Norway here we come - July 2024

[Hatcho]

Have just booked a transfer with Overlanders.ie who will ship my GS to Oslo next July and then bring it back home two weeks later. It's quite a trek to ride from Ireland to Norway so it made sense to ship the bike - that way we get to have the bike in the right place for the maximum amount of time. I'm really looking forward to this - Norway (and all the nordics) is new to me. And new places and people are exactly what makes travelling so great. So far, it's looking like it'll be myself and the real boss riding pillion.

So, to those who have trodden this path before me - if you have any advice on things to see/do/avoid, roads to ride/avoid based on your personal experience I'd love to hear from you. I have begun to trawl through the extensive knowledge available online - but sometimes it's great to hear it from the horse's mouth so to speak.

An outline plan is to make to to the Lofoten islands and back to Oslo within the two week timeframe, and catching as many interesting spots/roads along the way. I had considered going all the way to Nordkapp, but don't want to end up doing silly miles/day (and miss what's along the way) just to tick a box. When on the bike, the journey is more important than the destination.

All advice, tips and tricks welcome - fire away!

Cheers,
Seán.

 

[simondippenhall]

What an exciting trip and as you say, there’s lots of great knowledge (and no shortage of opinions ) available on the site.

My 0.02p based on ancient (2012) three week trip.

Bring some duty free booze as it’s super expensive (as is everything else)
Ride slowly and enjoy the scenery
Hytten are good places to stay
Bring rain gear (you and I as Gaels both know this already)
Petrol stations are a good lunch stop

Do keep us posted.

 

[squibb34]

Just make sure you book some decent weather - 4 seasons in one day, including summer snow, so you will need versatile gear.

Don't get over ambitious about daily mileage - the pace is slow & speed limits respected.

Alcohol is stupidly expensive, so best give your liver a rest IMHO.

You may have seen this link, from the Public Roads Administration: -

....... https://www.vegvesen.no/en/traffic-...do not need to,are normally exempt from tolls.

 

[glenn2926]

I went to Norway with my lad this year. I met him in Hamburg as he lives in Chamonix. We then went Kiel to Oslo ferry. The lofoton islands are definitely worth visiting. We got the ferry from Bodo to the lofoten islands but came back across from Lodingen to Bognes.
My lad has a brewery so it did turn into a tour of Norwegian breweries a little. We went north to lillehammer, Trondheim, Namsos, Mo I Rana, Bodo, two nights on lofotons staying at Svolvaer.
Before heading south via the Atlantic Ocean road. A fantastic trip. The main E6 road was closed in a lot of places due to flooding and landslides. We did a large amount of kilometres on gravel and dirt roads to get around the closures. At the time finding our way was a little stressful and difficult but as on all bike trips, these difficulties certainly added to the trip.
All I can say for definite is you will enjoy Norway it’s a fantastic place to tour by bike. There will be some moaning on here about alcohol being very expensive. It is much dearer than the U.K. but not much different to say Chamonix, Paris, London etc. Nobody forces you to drink. I went with the mind set of, it costs what it costs.

 

[Wapping]

So, to those who have trodden this path before me - if you have any advice on things to see/do/avoid, roads to ride/avoid based on your personal experience I'd love to hear from you. I have begun to trawl through the extensive knowledge available online - but sometimes it's great to hear it from the horse's mouth so to speak.

There’s already lots of very good horses’ mouths reports and the like, here on UGSer. Have a bash through a few of them.

 

[shuck raider]

Just a thumbs up for Overlanders.ie. They shipped my bike one-way to Memmingen in Germany and I rode it home. They picked it up at Phil McCallen's in a van for a few extra €€€ and took it to Gorey. I followed the packing details on their website and everything was hunky dory

 

[Anthony Byrne]

Fantastic trip ahead of you, the one thing that stuck out to me was how the temps could vary. You could be in 20 degrees in a sun trapped valley and ride over the next ridge to drop 15 degrees. I thought Ireland was bad.

