Norway

[LivNorway]

I do not believe you are going to find more options.
I would go for the Esbjerg-ferry.

-But there is a channel somewhere, Dover?
-Is that ok? A little too many kilomteres, I guess...

There are ferries from the north of Denmark to Oslo and a couple more places too. One of them bring you to Oslo in one day, no need for a bed.

DFDS, Color Line or Stena Line, I think...

Liv.

 

[rdover]

Thanks Liv, that sounds like it could work.

keep the ideas coming. We like the idea of wasting as little riding time outside of Sweden/Norway as we can.

 

[LivNorway]

Klick on the map here and find out more:
http://www.directferries.no/ruter.htm

www.colorline.no from Hirtshals DK to Kristiansand or Larvik, perhaps?
I noticed http://fjordline.no/ has lower prices after August 20; that is because the school starts after summer holiday.
Often the prices for ferries and hotels are better before June 20 and after August 20.
We have Norway Cup http://www.norway-cup.no/ in Oslo the first week in August every year so all campsites in Oslo are packed with kids and parents.

-What happends in Oslo? http://www.visitoslo.com/en/?cat=98371

This map http://kart.syklistene.no/ is a map for where to ride a bicycle in Norway. It can be useful for you as it give you an idea of where to find nice roads, BUT keep in mind not ALL roads are for motorcycles. Compare the rotes with a good normal map!
Red line on that map = ''sykkelforbud'' = not legal for bicycles. (To dangerous, I guess.)

-Do not miss Stegastein!
http://www.fjordbui.no//travel/uk/-travel-uk-Fjord-View-Adventure-3-472.html This company gives you an idea of where to find tourists...
http://www.visitnorway.com/no/Product/?pid=47186 = Stegastein pictures.

If you ride Lærdalstunnellen you miss Stegastein:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lærdal_Tunnel
http://www.bergen-guide.com/538.htm

The weather:
http://www.yr.no/
http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Hordaland/Ullensvang/Stegastein/

Sognefjorden:
http://www.sognefjord.no/en/

I hope you find somerthing useful here!

Liv.

 

[Neatbyname]

Hey "rdover", please keep the info flowing on your plans for a trip to Nordkapp next June. I am thinking of doing that trip myself, starting out from Hawick (not Harwich!), and I have been struggling to find a good route from here to Norway. Pity about the Newcastle - Bergen and Lerwick - Bergen routes going defunct.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Paul

 

[rdover]

The only way to go without spending days riding simply to get there seems to be via Harwich

We're trailering our bikes (12GSA, babyGS and Fazer Thou) to Harwich (biodiesel - cost return is £24 ) then:

ferry Harwich to Esberg
Esberg to Copenhagen and staying overnight
Ferry Copenhagen to Oslo
- This will take 4 days!

We're still planning our exact route but current plan is to head up to Nordkap reasonably quickly (fewer stops/longer days) as our main objective and then to potter our way South so if start to run out of time we can bang in a mega-long ride back to Oslo for the return 3 day trip.

Total time 4 weeks. coming back for 20th June or thereabouts

 

[Neatbyname]

The only way to go without spending days riding simply to get there seems to be via Harwich

We're trailering our bikes (12GSA, babyGS and Fazer Thou) to Harwich (biodiesel - cost return is £24 ) then:

ferry Harwich to Esberg
Esberg to Copenhagen and staying overnight
Ferry Copenhagen to Oslo
- This will take 4 days!

We're still planning our exact route but current plan is to head up to Nordkap reasonably quickly (fewer stops/longer days) as our main objective and then to potter our way South so if start to run out of time we can bang in a mega-long ride back to Oslo for the return 3 day trip.

Total time 4 weeks. coming back for 20th June or thereabouts

How did the trip go? I am thinking of making this trip in 2011 and would love to hear of others' experiences with the best routes, times to go, places to stay and fishing tales.

Cheers,

Paul

 

[Ragnhild]

Instead of going to Copenhagen from Esbjerg, I would consider going to Hirtshals and take one of the ferries from there to Kristiansand or Larvik.
It's shorter, and the back roads from Kristiansand are just lovely for a GSA (or any other motorbike, but I can't say that, because my dessert animal starts sulking if I say something about lesser animals )

Denmark is boring for motorbiking. Ooops, where did that bend come from ? And the Danes are a bit more aggressive in the traffic than yours truly and her dessert animal appreciate.

