Norway Summer 2024

[AeonMach]

I will be doing a similar trip next year, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and down through Finland visiting family, and looking at your Van I take it it is not a Camper, so using the Bizz/Oresund Pass what is your van categorised as, as mine is a t32 Kombi kitted out for sleeping but not a Camper. TIA

Mine actually IS a camper. Albeit without fixed sink and gas. It’s a stealth camper!
And I dunno what mine was classified as exactly although I’m not sure it matters: it’s mostly on weight class and length.
I think there may have been something to declare campervan status; possibly for eg gas?

 

[AeonMach]

And we’re off!

DAY 1 - LEAVE BLIGHTY VIA SHUTTLE, LOW COUNTRY ACTION!
Dinner in G(h)ent - v tasty shrimp croquettes and some beer cos Mrs Mac was happy to drive after (getting us past Antwerp before bed!) and then a quiet park-up at an old Abbey (well until the roosters in the morning!!), acquired some of their beer before setting off…
… next stop a pal near Kiel!

 

[aworthy]

So first stop is deepest Englandshire in a lovely campsite - Town Farm - near Ivinghoe and the Ridgeway. Beautiful rolling chalk hills.
View attachment 249567

(I can’t tell you exactly what county it’s in; Ivinghoe is in Bucks, postcode town Leighton Buzzard is in Beds and nearest station - Tring, 5 mins away and v handy for train into London - is in Herts!! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Very family camping oriented.
Loads of space (do NOT bother with EHU since you get least nice spaces near farm buildings!) in well drained fields.

Wasn’t even too raucous with the ENG-SUI match on last night!
Well done England

It’s one of the closest campsites to me, I was there a few weeks ago!

Did you have the catering wagons in an evening? That’s a nice touch! It’s also about 15min walk down a rural path to a local pub

 

[AeonMach]

It’s one of the closest campsites to me, I was there a few weeks ago!

Did you have the catering wagons in an evening? That’s a nice touch! It’s also about 15min walk down a rural path to a local pub

Yeah it was great. Fish and chips van - very popular although we just bbq’d.
Good to know about the path to the pub!!

 

[AeonMach]

DAY 2 - FROM BELGIUM ACROSS THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY TO NEAR KIEL
Not too much to say; just a longish day of driving (600km - although it’s possibly to push much farther and longer there was also the matter of fun like getting round Hamburg at rush hour…) to make a bbq dinner with old sailing pals near Kiel.

We did manage the German classic ‘curry wurst mit pommes frites’ for lunch snack too!


DAY 3 - GERMANY TO HIRTSHALS (northern tip of Denmark - for ferry to Kristiansand in Norway)
Now en route uk through Denmark. A mere 5 hours or so today. Will stop in Aalborg for some sightseeing and break the journey. And will overnight somewhere near Hirtshals ready for morning ferry.

PS Aalborg was nice and I can also report excellent fish and chips at Hirtshals!

 

[AeonMach]

DAY 4 & 5 - FERRY ACROSS THE SKAGERAK, NORWAY ARRIVAL, KJERAG & PREIKESTOLEN

Well the forecast for the next couple of days was awesome so ‘carpe diem’ (‘seize the day’ for anyone even worse than me at Latin): we made a decision not to take the coast road to Stavanger and then into the fjords but rather head directly north up Setesdal (not really on the tourist radar but a great route north with some stunning scenery, directly to the mountains!) and wild camped by a river on a small road heading back west towards next day’s objective: am amazing rocky hike up Kjerag (peak) and to the Kjeragbolten (jammed boulder in a ravine/cliff!).



Then overnighted in a campsite in Stavanger cos we wanted showers (Mosvanger - ok for Stavanger and they squeezed us in late but not recommended unless you want to be in Stavanger cos it was packed like a battery farm! We were going to go to Preikestolen campsite - where we then went next day - but the ferry across to get there was rammed and we were facing a 1-2 hour queue!! )

Then next day - with the most perfect weather - we headed (EARLY - again - to beat at least some of the crowds) for Preikestolen. One of Norway’s natural wonders.
(Via the Ryfast tunnel system - one of Norway’s manmade wonders: “When the last section was drilled on 26 October 2017, Ryfast became the longest undersea road tunnel in the world, with its 14.3-kilometre (8.9 mi) length … It is also currently the world's deepest subsea tunnel, reaching a maximum depth of 292 metres (958 ft) below sea level.”)

 

[AeonMach]

DAYS 6, 7 & 8 - STAVANGER TO BERGEN VIA THE RYFYLKE & HARDANGERFJORD SCENIC ROUTES, RØLDAL, ODDA AND THE FOLGEFONN PENINSULA
… featuring incredible mountain roads (single track up to 1,000m, a stave church, stunning alpine scenery, waterfalls, fruit orchards, and more stunning weather!

Photos to follow (when I can get better WiFi or a signal - usually v good!)

