Round trip to Andenes in 25 days

The background

It's taken me a while to get round to this, but I wanted to share some details of a trip I made last year from Jersey (where I live) to Andenes in the Vestralen Islands in Norway. Maybe it will be of interest to anyone else considering a similar trip...

The trip was fitted in between completing a temporary job in mid-June and being back in Jersey in time for a separate trip to the UK for a family member's milestone birthday towards the end of July.

After perusing this excellent UKGSer forum and a bit more research I mapped out a tentative route. Although I originally planned to ride up through most of Sweden to Kiruna in the North and then cut across to Norway on the E10, in fact I changed plans during the ride to reduce the time spent in Sweden, so my actual route looked like this:



I pre-booked accommodation for the first 5 nights, up to and including a 2 night stay in Stockholm. And as I didn't want to camp it meant I was able to travel relatively light - as a test pack and ride on the day before departure showed, I was able to fit everything into standard BMW expandable cases and topbox.



So, I was all ready for departure on the next day - 1st July 2015. I'll summarise the trip in subsequent posts.

Day 1

The route for the day -



Up at 0645 for final prep before leaving home at 0730 to get the ferry from Jersey to St Malo.



First in line for departure.



An uneventful sailing to France thought it was delayed for a bit. Several other bikers also travelling to France - a few with BMWs (R80/7 RS, 800GS, HP2) - so the time passed easily with bike talk.

The 1st July was HOT - we are talking 30 degrees C and up during the day (a driver I met said his car was showing an air temperature of 40 degrees!). I have Halvarssons / Lindstrands textile gear, but even with all the vents open it was like being in a mobile sauna (fittingly Swedish?) and I went through a couple of litres of water during the ride to Mons to compensate.

Arrived at Mons around 1930, my GPS (an ancient Garmin 2610) having taken my a rather scenic route through the back streets, including down a one way street the wrong way (embarrassing) before we got to the Infotel in the city centre (the Infotel has an open air parking area with a security barrier). My room was OK, although the room cooler struggled to cope with the high ambient temperature during the night. However, it was a very short walk to the main square where there was plenty of places to eat and sample Belgian beer as dusk fell.





Miles ridden today ~ 360

Day 2

Today's route -



On the road by 0845 after quite a nice breakfast. More GPS issues on the way out of Mons - not entirely confident of my route. However it is sunny and becomes another very hot day as I ride through Belgium, Netherlands and Germany up to Schleswig. Traffic is heavy in parts, and the GPS takes me on a wild goose chase near Eindhoven due to the 'latest' maps for my obsolete device being for 2008 and a whole new road system appears to be in place. There are also many roadworks with deviations in Germany around Hamburg which means that progress is painfully slow, also due to single lane restrictions. My estimated end time drifts later and later.

Arrive in Schleswig around 2015 and check into the Hotel Alter Kreisbahnhof (little English is spoken here). No secure parking, but I park the bike close to the hotel entrance. A very sleepy town, I end up eating at a pizza restaurant where I am the only customer - I find out later that it is rated as #33 out of #33 places to eat in Schleswig (Tripadvisor). I walk down to the waterfront to take a couple of pictures before heading back to the hotel. Really quite tired after today's ride.





Miles ridden today ~ 490

Day 3

Today's route -



Set off after an OK breakfast at ~0900. Initially drizzling, but sun broke through later in the morning. Had a painless transition from Germany into Denmark, and had a very good Danish pastry at a service area to celebrate.

The ride over the bridge to Kopenhaven island was superb, but I missed an opportunity just before the bridge started to turn off into a parking area so I missed getting a picture. I didn't have any problems with a side wind on the bridge, though I imaging that with higher wind speeds it could be hairy.

Kept on the main road via Copenhagen and on to the bridge to Sweden (in my view not as stunning as the previous one), but again stupidly missed the opportunity to take a photo. Stopped for a breather just into Sweden.



Bypassed the centre of Malmo and on to the road to Ystad, which I wanted to see as I like the Wallander books which are based in the area. Swedish roads in this area take a bit of getting used to as there is a central reservation even on normal roads meaning that overtaking is only possible at designated passing places.



Have lunch at Ystad - thought that a pickled herring salad was the way to go - and it was excellent.



A few kilometers on I reach my destination for today, a B&B (B&B Vinkille - £61) in the middle of agricultural land near the village of Kaseberga.