There’s plenty of garages, don’t worry about running short of fuel. Camping is plentiful if that’s your thing. Roads are class and in good condition for the majority.

Prices are on the level of Dublin, garages pricey but supermarkets cheaper. Phone signal was better than home and unless in a valley I was getting 5g.

 

[boatman]

Done a few (4) trips riding Scotland , to either Dover and up or Hull ,over and up .
Dont go above the posted speed limits .
I camped almost every night (or used hytters)
Start early - finish early
I used my buff folded over as an eye cover - as you get North its dark for only a short time at night .
Its easier to cover quite large distance even at posted limits - as the traffic densities tend to be mostly be lower .

 

[Rusty]

This looks like it is going to be a fantastic trip and looking forward to reading all about it. Nordkapp is on my list and so I read all I can find on here and there is clearly a lot of GOOD stuff. Good luck.

 

[Deise]

I have not been to Norway so cannot offer first hand advice.

Hope you have a great trip , Overlanders excellent to deal with.

 

[Hatcho]

Cheers everyone. Advice and tips much appreciated! I've used Overlanders previously to ship the bike to central Europe and they provide an excellent top-notch service. Gear for the trip will be Oxford Mondial suit which has proved to be excellent in cold and wet weather while also comfortable on warm days with the liner out and the vents opened. My biggest concern is availability of accommodation as we will be there from mid-July which I presume is the middle of the Norwegian holiday season. We won't be camping as the boss enjoys an evening's comfort after a day on the bike (as do I in fairness). As mentioned, Norway is a little more pricey than elsewhere, but I think it's worth shelling out a few extra bob to see somewhere different. Neither of us are big drinkers so it won't amount to a major cost on the trip. Being two-up will help me behave speed wise. I'm fond of the odd blast, but it's always important to choose the right where and when, so I'll be on my best behaviour for this trip

Now for the planning which for me is nearly as much fun as the trip itself. No better way to fuel the excitement and build up the anticipation!

 

[glenn2926]

Cheers everyone. Advice and tips much appreciated! I've used Overlanders previously to ship the bike to central Europe and they provide an excellent top-notch service. Gear for the trip will be Oxford Mondial suit which has proved to be excellent in cold and wet weather while also comfortable on warm days with the liner out and the vents opened. My biggest concern is availability of accommodation as we will be there from mid-July which I presume is the middle of the Norwegian holiday season. We won't be camping as the boss enjoys an evening's comfort after a day on the bike (as do I in fairness). As mentioned, Norway is a little more pricey than elsewhere, but I think it's worth shelling out a few extra bob to see somewhere different. Neither of us are big drinkers so it won't amount to a major cost on the trip. Being two-up will help me behave speed wise. I'm fond of the odd blast, but it's always important to choose the right where and when, so I'll be on my best behaviour for this trip

Now for the planning which for me is nearly as much fun as the trip itself. No better way to fuel the excitement and build up the anticipation!

My lad and I went in August and had no problems finding accommodation at all. As you say it’s a little bit more expensive than the U.K. but it costs what it costs. Norway is definitely worth paying a little more to see. I think the Lofoton islands were the highlight for me. We managed to have a night in Oslo staying in an air b&b with secure parking. I had the best octopus I’ve ever had in a restaurant there. Tried a couple of breweries too. We used Color lines ferries. Travelling from Kiel to Oslo return. Fantastic boats both ways, more like cruise ships really.
The best bike trip I’ve had so far.

 

[AndyB_11]

I’ll give you a totally off the wall suggestion if you’re in the right place at the right time and like bike racing.

check out the events calendar and watch some racing at the arctic circle raceway.

Arctic Circle Raceway - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

My wife and I watched practice day for a round of the Norwegian Superbike championship a few years back and it was free entry, you could walk around and pick where you wanted to view from and for how long. We only stopped a couple of hours but it was well worth the effort and it’s only a couple of miles off the E6 as you go north.