—

Wild camp on the Ryfylke scenic route:


View next morning as we started on the hairpins bends down to Røldal:


Røldal stave church:


Orchards near Ullensvang - on an arm of the Hardangerfjord - we did a nice wee walk up to some waterfalls:


Evening camp and dinner looking over the Hardangerfjord;

 

[AeonMach]

Updated with pics above!

 

[AeonMach]

DAYS 9 & 10 - BERGEN!



And then in the evening heading inland eastwards towards Voss - through more tunnels than I have ever travelled in my life so far probably!!

DAY 10 - VOSS TO AURLANDSVANGEN
[near busy Flåm - which I don't recommend; just because the cruise ships land there doesn’t mean you have to go there!! ;-) ]

Stegastein viewpoint - at the top of some crazy hairpins - made even crazier by motorhomes, caravans and tourist buses!!




And then in the late afternoon (after a few heavy showers - some of the only rain we had other than a rainy day on way to Ålesund later) we did a cracking walk up a bit higher than the viewpoint up to a beacon near the summit of a fell called 'Prest' (Priest):

You can see the hairpins down below!

 

[AeonMach]

DAYS 11, 12 & 13 - FROM AURLANDSVANGEN VIA LOEN to ÅLESUND & ISLANDS

Featuring the longest road tunnel in Norway - 24.5km - with full mobile and radio reception and funky rest areas to relive the boredom at 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 of the way through!
And a classic efficient Norwegian ferry across the massive Sognefjord which we were last on just before it sailed!
They’re all paid automatically - as are toll roads/tunnels - via the ‘Autopass’ system via number plate recognition or infrared tag (available from various suppliers - we used the Øresund bridge supplier - Øresundpay - which works all over Scandi).)



In the middle of the tunnel:


Van on efficient and modern Norwegian ferry across the incredible Sogneford:


To an amazing campsite near Loen looking beautiful Lovatnet and icefalls:


Then next day to Ålesund via more ferries - there were 4 serving this trunk road route!!


Ålesund:


And then the next morning - after a wild campervan stopover next to a Skye bridge look-alike - we climbed the fell on the R in the pic above (which we got to via 3 deep subsea tunnels and the aforementioned bridge!!!).

Looking back from the Storhorn to Ålesund:


And at this point we turned back south - intending to enjoy some time in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands on the way....

 

[AeonMach]

DAYS 13 (PM), 14, 15, 16 & 17 - SOUTH TO FREDRIKSTAD (near the Swedish border) AND SWEDEN - GREBBESTAD (BOHUSLÄN/REGION), HELSINGBORG, MALMÖ

Via a (free/donation) aire at an old church just off the main trunk road between Ålesund/Åndalnes and Oslo where we came across a rather surprising and moving Commonwealth War Grave - mostly young soldiers of the Green Howards (a Yorkshire regiment) killed as part of Allied efforts to stop the Nazi invasion of Norway:



The beautiful old star fortress town of Fredrikstad (sometimes being tall is useful!):


Basically, after all the time to get up through western Norway, it took us less than two days (two half days almost) - to get all the way from Ålesund back south to the Swedish border.

Then Sweden and its stunning east coast - skerries and sunsets (and a cheap meatballs lunch in IKEA on the way past Göteborg/Gothenburg! ):


Next stop: across the Øresund bridge to Copenhagen and Denmark...

 

[Ricardo T]

Great thread @AeonMach...love reading your updates and seeing you pics. Doesnt look overly busy or have you carefully photographed your pics?

Unfortunately we legged it up the Swedish east coast on their quicker roads (in order to maximise our time in northern Norway and Lofoten) so didnt explore the Swedish coast which did look stunning, especially up north.!
Enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[Pedro20001]

Awesome, we're not far away, we are in Lapland ATM, went to the church, the viewpoint and currently in Finland after leaving the artic circle visitors centre the day before yesterday. Absolutely loving Scandinavia. Met some incredible people and seen some amazing scenery too. Loved the laerdal tunnel, felt strange stopping and taking a photo but why not. Have a fantastic rest of your trip and enjoy, I know we are

 

[AeonMach]

Awesome, we're not far away, we are in Lapland ATM, went to the church, the viewpoint and currently in Finland after leaving the artic circle visitors centre the day before yesterday. Absolutely loving Scandinavia. Met some incredible people and seen some amazing scenery too. Loved the laerdal tunnel, felt strange stopping and taking a photo but why not. Have a fantastic rest of your trip and enjoy, I know we areView attachment 255089

Lol, I wanted to stop in the Lærdal tunnel but my wife (who was driving - I took the pic from the passenger seat!) wouldn't stop! I think she was freaked out by being that far underground or something!!