After a brief pause to unpack I walked into Kaseberga along the coast (following a path recommended by the B&B owner). My walk passed some standing stones, and there was a restaurant on the Kaseberga port waterfront with a good choice of local beer and food.







Walked back to the B&B as the sun started to set.





Miles ridden today ~ 285

Day 4

The route for today -



Had a good breakfast with loads of locally sourced / home made produce, left the B&B around 0900. ETA in Stockholm was 1530 not including any stops. It is again a hot day and I am feeling saddle-sore. En-route I meet a Finnish biker and his girlfriend who are just finishing a European tour. His view is that it is better to head into Norway at the earliest oppurtunity rather than head North through Sweden, and the countryside / riding is not very interesting. I will have a think about that in the next couple of days.

I had booked 2 nights at the Connect Hotel Stockholm, one of five Connect Hotels in Sweden. However on arrival at 1710 I was told that there were no rooms with a window available due to a large group of Jehovah's Witnesses attending a conference in the city! However, I was offered a better room at the Connect Hotel Kista which is in the Kista business district, a ~20 minute metro ride away from Stockholm city centre (~ £60 per night including breakfast). The Kista hotel had secure underground parking, and I got a free beer for the inconvenience, an extra 20 minutes ride.

Went into the city to have a look round and have something to eat. I bought a 3 day pass which seemed a good deal even though I am only there for 2 nights. Quite a nice feel to the city, lots of people milling about... took a few photos before finding a restaurant and having a reindeer steak and a beer.








Get back to the hotel quite late ~ 1200. Interesting office buildings near the hotel.




Miles traveled today ~ 391

Interesting RR.

I worked for a while at a manufacturing company in Atvidaberg, SE of Linkoping on the 35, and the country round there is not very inspiring (nor the people either - But that's another story altogether).

Look forward to the next episode.

Thanks for the RR - looking forward to reading the rest of the report...

Day 5

No riding planned for today. After a good self-service breakfast at the hotel I found a chemist in the nearby Galeria shopping mall, where the pharmacist diagnosed my saddle-soreness as 'nappy rash' and I came out with some zinc based cream to apply as often as needed. Embarrassing, but necessary!

Took the Metro to the city centre and found a tourist office in the main station where I got maps and more information about Stockholm.



It turns into a really sunny day so I decide to take a there and back boat trip, one where you can hop on and hop off. The boat departed from the waterfront area near Berzelii park.



The boat passed the funfair and the Vasa museum, and we saw various small and large boats en-route.









I got off and had lunch at a small cafe on the way back and hopped on another boat for the return to Stockholm. Next was a walk through the old town (Gamla Stan) to the Fotografiska photographic museum on the northern waterfront of Sodermalm island (very good), then a beer and grilled fish supper in the Museum's outside cafe area where I could still get the museum's free Wifi.



Saw some interesting shop window displays on the way through the old town and then I took the Metro back to the hotel. The little wooden horses are called Dala horses and for some reason are very popular with the Swedes, according to the Rough Guide.





Miles ridden = 0

Brings back memories of a wonderful place.

Spent the best ever night wild camping on the most westerly point in Andenes, weather was perfect as was the scenery. Even met a mad Norwegian guy kayaking around Norways coastline alone, he had set off from somewhere near Bergen and just pulled up his kayak every night and camped

The highlight was the most beautiful Norwegian girl I have ever seen at the local petrol station

Day 6

Route for today -



Before starting the ride to Ostersund I wanted to try and replace my summer gloves as they had started to disintegrate. Having been impressed by my Halvarssons / Lindstrands gear I found a stockist in Stockholm (MC Boden) which seemed to be a shortish ride from the hotel. So after breakfast I checked out of the hotel before 0900 and set off to find the shop - I did, but sadly it was closed until 1000 and not wanting to hang around for an hour I set off to Ostersund using my tattered summer gloves.

Get on the right road, and after passing Arlanda the traffic eased off, the route skirted round Uppsala and the GPS took me along some smaller roads. Just as it started to drizzle I stopped for a coffee and snack at a small cafe which had just opened. In the toilet I spotted a sticker left by a previous biker ('owl was here'?)



