Norway - Arctic Circle - Finland - Baltics 2013

[SpinDrift]

Wasn't aware of that ferry.

Would have liked to include Sweden, but didnt have the time. Our Norwegian friends were heading up North as well but were going to drive up drive up Sweden and down Norway, as you say because of the roads and the cost of fuel, and probably the duty frees as well

 

[SpinDrift]

Hi Andy,

yes, you need to be on the SW coast to do pulpit, so it is a little distance away from the fjords.

We werent going to the Lofoten's originally We had a route to follow, but changed our minds where we were there. I would say that the Lofotens are a destination in their own right. You get the islands, the sea, nature, wilderness and solitude. Great place. And you should be able to arrange a whale watching trip form there.

re the mileage, we were carrying quite a bit of stuff plus the roof tent. of the 6500 miles we covered, I'd say some 2,500 were in Norway. The rest were in countries with higher speed limits.

The Bergen ferry is a great loss. Surely it would increase tourism both ways. Bergen itself is a nice city to visit, and it is on the doorstep of the fjords. I dont know why they cancelled it. There weren't many brits on the the road in Norway. The most notable were the German, Dutch, French, Czech and Polish car. Obviously there were a few Swedish and Finnish cars.

Great photos so far. I want to visit pulpit rock one day, but have always missed it as headed north to fjords instead.
Looks like you went to Lofoten Islands too, another place on my list to visit.

Suprised you didnt better 21mpg given the 50mph speed limit in most of Norway.
We averagef 20mpg for our 2500mile alps trip in our Collie.

Look forward to the Lofoten pics
wish the newcastle to Bergen ferry would be restarted. Otherwise its a long trip to Norway from Aberdeenshire

 

[SpinDrift]

The next day we continued north along the 13 in the Ryfylke region and then on into the Hardanger region, with great views of mountains, fjords and waterfalls:

 

[SpinDrift]

In the evening we stopped at Indre Arna to catch the train into Bergen – 8 minutes away cutting through a mountain. We visited the historic waterfront with its wooden buildings and wandered round the town.












We then got the 11.00pm train back to the car and headed off to find somewhere to sleep, eventually finding a parking area next to a reservoir at the top of narrow single lane road that clung precariously to the side of a valley – sorry no pics, it was almost 1.00am by now and I was beat.

 

[AndyCook]

You were lucky to visit Bergen when it wasn't raining

I'm fond if Norway, its only 1hr flight to Stavanger from Aberdeen, and I have spent quite a bit of time visiting Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Oslo with my work in Oil industry and also holidays.
I think Trondheim of the citys is my favourite i worked with there for a month once at Statoil.
Oslo is very different.

 

[clivehorridge]

Excellent write-up so far and such wonderful photos!

Thanks Reinhard...

 

[SpinDrift]

We were lucky with Bergen ... the sun was actually shining when we were there. It did rain several times during the trip. Bergen was the only city we visited.

Norway is a great place to visit. You are lucky to have had travel there on business.

You were lucky to visit Bergen when it wasn't raining

I'm fond if Norway, its only 1hr flight to Stavanger from Aberdeen, and I have spent quite a bit of time visiting Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Oslo with my work in Oil industry and also holidays.
I think Trondheim of the citys is my favourite i worked with there for a month once at Statoil.
Oslo is very different.

 

[SpinDrift]

Thanks Clive. Glad you are enjoying. Write up is coming along a little slow as things have been manic since I have been back.

Excellent write-up so far and such wonderful photos!

Thanks Reinhard...

 

[TonyP]

Thanks SpinDrift, really enjoying your write-up, looks amazing

Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Crispin]

Very cool report. Nice pics. I would like to see that rock one day...

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SpinDrift]

Thanks. All doable in a standard vehicle. There were motor homes all the way to the top.

 

[AndyCook]

I am amazed that people book on commercial guided trips for Norway etc, given there is little offroad driving.
but i understand it is good to have company of other vehicles in case something goes wrong as some places pretty remote in the far north..
we had a wheel stud snap on our subaru nr Trondheim, and were lucky we were able to get a recovery lorry and that there was a subaru dealership in Trondheim to do the repairs!

like the photos of the old wooden wharf buildings in Bergen

 

[chadr]

That looks and sounds like a fantastic trip - thanks for the excellent report and pics.

 

[SpinDrift]

The next day we headed for the Aurlandsfjellet region. Shortly after we joined route 7, we entered an 7.5 km Vallavik Tunnel which we hoped would lead us to a bridge that would cross the Eidfjorden. Unfortunately the bridge is still work in progress (we had to catch a ferry instead) but the turn off that leads to it is finished, and it is in the tunnel!!





The Aurlandsfjellet route took us up into the mountains. The landscape was one of rocky outcrops, short grass and lichen, lakes and desolate cottages. The overcast sky added to the desolation. Nice.











It is possible to avoid climbing into the mountains by cutting through the Laerdal Tunnel, which at 24.5km is the world’s longest, but the view would not have been the same!!

We headed for Borgund to visit the 800 year old Stave Church, so called because it is built of .... wooden staves.




That evening we set up camp in a small layby on an old road (now bypassed by a tunnel on the E16) next to river, and with a Steyr overland truck for company.

 

[clivehorridge]

Thanks Clive. Glad you are enjoying. Write up is coming along a little slow as things have been manic since I have been back.

I know the feeling, we've just had a week on the beach and today was my first day back. Can't believe how much I have to do in the next 3 days!

 

[clivehorridge]

Reinhard,

I could comfortably live with this picture on my living room wall.

It's simply superb!

View attachment 7703

 

[Shayne]

Clive i have to agree , had i chanced upon that picture without knowing from where it came i would have guessed it to be an incredibly expensive painting .

Reinhard you MUST enter that pic into a competition somewhere it might well pay for your whole trip !

 

[SpinDrift]

Thanks

 

[SpinDrift]

After a bit of delay I have managed to get round to preparing the next bit of the writeup ...

The next morning we continued on to Gaupne,









and then on up to the Nigardsbrean Glacier. We parked up and walked out to the glacier. The ice has receded considerable (by the length of the lake that lays before it) over the last 100 years, but it is till impressive. You can see how small the people look when they stand next to the glacier.











Unfortunately the surface of the ice is dirty with pollution, but the cracks and fissures reveal an amazing blue colour.









Walking tours on the glacier are on offer and you can see tiny people walking on the ice.

 

[SpinDrift]

We returned to Gaupne and then drove along the side of the fjord towards Urnes to see the Stave Church there.












From here we picked up route 55. This part of the 55 follows the route of the old Sognefjellet road that connects the East and West of Norway, passing through Northern Europe’s highest mountain pass.















The route takes you to Lom, where there is another Stave church.



From here we headed west on route 15 and parked up in a rest area next to a reservoir for the night.