Trip report Norway July 2025

[Ali-bear]

Moved.

Richard

=========]

I took my R1250R for a tour of Norway and other parts of Scandinavia. I've been before, back in 2013, so this was a trip to visit some places I didn't get to that time, mainly to see the Fjords and ride the roads of southern and western Norway. I would be camping mostly with some hotels and huts.

I took the Harwich/Hook van Holland ferry (overnight) and the Hirtshals to Kristiansand ferry. Both excellent.

The weather was hot, the whole area benefiting from the same heatwaves we've had in western Europe this summer. Some rain encountered on the trip up across England, Holland and northern Germany.

Rode all of the famous roads including down Trollstiegen - it had only just re-opened after closure for repairs. And that tunnel with a roundabout in it - I went the wrong way, had to u-turn on the suspension bridge it emerges onto from the cliff face!

I went with soft luggage from Lomo - which I was very pleased with - plus the old top-box and a small tank bag (useful as only means of phone charging).

Queing for the Hirtshals ferry

Plenty of this sort of thing

Road down to Lsyebotn was fun. Norway has some tremendous roads and plenty of interesting tunnels.

Visited the southernmost point of mainland Norway.

Took the hike to Pulpit rock with all the other tourists. They don't like it when you the jump the queue for the big photo op.

Don't go to Norway if you don't like this sort of thing.

This is a rest area in the Laerdal tunnel. I was going to take the famous mountain road but it was clogged with camper vans and coaches! Damn tourists!

More. One of the giants left the tap running.

Took the scenic route up the west coast towards Bodo. One of the smaller ferries (wasn't charged on that crossing - in fact I only paid for 3 ferries in Norway and I must have used 8 or so)

Decided to go all the was to Nordkapp. The weather was so good, actually too hot at times, it was an opportunity. So I didn't visit Lofoten or the Bergen area. But I've been to Lofoten on the last trip and it was epic. And I'd like to see Bergen. Perhaps on another trip, or maybe in the winter and not on the bike. You can't do it all in one trip.

Saw lots of GS's of course. But I found out they cheat. Just look at this sneaky pair at Alta campsite!

Onward to Nordkapp. Bit touristy TBH.

The long journey home south via Finland and Sweden (Lapland)

A trip of three weeks. The bike performed perfectly even with the big luggage. But I never went very fast - I'm more of a steady plodder. I did experience plenty of sore backside and hips.

 

[Davey B]

It really is a stunning country.

 

[Squonk]

That’s top of my bucket list, superb trip.

 

[Mzokk]

Thanks for posting. 20 years since I've been. Were did they go!!

 

[Hatcho]

Awesome place. And a great write up too. Thanks for sharing. Has me gunning to get back there!

 

[Ali-bear]

Wasn't all sunshine but it was too hot at times, some heavy showers and some long days in the saddle. On the way up the motorway tunnel under the Elbe at Hamburg was shut, so, the entire motorway diverted via Hamburg city centre. Lots of bitey flies thanks to warm weather. Lots of service station food including pizza and hot dogs.

Only met a few Brits, saw a few UK number plates. Saw as many Italians! You guys need to disregard the Picos and Alps. It was all easy, no police enforcement seen, ferries were easy and I only had to wait maybe 45 minutes for one of them (weekend busy).

Met a nice Brit couple making their way around slowly on a Ural sidecar outfit. And a nice Brit lady in a small Nissan camper.

Doing it again I would not bother with the tent and sleeping bag, but travel lighter and use huts and hotels. It was taking about an hour and a half to pack up and get going from a campsite each morning. And it costs about 25 GBP to pitch a tent in Norway, about 15 in Sweden. Some camp sites were full, even for tents, although that was on the more popular Fjords, so get on booking dot com and find something else even if its a creaky old hotel.

 

[glenn2926]

Lovely write up of your trip. We went two years ago but didn’t get to Nordkapp. Maybe next time. We used the Kiel-Oslo ferry which was very good, more like a cruise ship really. It’s not a place for fast riding as the scenery is just lovely to see. We had one wet day in three weeks so pretty good weather.
Lofoton was fantastic but the Atlantic Ocean road was not as good as expected really. I’m not a fan of cities but we had our last night in Oslo and I found it a very nice city with great restaurants and bars. Very clean and tidy.

 

[Mongoose]

Enjoyed this, thanks. I seem to recall someone on here doing a couple of weeks round Norway in a tent a couple of years ago, but still spending a huge fortune to do it? A mate of mine contracted there for several years and his tales of €40 lasagnes put me off a little. Did you find it hugely expensive overall?

 

[Ali-bear]

Things are generally about 50% more costly in Norway, except drink which is quite a lot more. You can mitigate this by not drinking much, or taking your own (bottle of whisky in the roll bag). In Denmark you can sometimes see folk decanting vodka etc into water bottles on the way to the ferry.