GPS keeps me on smaller roads - I suspect this is because it doesn't know about the motorway due to obsolete mapping, but there is little traffic, there are bends, and I make good progress before I join the E4. Rains starts to be heavy so I stop at a services to switch gloves and to attach the higher 'storm collar' to my jacket. Continue on motorway in the rain until a suitable services / burger place presents itself for lunch. Takes ages to get served and there is a long queue for the toilets, but the actual food was good and the rain stopped long enough for me to eat outside.



At Sundsvall I miss the turn off to the E14 and end up going over the bridge, so need to retrace my steps... still it's a nice enough bridge. The E14 is a smaller road - mostly one lane each way - but cars seem to move over to the hard shoulder to allow me to pass which is nice and I make reasonable progress. As we start to climb through hills the rain seems to become harder and more persistent, but in a brief drier spell I stop for a break at a lakeside parking area. Sadly it's not really the right weather for a skinny dip.





I arrive at the Hotell Linden (£49 B&B) in Ostersund around 1800. The hotel is a bit strange, I was sent SMS instructions on how to get into the hotel using a code and how to find my room key - there was no one at reception. They had acknowledged I only needed a single room (I booked a double by mistake) - the room is basic, with a very strange WC / shower arrangement that folds out from the wall - difficult to describe. I wouldn't want to stay here again.

Anyway, glad to be out of the rain - the outer gear is soaked and very heavy though it has kept me dry. As it is still raining I have to put it on again to go out and find something to eat. There are few people around - see the picture I took of the main square - but I find a warm welcome and good food (Artic Char) and beer at the Sir Winston Restaurant & Bar (recommended).



Miles ridden = 350 (mostly damp!)

Nice report and photos - many thanks.

Day 7

Route for today -



Breakfast is shall we say... below par, very basic. I'm surrounded by people even older than me who all look glum. Well, it is raining again - hurrah. Leave the hotel by 0915 - there is no parking outside the hotel so I have to carry the gear a short distance along the street to a public carpark where I left the bike (and it is still there). By the time I get near Stromsund it has almost stopped raining and I pause to refuel the bike and have a coffee and pastry, plus take a picture of the lake opposite the garage.







I now turn off the E45 onto road 342 towards Gaddede - this is part of the 'Wilderness Way' and very quickly feels very very remote, with very little traffic and trees as far as the eye can see in all directions, punctuated with the odd lake. Closer to Gaddede there are more bends to make riding more interesting, and more lakes.







Although it has more or less stopped raining it remains cloudy and quite gloomy. I was glad to arrive in Gaddede to refuel and had excellent traditional Swedish meatballs and coffee for lunch at the friendly cafe.



Lunch over, back in the saddle and heading towards the border with Norway, I stop briefly to capture this image of a typical Swedish house alongside a lake, and another of some fields where they managed to get the hay baled before the rain...





Discover that I am in Norway only by noticing a Norwegian flag flying at one of the houses I pass - there is no border marking to speak of. I then have a very unpleasant surprise as I reach a section of road that is undergoing repair for several kilometers - the current state of the surface is a mix of gravel and wet earth, which for me (with no off-road experience) is a test of nerve but I manage to survive to regain the tarmac by the side of a lake where I can stop to regain my composure. Looking over the grey lake I would like to think that the weather is brightening up, well I can but hope!



After the road goes through a pass (sheep on the road) I am soon on the descent into the small town of Grong (a.k.a. Medja) with the road following a river - an enjoyable section to ride.



Just before the road I'm on (now labelled 74) meets the E6 my GPS tells me to take a acute right hand turning onto a small almost single lane road (391) which appears to be a 'shortcut' to Grong.

I'm following a car at this point and not going fast, but for some unknown reason after the right hand turn I find myself riding on a gravel strip just 30 cms wide between the tarmac road and a 2 meter drop down into a ditch on my right - somehow I manage to keep control and get back onto the road but my heart rate is through the roof. Perhaps the California Superbike cornering training had belately kicked in, I'm not really sure.

Anyway, the bike and I survive, and I reach my destination which is the Grong Youth Hostel without further incident and park next to my assigned room. Cost for tonight will be 313 NOK for a private room, including hire of bedding and the use of shared bathroom and kitchen facilities... about £25, plus I got a discount for being a member of the UK YHA.



Grong is a small town, I have a coffee in a cafe but it is just closing so I end up having my evening meal (hamburger and chips, beer) in the restaurant attached to the Spar supermarket. Back at the hostel I meet a woman who is on a 3 week sabbatical cycling from Germany to Nordkapp - now that deserves respect.

