Nordkapp June 2018
 

Just started doing my research for a trip to Norway in June 2018. If anyone has some hints and tips feel free to throw them my way.

Im from the Lofoten islands in northern Norway. So I now Norway, at least northern Norway quite well. So if theres anything specific you want to know I might be able to help you.

Where are you starting from? Whats your rough route plan?

Generally it's a question of which route you take up, and which one you take down.

1) Via the Baltics and Finland - riding all the way through Poland or taking a 24hr ferry from Kiel/Rostock to Klaipeda or Ventspils/Liepaja. Then an easy ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki, and it's a three-day ride via safe, good, fast, somewhat boring roads. Or an overnight car-train ride that will take you two thirds of the way there, to just where the scenery starts to get really good.

2) Via Denmark and Sweden - again fast, easy, boring.

3) Via the Norwegian coast - slow, gorgeous. Stay off the E6, google the Norwegian Tourist Routes and stick to those, feel free to take detours.

Norway is more expensive than Sweden or Finland, but none of them are cheap, really. Wild camping is possible in all of them and in the Baltics (but not in Denmark), and you'll find cheap basic cabins - hytte or mökk - all along the road, for when you need a dry place to sleep.

EDIT: In June you are looking at the most important holiday in North Europe, the summer solstice, on the 23rd/24th weekend. Assume everything will be closed and everyone will be out in the countryside, drinking by the bonfire.

I am setting off from the UK and the advice I have received so far is that it is best to head up quickly via Denmark and Sweden and then slowly back via the Norway coast with various sights to see. Good call about the summer solstice holiday I will be sure to keep that in mind and stock up on essentials.

Here you can have some information about the socalled national tourist roads of Norway: https://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/no/turistvegene

As mentioned above - maybe ride through Norway one way and Sweden or Finland and even the Baltics the other way.

In Norway the main route north-south is called the E6. It starts almost at the southeasternmost point of Norway and goes through the whole country and ends in the town of Kirkenes, the bordertown to Russia. But E6 is a heavily trafficed road and especially during summer, and its maybe not the most exiting route either. So a good advice is to stay away from E6 as much as possible. I presume you might want to see some of the fjords of the westcoast such as Lysefjorden near Stavanger, you can take a ferry from Stavanger to the bottom of the fjord and ride a spectacular road up, or vice versa of course.

Further north you can ride through the Geirangerfjord, further north to Trollstigen, then the Atlanterhavsveien.
Further north of Trondheim you can choose Kystriksveien/Heleglandskysten and stay on that almost all the way to the city of Bodø. It includes 5-6 ferries so you better calculate that. From Bodø take a ferry over to the Lofoten islands, further through the Vesterålen islands and to Andenes, take a ferry from there (the whale route) to the island of Senja, cross Senja on the outer side/west side, then further a ferry to Kvaløya and then theres only 60 kms to Tromsø, the biggest city in Northern Norway. From Tromsø you can take the road via Lyngen which includes two short ferry hops, but will save you some very boring stretches on the E6. But from Olderdalen you will have no other option than the E6 a bit northbound.

Wildcamping is allowed in Norway as long as its 150 meteres away from nearest house, but not on farmed land or land used for grassing. Its always better to ask the nearest settlements if something is not clear.

Midsummer night solstice is a big thing in Sweden and a public holiday there, but not so much in Norway. So nothing to worry about if youre in Norway that day. Shops and restaurants will be open as usual.

Alcohol and tobacco are very expensive in Scandinavia, especially in Norway, so you better stuck up on that before coming there if you want to save some cash.

nordkapp trip
 

hei Dubber, I think you will find this essential reading

Indu: //www.horizonsunlimited.com/country/norway/norway-on-a-shoestring

The best written and most comprehensive country rapport, wish others were like this.

Wishing you "weather luck", but keep your planning flexible to avoid bad weather.

Safe travels

Peter, in Oslo

Hey, is that 99NOK Statoil cup offer still going? :D

Norway 2018
 

hei AnTyx,

Statoil has changed brandname to Circle K, which cost millions, and their coffee cup is now Nok 299, but it is still a relativly good deal.

Peter

I wasn't aware of the whale route. Seeing whales is high on my bucket list. Fingers crossed. I am pretty sure I will be heading up through Sweden and Finland on the way up and trying to make good time to the far North, then meander back through Norway taking in the sights.

I have already started reading through his thread and have bookmarked it as a reference for the future. Thanks though for pointing it out.:thumbup1:

Look for hytte to avoid the mosquitos!

Be aware that some of the info in the Norway page is somewhat outdated - I’ll contact the Johnsons to update it. There are some more and updated info at ridenorway.com (non-commercial, rider-to-rider info only).

Heading across the Atlantic on July 19,2018 and hoping to ride the Baltic route "counter-clockwise" up through Finland and south along the Norwegian fjords. I am following up on recommended ride reports. Given the weather and the ferries and the apparently complicated routing necessary to have a great ride through western Norway, I am at a loss for how to really plan such a trip.
I don't mind traveling without a plan but would not want to find myself sitting on a dock waiting four days for the next available ferry. Is 5 weeks long enough to make this big circle?
--JohnD

No way you gonna have to wait 4 days for a ferry on a motorbike. Im from northern Norway so I have some knowledge about the ferries there, maybe another fellow norwegian can chime in and add info about the ferries from mid-Norway and south, lets say from Trondheim?

There are 3 ferry stretches that can get a bit complicated in the north.
First one is from Bodø to Moskenes, from the mainland to the Lofoten islands. This is a 3-4 hour crossing, and a few departures also goes to the remote islands of Værøy and Røst. And if youre not going there - avoid these departures as its a detour of many hours.
And at the peak of the summer where all central european campervans (germans...) comes northbond and most of Norway are on holidays it can get cramped and be long lines and waits on this stretch. But most people are lazy, they want to travel at daytime, so early morning departures and late evening departures are normally less crowded. Bodø-Moskenes They even have a midnight cruise over I think. It will be broad daylight even at midnight or 3 am so you will see the same as at daytime.

The other two stretches are Andenes - Gryllefjord (The Whale Route) This is just a ferry that operates during summer, roughly late May to September. It is a 1 h 45 min crossing and its normally operates only by one vessel. And there are usually 3 departures pr day. So be aware of that. Unfortunately I couldnt find the schedules for this ferry.
The last stretch is Brensholmen - Botnhamn. From the northern tip of the Senja island and to the southern tip of Kvaløya. Its also a summer only route afaik. And also operated by one vessel only and crossing is 40 minutes if I remember correctly. So there wont be heaps of departures. And Im sorry again as I couldnt find the schedules for this ferry.

All other ferry stretches should be trafficed regularely and even be more departures during summer than normally. That said, at peak days and hours theres no guarantee that you might miss a departure or maybe two. But they usually find spots for bikes. Anyhow - bring a book or a Kindle in case of some waiting.

Some useful tips there about using ferries off peak.