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1 Feb 2007
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Fife, Scotland
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I have something similar in mind - I have friends in Finland to. Do let us know how you decide to do it! I would have liked to have gone this summer (I was thinking along the lines of using my 40th as an excuse), but realistically I reckon it will be next year. Horsedribble, if you ever want to meet up for a pint and discuss routes, you appear to be relatively local to me....
Stig
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Tall men see everyone else's bald patch but their own.......
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1 Feb 2007
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Horsedribble
Hi everyone,,,,, welcome to my first ever forum post! It's my lucky day!
I'm interested in riding up through Sweden and Finland to the top of Norway, then back down through Norway. Riding away from the sun doesn't seem to be the done thing and I can't find much info about such a trip.
Here's the deal, I'm getting very close to buying a standard R1200GS (not Adventure), and I'll have about 3 weeks max to do the trip, is that enough time to go right to the top?
Your thoughts and recommendations would be much appreciated!
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We did the Norkapp thing in 2005, great run. We did Bergen -> Nordkapp and back.
You get a bit bored on the E5 , but there are not many route choices. 3 weeks is more than enough
Have a gander out our trip
http://www.ytc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/...orway2005.html
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1 Feb 2007
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by jkrijt
Last year I drove from my home in the Netherlands to the NorthCape and back in 2 weeks on my BMW F650GS so 3 weeks should be no problem.
Here is my trip report:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jkrijt/trips/n2g/index.shtml
I can recommend it. It was one of the best trips I ever made! |
I'll agree with that statement !
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1 Feb 2007
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by MagnaBagger
Aaaah, Scandinavia!
Very beautifull! I drove there in 2005. Started in the Netherlands. Went through Sweden and Finland along the Russian border to North cape. And back through Norway. Don't forget to visit the Lofoten! Those islands in Norway are sooo beautifull!
I agree roads through Sweden are straight and sometimes boring. On the other hand, stay OFF the main roads! Those are the boring ones. In Lapland-Finland are some beautifull gravel roads near Pokka.
Three weeks are okay. I had four weeks, and did 13000Km. I went in Mei/June. I was in North cape on 6 June or so. Very early. North cape was just open for about 1 week, one week earlier there whas to much snow! Many people say that the North cape itself is not interesting, and you should not drive the last 100Km or so. I did! and spent almost three day's on the top. I was impressed. But perhaps it was fun because there wheren't some many tourists, it was to early.
Take good raining clothes with you, you will nead them ;-) And everything is expensive, but not as expensive as Island.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
 . . .  . . . 
Lakes in Sweden . . . muddy roads near Pokka . . . . Nortcape
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Near Lofoten . . . . . . . . . . Lofoten . . . . . . . . . . Trondheim
I want to go again! |
I hate you , you got sun in the Lofotens :-)
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19 Feb 2007
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: West coast of Sweden
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor
I agree that Norway is the way to go. You'll fall asleep on those Swedish
roads, too straight and too many trees. 
In Swedens defence, you have the best camping anywhere and your gravel
roads rock! |
Hi ewerybody!
I just had to log in myself as a user on this website! You al seem to miss something! Only Sweden will take you 3 weeks! You have to go the small roads, not the big ones!
I can tell you that Sweden has LOTS of gravelroads 
Please let me know if anyone is planing on going trough Sweden this summer!
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19 Feb 2007
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Location: Staffordshire. uk
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I totally agree about getting off the main roads for some gravel fun. You get to see the real Sweden. I really enjoyed myself there last year.
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7 Mar 2007
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Hi,
Follow the link below and there you have a roadbook on pure gravelroads in Sweden. From Stockholm to Kiruna which is in the most northern part of Sweden. approx 2500km of gravelorads. I've been driving big parts of it and it is very nice. You don't have to find any campings you just stay in a hut somewhere where you find it. 
http://soe.se/sverige/pannben/pannben.rar
That one is for printing it on paper.
Use this program to open the files above. It is a freeware developed by a friend of mine.
RBEditor - Roadbook editor
Here is a link to a zip-file with GPS files for this route.
http://forum.soe.se/attachment.php?a...3&d=1170102801
Just remove the end of the filename so that it ends with .zip.
Unzip and there you have files for your GPS.
Just ask if you need som help.
As I said, this is a long fantastic trip on gravel. You may just drive parts od it. But I would recommend the whole of it.
I'm gonna ride it with my friends this summer.
/Fredrik
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8 Mar 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor
I agree that Norway is the way to go. You'll fall asleep on those Swedish
roads, too straight and too many trees.