One thing I notice is that it is still quite light outside when I turn in at 2300 - I am getting closer to the Arctic Circle.

Miles ridden ~ 215 (some of which hairy)

Day 8

Route for today -



Have a light breakfast (a banana) before leaving the hostel in Grong just after 0800, and on to the E6 heading North. There is a long queue for a traffic light controlled roadworks, I use the bike's advantage to skip to the front of the queue and get a head start on the campervans and cars, but as a result I'm reluctant to stop and take a picture of the gorgeous view of the valley looking back to Grong. Never mind, I am making good progress, there are generally very few cars and there are more and more curves and bends along the way.





The road is climbing and I start seeing mountains in the distance: snow is also making an appearance and eventually I enter the Saltfjellet - Svartisen National Park where I stop for a brief rest and a selfie.







Get back on the bike only to find almost immediately that I am crossing the Arctic Circle, so I feel obliged to stop again and look at the various sculptures, cairns and so on, and to have a coffee and a snack at the tourist centre. The scenery reminds me a bit of the Scottish glens...







When I leave the Arctic Circle tourist circus and start heading North again it starts to rain heavily, really pretty grim - but the 'gloves inside jacket cuffs' arrangement I have adopted is working well and I don't feel too cold and I'm not wet. Could be worse.

On the journey North there is some very dramatic scenery but quite frankly it is just too wet for me to stop and faff around with getting the gloves off / helmet off / camera our of topbox / take picture and then reverse the whole sequence for me to bother. I stop for petrol and coffee on the way, then I'm quite grateful for some longish tunnels on the approach to Fauske (they provide shelter from the elements). Finally the road skirts a fjord and I arrive in the Fauske and after a nifty U-turn park outside the Fauske Hotel, which is a 'Scandic Partner' hotel (£69, room only).

Parking on the street is free until 0900, by which time I will have left .

The weather remains gloomy, but I go for a quick stroll and I take a couple of images of the waterfront before it starts to rain.





So, rather than wander round in the rain looking for a place to eat, I go back to the hotel restaurant (Cafe 33) and have a couple of beers with a traditional Bacalao (Spanish style) fish stew - which is substantial, and very good .

Miles ridden - 285

Day 9

Route for today -



Although it was nearly 0900 by the time I finished my buffet breakfast (with a great choice of food) and packed the bike, the GPS appeared to think it was still night time - something to to with the effect of the midnight sun I wondered?

I start back on the E6 heading North, through some longish tunnels and with a few photo stops (it's not raining ).





It is probably about one third along the planned route when I come across what I think is a stunning lake surrounded by mountains on one side and a beach on the other - I think it is called Kobbvatnet, or Njourjojavr - it is mirror calm and I decide to turn round and drive down to the lakeside, with the intention of taking a 'panoramic photo' using the tripod I brought along with me (for those interested, it is a Gitzo GT1542T Traveller 4S Tripod, which just fits inside the topbox, and the camera I am using on this trip is a Fujifilm X-E2). I managed to take a few photos before it started to rain, which spoiled the perfect mirror calm.







The panoramic shot was the first I had attempted and I was quite pleased with the result, though the weather could have been a bit brighter. In fact as I rode North towards Bognes the sun began to break through the clouds and there were some nice views along fjords before I started the descent to the ferry port.







I arrive at the terminal just in time to buy a ticket and ride on - the ferry left just a few minutes later. Have a sandwich and coffee on board and then go outside to admire the scenery, which was very reminiscent of the West coast of Scotland.







We disembarked at Lodinger and I then rode North along the E10 until I branched right onto Kong Olavs veg towards Andenes past some stunning scenery, stopping quite often to take pictures. The first image is at the roundabout at the start of Kong Olavs veg where I stopped to remove some layers as it was getting so warm (I wasn't complaining).

















I'd booked a place to stay called Skarsteindalen Leir, which was very reasonably priced (£65 for 2 nights, room only) but it was not in the centre of Andenes - I decided to bypass it and go straight to Andenes to see if I could book a place on whale watching trip the following day as my web research indicated that these trips were very popular. In fact, it turned out that one company which used RIBs was fully booked today and wouldn't go tomorrow due to forecast high wind, another company had nothing tomorrow, but there were places on a sailing later today - so I booked on that. The ticket started with a tour of the whale museum, after which we were told that the next sailing wouldn't leave until 2130. A bit disappointing, but the silver lining was that I could drop my stuff off at Skarsteindalen Leir, then come back into Andenes and grab some food before the departure.

