Rock changed our holiday on its head.. She said the following morning would be the only chance this week to climb the rock and have a view from the summit and afterwards the rains would set in for the week but northern Norway would have the opposite.

A pleasant 4 hour hike on Monday morning in crowds reminiscent of boxing day sales , was followed by lunch and then in increasingly heavy rain we started our 1000 kms dash to the north.

A few photos of southern Norway

More to follow but its 10.30pm, in the Arctic Circle in the Lofoten Islands, the sun is shining and I'm watching otters in the bay, hopefully we have chosen a perfect spot to watch the sun dip down to touch the sea then rise again.

 

[moulin 87]

To continue..

Our fortunes improved when we joined the E6, perhaps 200 kms south of Trondheim, the rain stopped and the road itself was a pleasure to drive on.. Only single carriageway, 50 mph speed limit, but smooth, gentle bends, gentle gradients and views to keep you interested in for km after km... Plenty of places, picnic areas, to stop at during the day or night.

The E6 is the main route north from Oslo, Trondheim, Narvik finally to the North Cape

Everybody KEEPS to the speed limit, everything other than tractors can match the speed limit so while opportunities to overtake are plentiful nobody bothers..

After Trondheim there are two choices northbound, the coastal 17 and the E6... We did a combination, the E6 is faster and scenic but the 17 is a good road, with plenty of opportunities to rest, waiting for and sitting on ferries!! but stunning scenery.

A few photos from route 17..

The first taken approaching midnight..

Svartisen Glacier at sea level, an little optical illusion, it took ages to walk to it but well worth the effort..

and a few from the E6

a normal stopover..

Stopping now to take some photos at midnight on Lofoten!!

 

[moulin 87]

Lofoten Islands at 4pm and at midnight.. Light enough to read a book

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[moulin 87]

Sun never dipped any closer to the horizon, shining in through the windows, finally had to close the blinds to get some sleep...Long lie in until 10.00am, dog not impressed..

Roads are a pleasure to drive on, smooth, some traffic but no congestion. Fuel prices in the north are more expensive at €1.50 a litre but then on Saturday at Fauske, Shell and Esso were on sale at €1.20.

Some MHs about but not many, until we reached Lofoten now they are more numerous. I can see wild camping could be more difficult. Many areas in Camping Contact are now saying 'no camping/overnighting', don't know how enforced it is. Locals are saying the busy period starts next week, when everywhere will be full and queues could be long for the ferries

Medium size supermarkets are everywhere...Spar, Co-op, Rima 1000, Joker, produce good, more expensive but not prohibitively so.

English spoken everywhere by everybody, good enough to have jokes with, especially when you try and get your near 8m MH on the ferry for less than a 7m price!! Worked everytime except one, though one guy charged me the price of a car because SWMBO was giving me some earache.

Though biggest laugh was on Friday morning, on a small passenger ferry with a collection of Finns, Germans, Norwegians. You've guessed it, the antics of TM...

 

[moulin 87]

We've had no trouble with midges...One night near Namsos, when camping next to a famous salmon river there were a few flies about..

Campsites, when we've used them, look basic, not the manicured lawns of the CC but the facilities have been perfect and the Wifi super.. Costs usually about 20 to 25€. No rules park as you want..

Water and disposals available most everywhere.

Check out the links below, they are the basis of our route.. Don't forget to check the 'roadside pictures'

http://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/helgelandskysten

http://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/lofoten

http://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/andøya

One photo to add from today as Wifi is slow..Says it all

At Eggsum tonight, place is heaving waiting for the sun to drop. Almost fighting for spots, will post later around midnight..

 

[jumartoo]

Love the photos. We're starting our Norway trip at the Lofoten islands and heading south unless ... you show us better scenery even further north.

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[DBK]

Many thanks for your posts and photographs. Very interesting.

 

[moulin 87]

Love the photos. We're starting our Norway trip at the Lofoten islands and heading south unless ... you show us better scenery even further north.

We're heading up to Andenes later on, will let you know..

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Love Norway and the Norwegian people. lived there a few months and visited many times but never got right up to the top

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[moulin 87]

Some more boring photos of the sun at midnight in a cloudless blue sky...Flat calm sea!! photos taken from an German WW2 radar station there to track the British convoys to Murmansk. It was was never like this in the old WW2 movies.

Can't remember the last time I saw the moon or any stars ..

We've decided tonight to stay where we can't see the sun at midnight so we'll get some sleep..

Final photo from Haukland beach...Another well known wild camping spot!!

We've seen a lot more Brits today, perhaps 6 or 7 vans...but only one British make. A Bailey I think, perhaps the others couldn't cope with the heat!!