 

[AeonMach]

DAYS 18, 19 & 20 - COPENHAGEN, SE DENMARK - ISLANDS OF MØN, FALSTER AND LOLLAND - FERRY FROM RØDBYHAVN to PUTTGARDEN, GERMANY, ACROSS TO THE NETHERLANDS

Across the Øresund bridge from Malmö, then a wonderful day in Copenhagen (been before!) revisiting some of the wonderful city, tootling about on bikes, visiting the Design Museum, before dinner and bucket of cold beer at Reffen streetfood market:




Then next day in SE Denmark islands and a visit to the amazing chalk cliffs of Møns Klint:


Before a stopover at a cheap community aire on the coast near Rødbyhavn for the short ferry across to Germany the next day.
And we got front of the ferry (and it's really quite a large ferry - not quite cross channel but pretty large!):


Then a cruise across northern Germany to the Dutch border near Groningen for a last few days in the Netherlands before heading for home...

 

[Pedro20001]

Lol, I wanted to stop in the Lærdal tunnel but my wife (who was driving - I took the pic from the passenger seat!) wouldn't stop! I think she was freaked out by being that far underground or something!!

I can't blame her tbh , it was a weird thing stopping in a tunnel for a selfie

 

[Pedro20001]

We did go bear watching today very near the finland - Russian border ( 1 mile of no man's land between us and them ). Was a twitchy moment especially when the border patrol passed up and looked at us rather sternly

 

[AeonMach]

We did go bear watching today very near the finland - Russian border ( 1 mile of no man's land between us and them ). Was a twitchy moment especially when the border patrol passed up and looked at us rather sternly View attachment 255256View attachment 255257View attachment 255258View attachment 255259View attachment 255260View attachment 255261View attachment 255262

Wow I don't know what would make me more nervous: the bear or being near The Bear (Russia - the Russian border)...!!

 

[AeonMach]

DAYS 21, 22 & 23 - NETHERLANDS - LAST DAYS BEFORE HEADING FOR HOME

Wee visit and lunch in Groningen (and capital the Groningen 'county' in the NE of the Netherlands). Very nice wee city indeed. Well worth a stop. Good places for lunch. I had this Dutch version of brunch fry-up: the 12-o-clocker:

The

Then to a very nice wee campsite in the beautiful old town of Enkhuizen (thoroughly recommend both!):


And then over the next couple of days, trips to Alkmaar - famed for its cheese market and again another v nice old town. Dutch cheese is very underrated btw - we tend to only know basic Edam which is the equivalent of basic supermarket cheddar but the AGED stuff is incredible - almost like parmesan!:


...and then day-trip to the west Frisian island of Texel via Den Helder - tip of Holland (and I'm using Holland here precisely!!) - and a ferry before tootling around the island on bikes (me and Mrs Mac):


DAYS 24 & 25 - HEADING FOR THE ROTTERDAM TO HULL FERRY - VIA A BEACH BAR AT WASSENAAR

The Dutch do these really nice beach bars on the North Sea 'strands':


Before the overnight Rotterdam - Hull ferry (cutting out some long miles both down and across to Calais and then back up through England). Slightly odd ferry which also sells itself as a mini-cruise which results in an annoying over-abundance of entertainment with few places to chill and read a book....!

Then home (nearly!)


THE END
--
I will maybe add a closing thoughts and tips post....

 

[Pedro20001]

DAYS 21, 22 & 23 - NETHERLANDS - LAST DAYS BEFORE HEADING FOR HOME

Wee visit and lunch in Groningen (and capital the Groningen 'county' in the NE of the Netherlands). Very nice wee city indeed. Well worth a stop. Good places for lunch. I had this Dutch version of brunch fry-up: the 12-o-clocker:
View attachment 255289
View attachment 255290The

Then to a very nice wee campsite in the beautiful old town of Enkhuizen (thoroughly recommend both!):
View attachment 255291

And then over the next couple of days, trips to Alkmaar - famed for its cheese market and again another v nice old town. Dutch cheese is very underrated btw - we tend to only know basic Edam which is the equivalent of basic supermarket cheddar but the AGED stuff is incredible - almost like parmesan!:
View attachment 255292

...and then day-trip to the west Frisian island of Texel via Den Helder - tip of Holland (and I'm using Holland here precisely!!) - and a ferry before tootling around the island on bikes (me and Mrs Mac):
View attachment 255293

DAYS 24 & 25 - HEADING FOR THE ROTTERDAM TO HULL FERRY - VIA A BEACH BAR AT WASSENAAR

The Dutch do these really nice beach bars on the North Sea 'strands':
View attachment 255294

Before the overnight Rotterdam - Hull ferry (cutting out some long miles both down and across to Calais and then back up through England). Slightly odd ferry which also sells itself as a mini-cruise which results in an annoying over-abundance of entertainment with few places to chill and read a book....!

Then home (nearly!)
View attachment 255296

THE END
--
I will maybe add a closing thoughts and tips post....

Fantastic mate, the info and photos are invaluable. Hopefully it will inspire others to go and explore Scandinavia