After a Norwegian fish & chips (good) I rode along to the quay - a few people milling about but no sign of a boat - it eventually turned up about an hour later and we have a briefing about the excursion...









We are soon underway, the sea was deceptively calm in the harbour but there was a bit of a swell further out and it adversely affected a few people: they may not have been helped by the crew serving hot soup to those who weren't feeling ill! We eventually track down a sperm whale, which obliges with a classic 'fluke shot' as it dives down to feed...







The captain waited around for quite a while and we did see the same whale when it resurfaced for air, but the second time was not so photogenic. Mission completed, the captain headed back to port and we arrived in Andenes at 0200, the sun not having gone below the horizon.





I was in bed by 0230. It had been a long day.


Miles ridden today - 220 (including 5 after midnight)

Day 10

There was no planned route today, I just had a relaxing day pottering about around Andenes...



Of course, the day's ride really started in Andenes port when I got off the whale watching boat at 0200 at the end of the excursion and went back to get some sleep!

So I had a lie in and didn't get up until 1030. I wanted to wash some of my base layers but the washing machine was in use. The helpful (Lithuanian) host said that she could do the washing for me. (She very helpfully dried my stuff and brought it back to the room afterwards - great service.) She also explained that the rooms were previously used by Norwegian forces officers before being converted for civvy use - having visited the area she and her partner / family now lived here and ran the business to provide low cost accommodation which they thought there was a market for. There were a couple of other bikers also staying there but I never saw them. By the way, the room was perfectly OK but quite basic, and the accommodation is on the edge of a semi-industrial area which has a weird feel to it, though the view from the room was quite good. The other disadvantage for me was driving into Andenes for meals, though only because I wasn't into self-catering on this trip.





It's already lunch time, so I go to Andenes and have fish soup at the Arresten restaurant which specialised in Norwegian food. Really enjoyed the soup, and booked a table for the evening so I could try something else. After getting some cash from an ATM (note that no credit cards are accepted at Skarsteindalen Leir) I ride down the West coast to a small fishing village Bleik which has a picturesque harbour and a beach where I take some images including some 'long exposures'...











After popping back to Skarsteindalen Leir for a bit (Skype call with my wife etc.) I head back into Andenes and the Arresten restaurant. Tried deep fried cod tongues in batter (fishy) and cloudberry creme brulee, both excellent. Still early, so take some more photos around Andenes before heading back to Skarsteindalen Leir around 2330.










Miles ridden = 40

Great report. The bridges across Denmark and into Sweden are a bugger because there's not really a good opportunity to stop and take photos. We went over in February and a friend used a GoPro on his helmet to take a series of stills every time we got near a crossing and that's probably the best way to do it.

I love going to Scandinavia but the prices compared to Eastern Europe give me a heart attack.

dr nosh said:

Interesting RR.

I worked for a while at a manufacturing company in Atvidaberg, SE of Linkoping on the 35, and the country round there is not very inspiring (nor the people either - But that's another story altogether).

Look forward to the next episode.

Click to expand...

I think I remember passing Linkoping (on the E4) - there were SAAB planes (presumably) mounted as 'sculptures' on the side of the road which I noticed on my way past. Can't really comment on the people, in the main the Swedes I encountered seemed quite open end friendly.

barak666 said:

Thanks for the RR - looking forward to reading the rest of the report...

Click to expand...

Glad you like it!

Farmboy said:

Brings back memories of a wonderful place.

Spent the best ever night wild camping on the most westerly point in Andenes, weather was perfect as was the scenery. Even met a mad Norwegian guy kayaking around Norways coastline alone, he had set off from somewhere near Bergen and just pulled up his kayak every night and camped

The highlight was the most beautiful Norwegian girl I have ever seen at the local petrol station

Click to expand...

Admittedly my trip was a bit less informal, that is, no camping of any sort - even wild. And yes, Scandinavia seems to have more than its fair share of very attractive people .

Khulu said:

Nice report and photos - many thanks.

Click to expand...

Glad you are enjoying it - its a work in progress, I still have roughly 2 weeks to go .