Cooling down tomorrow as we head a little further north towards Andenes..Then I think we'll turn south...

 

[Just smiffy]

Stunning....

 

[moulin 87]

@jumartoo . We've travelled further north firstly to the Vesteralen Islands, then Andoya and Andenes and now we are on Senja. All are good but Senja is fantastic even though as you'll see from the photos the weather has reverted to normal.

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[jumartoo]

View attachment 168993 @jumartoo . We've travelled further north firstly to the Vesteralen Islands, then Andoya and Andenes and now we are on Senja. All are good but Senja is fantastic even though as you'll see from the photos the weather has reverted to normal.

View attachment 168994

View attachment 168995

Thanks. But not sure whether it's more stunning than Lofoten? Feel a bit unsure that our first taste of Norway will spoil us for the rest as we travel south. Except for visiting our friends in Bergen before we leave!

 

[moulin 87]

Thanks. But not sure whether it's more stunning than Lofoten? Feel a bit unsure that our first taste of Norway will spoil us for the rest as we travel south. Except for visiting our friends in Bergen before we leave!

different but both worth the effort. Going south use route 17 from Bodo. It is also spectacular though we find the E6 a good road.

 

[DavidG58]

Thanks. But not sure whether it's more stunning than Lofoten? Feel a bit unsure that our first taste of Norway will spoil us for the rest as we travel south. Except for visiting our friends in Bergen before we leave!

sorry to thread jack, but how can you start at the Lofoten Islands, have you been teleported in

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[jumartoo]

sorry to thread jack, but how can you start at the Lofoten Islands, have you been teleported in

We're in Sweden before for some competitions. Our Norwegian friends have told us to then drive north in Sweden ( better, faster roads) and cross over into Norway in the north. No teleportation,. It would cost us less in fuel if it were possible!

 

[moulin 87]

Thanks. But not sure whether it's more stunning than Lofoten? Feel a bit unsure that our first taste of Norway will spoil us for the rest as we travel south. Except for visiting our friends in Bergen before we leave!

Lofoten is not commercial as you think of the UK or Spain but the road/ferry infrastructure is very good. Senja is perhaps as Lofoten was 30 or 40 years ago, the roads are often single track, the tunnels are single track with passing places, the ferries operate until 3 September and afterwards it is one bridge on and off..

That is not to say it is uninhabited etc., we have seen not anywhere where there is a flat piece of land without a house on it!! Supermarkets can be found in most little villages even on Senja and today we used a used a CooP Extra which had everything...

 

[moulin 87]

@jumartoo The other thing I forgot to mention, on Lofoten we only saw otters out in the bay, on Senja this morning one was on our campsite scavenging!! Also sea eagles are a regular sight here.. No photos but caught one on the dash--cam...

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[moulin 87]

It has been awhile but a brief update...the furthest north we went was Senja and on the last day the sun shone and we were lucky to see otter, seals and one white tailed eagle.

But as promised by a local fisherman we met in the morning enjoy the sun while it lasts because from 6pm it will rain for days... and so it did!!! We travelled south using the E6 and wherever possible smaller roads which ran parallel, the 806, 73, 273, they were slower, quieter and therefore wildlife was in abundance....'00s of reindeer and the odd moose... campsites to the north of Trondheim were waterlogged with everybody parked up on any hard standing that could be found...

To traverse Trondeim to reach the glories further south we went the more coastal route on our way to Trollstigvegan...namely the 720, 710, 700 and cut across on a dirt road to the 70,then the 660... well worth it....

Finally the rain stopped and the clouds began to lift and we passed through Geiranger on our way to Briksdal and the glaciers.

Onwards again via quieter routes, 50, 40 and finally the 364 to Rjukan where after 7 days the sun finally made an appearance so we meandered around Telemark for awhile before crossing into Sweden, having covered about 6000kms in Norway..

Sweden is different,

Trees,more trees, flat and huge lakes, Lake Vanern which you can see in the distance requires a trip of 400+ kms to go around it but you can't see it because of the TREES..

I can see why ACSI put advice in their guide saying " Driving in the dense forests of Central Sweden can lead to drowsiness due to the monotony and the silence" and I've only driven 400 kms or so and only half in dense
forest!!.

Though you can afford to eat out in Sweden especially if like us you chose a restaurant without a liquor licence..

We were offered a choice of Sprite or Coke!!

Sunset over Vanern...

A day or two more and it will be homeward bound, the Oresund bridge and ferry followed by 1300 kms across Germany and France...

In a nutshell Norway is an experience, Sweden is more a gentle holiday...

 

[Alistair33]

Thanks for posting.... Very interesting

 

[Busman]

Great report from your trip, thanks for posting

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