Along with Soumya, I recently had an opportunity to spent a week in Norway (South of Norway to be precise) as I had a few holidays combined with a weekend. Adding with a couple of days of break from work made it a full week. This was our first ever visit to this fantastic destination.
Norway has been in our list for long. I was trying to make a plan almost from the first year of being in Europe itself, but unlike many other destinations, Norway needed bit of real preparations when it comes to many days of trip combined with travel by road which kept the plan moving a lot. My original plan for Norway was to drive from south all the way to the north and return via Finland and Sweden. This needs lot more time than a week – so its kept safe for next time!
Norway as destination is quite different from most of Europe in my personal view.
- It has a different currency (1 Norwegian Krone equals 0.11 Euro).
- Nature and landscapes are different and that combined with extreme weather conditions in winter makes it important to plan well.
- I got to say that the landscape is so amazing that it is not easy to embrace it in its full magnitude.
- The scale of mountains and lakes (known as fjords) is BIG in Norway. We had never seen something of similar scale before.
- People and culture are also very different from the part of Europe where we live and the list goes on.
Before anything else, a few basics.
- Norway accepts Schengen visa.
- Norway has an excellent tourist info website. The site also offers an interactive map with all important destinations – very useful.
- Norway is not a crowded country. Compared to 17 million people in Netherlands, Norway is somewhere around 5 million making it possible that you come across long deserted roads and planes. Finding basic amnesties could be a challenge in case if you are planning to be in remote places.
- Norway is expensive when compared to other typical European destinations (but well worth a visit).
- Norway has good road, rail and air network, but weather plays a major role in everything.
- EU credit, debit cards will work almost everywhere, but having some currency (Norwegian Krone – NOK) is important. We had a few occasions to deal with.
- Ferries are widely used in Norway and not all of them operate around the clock.
- Driving in Norway is just like driving in any other European country. But what is different is, there are tolls almost everywhere. They are automatic and can be paid either by using a chip (pre paid or post paid) or you can just drive by which is what I did. An invoice will soon be arriving using which I would be paying. So if you are renting a car, make a note of what is it needed to deal with tolls.
- Though we have not tried, Norway is very friendly with wild camping/fishing/hiking and so on.
- Speed limits are not as fancy as those of other European countries. Usually everything stays between 60 to 100 kmph where in 100 is very rare. Common sights are around 70 to 80 for the most part.
Back to the trip, this is what we followed for a week.
Sat Day 1:
Bussum, Netherlands to Hirtshals, Denmark where we had booked a ferry ride next day that would take us and the car over to Norway.
Distance: around 950 kms.
Sun Day 2:
We boarded ferry from Denmark to Norway at 11:45 AM from Hirtshals, Denmark and arrived Kristiansand, Norway at around 2 PM.
Destination for the day: Sandnes, Norway and settled for the night.
Distance was 222 KMS/4 hours.
Mon Day 3:
We hiked and visited Pulpit rock.
After getting back to the base, we started driving towards Flam, Norway which was about 360 kms away taking about 6 hours’ drive. Destination for the day: Voss, Norway.
Tue Day 4:
Nærøyfjord Cruise that started from Flam, Cruise took us to Gudvangen and a shuttle bus back to Flam where we had our car parked.
Before setting off towards Oslo, we also enjoyed the Flam mountain railway and a bit of walking around in the beautiful town of Flam.
Drove towards Oslo [5+ hours, around 400 kms] and checked into the Airbnb around mid-night.
The location was about 40 KMS outside Oslo.
It was a log cabin, next to woods and lakes. We wanted a few days to be just lazy and relaxed and this one suited the idea best.
Wed Day 5:
Airbnb
Thu Day 6:
Airbnb
Fri Day 7:
Checked out and visited Oslo city and spent a couple of hours.
That was followed by a drive of around 4 hours, 320 kms to Kristiansand and we settled for the night.
Sat Day 8:
Return ferry at 8:00 AM, arrived at Hirtshals, Denmark at 11:15 AM
Drove back to Netherlands – 950 kms.
Total distance was approximately 3500 kms.
I am going to try elaborate each day in a little bit detailed way, along with photos.
You would have figured it out by now that my writing is going to be super boring and photos are going to be the only rays of hope!
