Planning a trip to Norway

[kett'l]

Hi,

You may try this page :


http://grandefjordhotel.com

Grande Fjord Hotel
At the Grande Fjord Hotel, one of our main goals is to keep your stay as pleasant and relaxing as possible
Overlooking the Geirangerfjord, this relaxed hotel in a bright, traditional Norwegian building is 5 km from the Ørnesvingen viewing point and 6 km from the Storseterfossen waterfall. The down-to-earth rooms feature cable TV, and most have balconies with fjord views. Room service is available. A breakfast buffet and parking are free. Other amenities include a bar and a restaurant with vaulted, beamed ceilings and panoramic fjord views.



and there is also some cabin´s for hire..

www.homlong-camping.com/
solhaugcamping.no/

[daub]

What dates?

This area is normally fully booked during the season.

Forget info by email, except through the Booking site.

I have tried several dates and found vacancies on all. Not many, but some, and high priced.

We would arrive on 29'th late evening, as I am coming from all the way from Gjøvik, and continue forward on 30th.
I was trying to reach Djupvasshytta, before Geiranger, and also some camping sites just before Geiranger. Djupvasshytta is at the perfect location, distance-wise. I will not have a tent, so It must be a hotel or preferably camping cabin for two.

What do you consider high priced? Whole Norway is high priced

[Zettexx]

Djupvasshytta has 4 free rooms on those dates right now. Price for 2 is 1695 NOK.

Book through Booking.com.

Nobody calls hotels ....


Hotel Utsikten also has free rooms, but they are going....

From, Gjøvik to Geilranger is about 10 hours with traffic. Get an early start, before the buses, and campers start moving.

Norway is generally expensive, all year round, yes. That is why I flee country, like a reffugee, by the fastest road possible. I have never been able to afford the trip you are doing, since the days my health let me stay in a tent.

[daub]

Are you sure about 10h? its under 400km, and map suggests 5h20 min. I was thinking I could do it in 10h, including resting stops.

[Zettexx]

Sorry, I include short necessary stops in my calculations. Using Google maps it says between 6 and 7 hours. If you are using a GPS unit, you might have overestimated the possible driving speed "over the limit". I have to reset mine when driving in Norway. You will be in 60-80 km/h zones almost all the way. Your average speed will doubtfully be over 60 km/h.

Now, you could be lucky with traffic, it's possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. These are the last days of "fellesferien" ( Norwegian Vacation month) and "everybody" is on the move, to get home.

When driving in Norway, I never get there before Google says.... but driving outside of Norway, where the speeding fines are 1/3 and the speed limits higher, I almost always make it on time.

Use an online booking service. ONLY BOOK rooms with non-fee cancellation up until departur or 24 hours before. Then you can plan a route wiht stops. You don't pay before you get there anyway. But, remember, with free cancellation. Since you often will be arriving late, make sure they have an open reception. All this is available information on Booking.com.

[JohnnyTh]

Should be fully doable. But you will most likely experience that average speed in Norway is closer to 60km/h then 80. My guess is that you will spend 5-6 hrs riding each day.

[gorbys]

Always add an 1 hour or 2 to what Google maps or a GPS calculates. The reason being you need breaks and rest, and then there is the tourists that always drive under the speed limit with their campers cause of the scenic views. This pisses off the locals and often leads to reckless driving and overtaking. So my best advice is to get as far ahead of traffic as possible, you have a bike so overtaking is quick and easy. And if you get to a ferry crossing drive to the front of the queue so you get on the ferry first, that way you will be first off and with no traffic ahead of you for miles!

[daub]

This is a good tip, gorbys. I intended to ask about passing queues anyway. In some places it is not tolerated.

[daub]

I came across a post in one of the forums, where some people claimed, that Norway made it mandatory for motorcyclists to wear reflective safety vest at all times. Others claim, that it is just mandatory to have it with you, and wear it in case of emergency stop.

So. Which is it? And if the latter, then if I stop (at a spot with good visibility of course) to take a picture of a nice scene, should I still put the vest on? Will I also need to have a vest for my passenger?