The 80kph limit isn't as bad as you think. You don't have to slow down
everytime you go past a town, they're off to the side. You're average speed
stays at 80kph for long stretches, and there's something to look at other
than fir trees.
In Swedens defence, you have the best camping anywhere and your gravel
roads rock!
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That's a new one! - someone from Staffordshire suggesting that Sweden is boring! Do get a life, doctor....
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11 Mar 2007
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Worcestershire
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June 23rd - July 14th
I am a new member, but not new to bikes. I am going to DO Norway in June / July. Arriving in Haugesund on 23rd, going as far as Tromso and returning via Esbjerg on July 14th. Any further info, other than the posts above would be useful. I ride a 1984 BMW R80 ST. I am interested in how many B&B's there are, I like to find one when I am tired enough. I find it a bit awkward to have to stop just because I have booked accomodation in advance. Also venturing to a new country I do not know how long it will take from place to place. Scenery and windy roads do slow me down. The weather also has some effect on daily riding miles. Hope someone can add some info.
Thanks
Ride Safe
Jan
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11 Mar 2007
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Jan, If your going from Haugesund its a great trip, I would suggest after leaving Haugesund on the E134 take the route 46 thenroute 520 over the mountain its a really spectacular introduction to norway and a wonderful road. You eventually join the E134 then route 13 North (also there is a nice stave church at Roldal that is worth seeing slightly south of the junction)and there are plenty Hytte (Cabins along the route You could make Eiderfjord / Brimness easily in a day. B&B can be pricy and I would suggest huts (Huts are about £35 -50 night) or camping (£5-10) are the way to go. Everyone camps in Norway its really nice way to meet people. I would suggest you reckon on between 200/250 mile a day maximum as the roads are slow and the scenery means you stop a lot - Dont forget to take your camera !. Its really not worth motoring on to make up miles, just enjoy where you are at the particular time of day. Have a great trip. Ther are loads of various routes all of which are great but the road to Vic is nice, the Trollstiggen spectacular and Lofoten Isles well worth a visit. The main E6 is good for thrashing the distance but I would use all the routes through the fjords to Trondheim then use the E6 to cover a distance but keep taking the side routes and coast road to get the best of Norway.
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12 Mar 2007
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huts
When I was touring in Scandinavia, I choose to sleep in cheap hotels/motels or huts.
Camping is nice when the weather is good but if you have a lot of rain (like I had) it is nice to have a real roof above you and a dry place to hang your wet clothes to dry.
A hut is a bit more expensive then camping but you have no worries about packing a wet tent and I sleep much better on a real bed.
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Jan Krijtenburg
My bikes are a Honda GoldWing GL1200 and a BMW R1200GS
My personal homepage with trip reports: https://www.krijtenburg.nl/
YouTube channel (that I do together with one of my sons): motormobilist.nl
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12 Mar 2007
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Hi Caminando,
Get a life? I felt like ending it after the mind dulling tedium of those roads. The country and it's people are wonderful but no-one could defend those green corridors. Ah, the M6 through Cannock, now there's a road ! 
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12 Mar 2007
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Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Oslo, Norway
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13 Mar 2007
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Join Date: Aug 2006
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Whats fuel and weather like?
Hello all,
I don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but....I am planning a trip up to Nordkapp in mid-July, so i was Just wanting some feedback from people that have previously done the trip about the temperature/weather and fuel availability. I know it is the best time weather wise to be there, but I am still unsure how cold it can get, especially thru the nights (planning to camp). Also, how frequent are petrol stations that far north? I can only get about 250-300km on a tank (GS500, small tank  ), will I need to carry extra fuel up there? I intend to take smaller, secondary paved roads, who wants to take the freeways
Any advice/experiences with weather, road conditions and fuel would be appreciated.
Thanks for the help.
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13 Mar 2007
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Fuel availability is no problem. This IS Norway, you know. We pump that stuff from the sea bed (price-wize you wouldn't believe that, though...). Tent camping is no problem. Two years ago, Tana in the middle of Finnmark County was warmer than Ghana in Africa for several weeks. Otoh, you might hit real bad weather. One never knows. It turns from sunny warm to rainy cold in a matter of minutes. Temps might creep down to 10 Centigrades, but that shouldn't be a problem. Just bring your rain gear. And you wouldn't know if it is night or not. The sun burns 24 hrs a day up there. That's always a problem when you want to party all night long. Roads are paved. A bit frost heave after a long winter, but rarely a problem.
Have a great trip!
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