I took with me coffee and porridge to make on the Primus stove for breakfast. Fast food or service station food in the day. Sometimes buy a couple of bread rolls and a packet of salami at a supermarket. Often ate in the afternoon and had no evening meal. Also got through a few dehydrated camping meals of the type you can buy in Go Outdoors. Other choices are available.

 

[Rusty]

That was a great read .. thank you and very well done ! Looks absolutely brilliant.

 

[Udders]

Cracking trip.
I’m definitely going next year. I’ll have about 40 days so plan on going up through Sweden ( the long boring way apparently ) but a lot quicker to get to the Nordkapp. Then spend 2-3 weeks going the scenic way back down through Norway. Can’t wait.

 

[Udders]

Ok, how long did it take you to get from Hook Van Holland up to Hirtshals? I was guessing at 2 days. That was my original route. I’m now thinking of going via the ferry at Puttegarden to Rødby then Copenhagen, Stockholm, Luleå direction for speed instead.
I don’t mind long days in the saddle but never having been to Scandinavia before I’m totally guessing at daily distances at the moment.
I’ll be going around June / July hoping the passes will all be open and being a few degrees warmer.
Cheers.

 

[NeilDD]

Ok, how long did it take you to get from Hook Van Holland up to Hirtshals? I was guessing at 2 days. That was my original route. I’m now thinking of going via the ferry at Puttegarden to Rødby then Copenhagen, Stockholm, Luleå direction for speed instead.
I don’t mind long days in the saddle but never having been to Scandinavia before I’m totally guessing at daily distances at the moment.
I’ll be going around June / July hoping the passes will all be open and being a few degrees warmer.
Cheers.

If you book the bridge between Copenhagen and Sweden at the same time as you ferry from Puttgarden you will get a discount on the bridge. (Booking through the ferry company)

I took 5 days from Cambridge to Umea in northern Sweden, this included the o/night ferry from Harwich to the Hook.
Don't go to far over the speed limit if you use the coast road going north, as the local police have hidden unmanned speed traps, and they wait for you up the road

 

[Ali-bear]

I stayed overnight in northern Germany, town called Heide. Chosen to make the morning's ride to Hirtshals in good time and also preferring a small town to a big city - I've heard about someone who had all their camping gear nicked in Bremen. But I was unlucky at Hamburg - the motorway tunnel under the Elbe river was shut so the entire motorway was diverted via Hamburg city centre, with predictably hilarious results. I think a town on the east side of northern Germany would work better for this overnight stop.

If you're going up through Sweden then the Gothenburg ferry is a good choice.

 

[longdog]

Great ride, great country and great report, thanks for sharing.

 

[Hartley]

Just back myself, great read. Thanks for posting

 

[TommyGunAdam]

Ok, how long did it take you to get from Hook Van Holland up to Hirtshals? I was guessing at 2 days. That was my original route. I’m now thinking of going via the ferry at Puttegarden to Rødby then Copenhagen, Stockholm, Luleå direction for speed instead.
I don’t mind long days in the saddle but never having been to Scandinavia before I’m totally guessing at daily distances at the moment.
I’ll be going around June / July hoping the passes will all be open and being a few degrees warmer.
Cheers.

Hi,
I travelled from Scotland to southwestern Norway in June. Newcastle to Amsterdam overnight ferry, then to a hotel in Norderstedt north of Hamburg on day 1, about 320 miles. Hotel had secure underground parking in a good area. Another 300+ miles the next day and took the Fjordline ferry to Bergen. 2 long boring motorway days. Once in Norway though it’s a different story …. Fjordline ferry was great. Coming back I travelled back from Oslo through southern Sweden, stopping at a B&B in Falkenberg then over the Oresund bridge and stayed at Bandholm in Denmark. Nice hotel and just along the road from the Rodney Puttgarden ferry. I wouldn’t go this way again as it was another pretty boring grind given the schedule I had set. 19 day trip. Stopped in Bergen on the way back for a few. 3000 miles over the 14 days of riding.

 

[TommyGunAdam]

Hi,
I travelled from Scotland to southwestern Norway in June. Newcastle to Amsterdam overnight ferry, then to a hotel in Norderstedt north of Hamburg on day 1, about 320 miles. Hotel had secure underground parking in a good area. Another 300+ miles the next day and took the Fjordline ferry to Bergen. 2 long boring motorway days. Once in Norway though it’s a different story …. Fjordline ferry was great. Coming back I travelled back from Oslo through southern Sweden, stopping at a B&B in Falkenberg then over the Oresund bridge and stayed at Bandholm in Denmark. Nice hotel and just along the road from the Rodney Puttgarden ferry. I wouldn’t go this way again as it was another pretty boring grind given the schedule I had set. 19 day trip. Stopped in Bergen on the way back for a few. 3000 miles over the 14 days of riding.

Should have said it was windy AF and wet on the way to Norway and the way back, hence progress was slower than planned.