[mekkern]

Only mandatory to have a reflective vest availeble for the driver if a emergency stop where you are off the bike/out of the car-same rules.

this is for your own safety when there is low visibility/dark/bad position-not for normal stops.

there is no fine for not having a vest .
but on a MOT you must have a vest accessible from drivers position in the car.

[daub]

So... I did it. Thanks for everyone for your input! The trip was great, as were the views and roads. Money well spent

[Jacobsen]

So tell us more information about where your trip went and what you did experience
Edit: Nice picture by the way!

[daub]

I did some videos of the trip, and hope to put them up on youtube. When I do, I'll try to remember to put a link here too. But briefly of the trip:
Day 0 - went on the ferry in Tallinn, and had us delivered to Stockholm.
Day 1 - Drove from Stockholm to Örebro, visited the castle there. Then continued to Karlstad, to take a look at the famous stone bridge. Finished the day with visiting car cemetary, near Norwegian Border.
Day 2 - Entered Norway, first top was at Hoytorp fort, where we got first good views, and already felt as if we were in the mountains. From there we blasted towards Hamar, with one small nap stop by a hedge, because I was not feeling very well. Probably did not consume enough liquid the previous day. In Hamar we visited the railway museum, and then continued to Gjovik.
Day 3 - Skibladner ride. Had a pleasant chat with the captain. Then rode to Valdernes, to visit a folk museum, but arrived just by the closing time. So we just had some powerbars as lunch, and continued to Fossbergom, to see the wooden church there. I was impressed by that. Then continued in to the mountains, in to the snow, pretty much. Saw an elk by the road, did not get it on the video though. Also some goats crossing the road. Spent the night at Djupvasshytta, near Geiranger. I fell off the bed there, because the beds were so soft, and did not seem to have any edge.
Day 4 - Continued to Geiranger, on those fantastic roads. Then to Trollstigen. From there to Molde and towards Atlantic highway. Just before Atlantic highway, we went to see some more old military defence structures. Atlantic Highway was great, but surprisingly short. Pictures on the internet make it seem far longer. From there we went to Kristiansund. Walked around, had some local foods. I tried Bacalao, which I liked very much, and my girlfriend tried the dried-salted fish, which she also liked.
Day 5 - Ferry to Tommervag, and from there drove to Trondheim. Shortest ride day, with plan to spend the night in the town. Visited the castle ruins, again, made it just by closing time, but still saw it, and also the view, just briefly. Then took a look at the cathedral and had a bite off a whale. I liked that more than my gf. Evening was cloudy, and with a bit of rain. All the days before had been nothing short of perfect.
Day 6 - Rain. Only a little at first. We visited the fort at the town center, then went north to see the castle ruins of Stevikholm, which we found to be locked, for our amazement (that is not common over here). Then visited Hell grill. I had a burn energy drink there... yes - burn in hell. And then continued to Sweden, with rain getting stronger with ever kilometer. Luckily the camping cabin we had booked, had heating, and we were able to get back warm again. Of course we were dry, as we were prepared for rain.
Day 7 - Weather was dry again, but cold. Visited Hoverbergs cliff cave. Then continued all the way to East coast of Sweden, with an intent to see Hölick caves. We did not dare to go in though, because the entrances were too steep, and I did not feel I was fit enough, to get back out again, without help.
Day 8 - Continued towards Stockholm, stopping for a game of minigolf and to visit a emergency services museum in Gysinge. Sayed in Uppsala, for the night.
Day 9 - Visited Vasa and motorcycle museums in Stockholm. Also sent a package of candy and Swedish comic books to my sister, as a joke. Again spent the night in Uppsala.
Day 10 - Saw some rune stones in Uppsala and Stockholm are, and went on the ferry back to Estonia.

[AJ]

Looks like you had a very nice trip :)
I take it your both are tempted to come back for another trip later, maybe already next year .

Looking forward to the video .

[daub]

...

I am definitely tempted to visit Norway again, but my budget will not let me do that, in the near future. I am not sure if I'll get out from the Baltic States next summer, at all. But hopefully in couple of years.

I have been slow with editing the videos, still couple of riding days worth of footage to review and edit. I have something up already, so you can check these out here:
Getting ready


Sweden


Norway


Steamboat and Mountains


More mountains and great roads