 

[Wicker]

If you do one thing, get the small car ferry from Hellesylt along Geiranger Fjord and then ride the road north to the Trollistigen. The ferry takes about an hour and you get a fantastic view of all the waterfalls.
Geiranger itself has nice campsite and a few shops which largely cater to the cruise ship crowd. When you reach the top of the road above Geiranger the cruise ships look like toy boats in the distance.

 

[Flintlock]

Rode up to the Arctic Circle with 3 others back in 2011.
We stayed mostly on the campsite huts, which between 4 worked out cheaper that 4 tent pitches at the time. Spotlessly clean heated & well equipped but you will need your own sleeping bags. Strict speed limits (from memory 50mph max on non motorway). Very disciplined car drivers - no - one in a rush. You might get the chance to ride through Hell on your way North as well!

 

[glenn2926]

Rode up to the Arctic Circle with 3 others back in 2011. View attachment 298678View attachment 298679View attachment 298680View attachment 298681
We stayed mostly on the campsite huts, which between 4 worked out cheaper that 4 tent pitches at the time. Spotlessly clean heated & well equipped but you will need your own sleeping bags. Strict speed limits (from memory 50mph max on non motorway). Very disciplined car drivers - no - one in a rush. You might get the chance to ride through Hell on your way North as well!

I have very similar pictures. I would guess quite a few of us have . Definitely up there with my best trips.

 

[Bem]

We went last year in June, so like you I had a speed limiter attached.
Re clothing, we found that a top layer of thin waterproofs (Scotts or Alpinestars etc) was invaluable when it rained in biblical fashion.
As Andy says the Raceway is worth a look if only to say you have been - about 5k short of the Artic Circle centre. The runoff areas are comical.
Overall prices in the country are similar to Iceland/Switzerland.
Re coastal ferries, we just logged on and gave our details to the "government" before we left home. At each ferry crossing the staff took a photo of our reg plate and the system miraculously debited our account on a daily basis. IIRC then its about half price this way, but actually the cost is low and stopped when we left the country- amazing! I am sure this is covered in the "scandi" threads.

Oh, and best wishes to you and everyone for the New Year.

 

[Zwerver]

Been up to Norway 15 times with mc +tent now since my first ride to the North Cape in 1990.
My experience is that seeing all of Norway in one trip is impossible, If you want to go to the Lofoten I would recommend
going north as fast as possible through Sweden and take your time descending through Norway, so you can avoid the E6 mainroad as much as possible.
On my sixth trip to the Vesteralen/Lofoten in 2022 it took me 4 1/2 days to reach Evenes, starting in the south of the Netherlands, so when starting in Oslo
it should be even less. My preferred route north is following the 45 Inlandsvegen through Sweden to Gällivare, then take the E10 over Abisko (worth a stop!)
entering Norway just north of Narvik at Riksgränsen. From Riksgränsen you can go over the Vesteralen to the Lofoten.
For the route back south I would recommend the ferry Moskenes-Bodø, and then follow the Rv17 (with a stop at the Saltstraumen, and a small detour to Torghatten) towards Høylandet
At Høylandet take the 775 to Gartland at the E6, and pland a longer, boring ride over quite busy and uninteresting roads over Steinkjer to Trondheim.
If time permits, go west towards Kristiansund and the Atlanterhafsvegen, alternative is following the E6 over Oppdal and the Dovrefjell to Dombas.
A few km west of Dombas starts an interesting tolroad south towards Vågåmo, the Sladalsvegen. From Vågåmo the most scenic route south is road 51 to Bygden,
and then the Jotunheimenvegen to Skabu.

 

[Zwerver]

 

[MartinK]

You could do worse than pop a PM to Mark ("ikkje" on here) - he lived in Norway for a few years. Lovely chap - I am sure he would help you
see https://www.ukgser.com/community/members/ikkje.8805/