But I really appreciate the spelling checker on this site, it makes my English readable. And that's a big bonus

 

[rdover]

Instead of going to Copenhagen from Esbjerg, I would consider going to Hirtshals and take one of the ferries from there to Kristiansand or Larvik.
It's shorter, and the back roads from Kristiansand are just lovely for a GSA (or any other motorbike, but I can't say that, because my dessert animal starts sulking if I say something about lesser animals )

Denmark is boring for motorbiking. Ooops, where did that bend come from ? And the Danes are a bit more aggressive in the traffic than yours truly and her dessert animal appreciate.

I agree.

We had already got our ferry tickets when we changed our route plans to head through Sweden/Finland to Nordkapp (higher speed limits) otherwise would probably ridden up through Malmo.

Danish driving is scary - with serious aggression, total lack of consideration for other road users and general madness.

The whole journey was incredible and we have loads of stories but some advice:

do not rule out Nordkapp - it is a very long way but there is so much to see on the way there and back it makes it worthwhile. Not to mention bragging rights
decide on your daily mileage and plan accordingly - 300 miles per day is a long long way, 200 is quite easy. we did too many 400 mile days because if it rained we just kept going.
Decide on what you want to do and plan accordingly - we wanted to see countryside so we planned to ride the miles but also stopped to see stuff if we like the idea of it. We did become a little mileage obsessed. Next time I'll go for longer and go slower - probably by motorhome with the family.

 

[AdamA]

some advice:

do not rule out Nordkapp - it is a very long way but there is so much to see on the way there and back it makes it worthwhile. Not to mention bragging rights
decide on your daily mileage and plan accordingly - 300 miles per day is a long long way, 200 is quite easy. we did too many 400 mile days because if it rained we just kept going.

This kind of advice is pretty irrelevant without the reference of knowing how the person you are advising rides and thinks, as it is your opinion based of your capabilities.
Their's may differ.

For instance 300-400 mile days came very easy for me out there. Due to long hours of daylight and sleeping in an bivvy bag so early rising, a typical riding day started at 7 and ended at 10. Sure that's a long day but it's not all spent on the bike, and given just a 50mph riding speed it still means 300miles is rattled off in 6 hours, leaving the other 7 hours of the daylight to stop, rest, visit places, take photos, eat and fuel bikes etc...
Even the 500+ mile day we did would have been ok if we hadn't had it forced onto us late in the day...
It certainly wouldnt have been for everyone though.

Some people like to plan daily mileages, itineraries with fuel and accommodation stops etc. Others like to pretty much cuff it. Either's good, but up to the individuals on the ride really...

Also having been to the Nordkapp I wouldn't rec it to anyone whose time was limited, as there is far better scenery and roads to be found further south. Yes it's great to have it in the bag, IF it is not at the sacrifice of riding those areas. It's certainly pleasant scenery in the northern half of the country, but nothing I saw on the way up and back was worth not riding the stunning mountain passes further south. If you have the time to do both, gotta be done tho...

 

[Ragnhild]

Thanks rdover
Since Norway is my native country I don't mind other people bragging about it

As with all motorbiking, there is a question about where you are going, how fast you want to get there and what you want to experience along the road.

The scenery and the experience motorbiking north of the Arctic circle is worth the effort to go there. And why not have some fun on the way up? Driving through Norway is a bit shorter, but slower, since the roads are more interesting for motorbiking an the speed limit is 80 km/h. The Swedes offer 110 km/h and runway class tarmac.

But they do not offer this scenery

This is from june 2010 and the track is Arctic Circle Raceway (ACR) Sorry I couldn't find information in English
The Arctic circle is just beyond the mountains.
If you want to, there is a drop in option on the track. 150 NOK for three rounds and a certificate stating you have driven the northernmost raceway in the world. In Europe the next one of this class is the Nurnburgring.
And yes, it's yours truly and her dessert animal who is trying to keep up appearances against those small midgets

Like this BMW 800 ST

 

[LivNorway]

You can ride in Oslo like this. Or maybe you better not...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWh9tO9KJ5U

Liv.