Sat Day 1:
First leg of drive was from Bussum, Netherlands where we live to Hirtshals, Denmark where we have a ferry next day that takes us and the car over to Norway.
Distance: around 950 kms.
We started driving around 7 in the morning. Not a lot of traffic and it was easy motorway (Highway) cruising. Comfortable motorway drive is one of the key reasons behind me picking Volvo V40 over the competition.
A1 motorway in Netherlands followed by Autobahn 30 and 1 in Germany. We took stops every few hours and finally arrived Denmark border after passing by Bremen and Hamburg. E45 and 39 took us to the destination.
How about roads? Well, here is my quick feedback.
Highways in Netherlands: Good for the most part. Speed limits between 100 to 130 depending on the road. Week days are going to be crowded.
Autobahns in Germany: They are well known for having no-speed-limits which is true though some parts of autobahns have speed limits. However, what is not so known and interesting to me is, these roads have never ending roadworks. I have been driving around for years and I cannot remember a single trip where I could benefit from the high speeds because usually the time saved goes back into all those road works.
Highways in Denmark: Fantastic. No crowd and well maintained roads. Quality surface with 130 kms limit. Maintaining high average speed is easy which important for covering distances.
There were no tolls in any of these roads.
We arrived at Hirtshals around 6 PM and check in to hotel.
A bit of time was spent driving around and eventually settled for the night after an easy pizza dinner.
Motel Nordsøen is where we spent our night.
The hotel was very close to the ferry port, outdoors were really nice though the rooms were a just ok.
Sun Day 2:
We boarded Ferry from Denmark to Norway at 11:45 AM from Hirtshals and arrived Kristiansand, Norway at around 2 PM.
The ferry was large and had all the facilities you would need. Guess what, it also had a duty-free shopping centre inside.
The ferry needs advance booking. The route can get pretty busy and expensive in summer. Click on thumbnails to enlarge photos.
There are two major companies as far as I know operating between Norway and Denmark. Fjord line and Color Line. I had originally booked with Fjord line but had to cancel it and book it with Color Line due to change in their schedule which was not going to work with our plan.
We almost immediately left the city of Kristiansand behind and drove further towards Sandnes. We took many stops in between as the initial frame of Norway’s serene beauty was so stunning that we could not resist. What a destination!
We picked a location outside the city limits for the stay. We wanted to spend our limited time closer to nature as much as we can.
Destination for the day: Sandnes, Norway and settled for the night.
By the way, a big shout out to Pizza and Thai. The diner was awesome.
Kronen Gaard Hotel was our choice for spending the night.
Hotel surroundings
Distance from Kristiansand was 222 KMS/4 hours.
Mon Day 3:
We hiked and visited Pulpit Rock – one of the most visited destinations in Norway. If you are afraid of heights, better think twice before adding this to your bucket list. Regardless, the view and the experience of being there cannot be beaten. It’s not an easy hike. 4 kms one way will need a bit of real stamina. Trail is not so smooth as it’s filled with rocks and slopes.
Let the photos speak! Click on thumbnails to enlarge photos.
Preikestolvegen 521, 4100 Jørpeland, Norway is where the parking is located for those who are looking for a visit. Visitors have a small cafe and rest rooms.
The drive from Sandnes to Pulpit rock includes a short ferry of about 20 minutes. Ferries are integral part of Norway’s road network. Most times they operate couple of times every hour. No booking needed or even not possible in most cases. Payment is done on board.
After getting back to the base, we started driving towards Flam, Norway which is about 300 kms – 6 hours’ drive. We had booked our stay at Voss which was about an hour behind Flam. Flam was relatively expensive, however since our cruise next day was only at noon, we had enough time.
Stay at Voss Vandrarheim Hostel. It was more of a hostel than a hotel, but just a night’s stay is all what we had to deal with.
Regardless, the view from the room was priceless.
Tue Day 4:
The cruise day.
Nærøyfjord Cruise that started from Flam, took us to Gudvangen and a shuttle bus back to Flam where we had our car parked.
The scenic beauty of fjords is unbelievable. Mountains filled with water in at enormous scale keeps everything we have seen far behind. With such a wonder of nature, the bonus is that Norway is not generally spoiled by tourism. Something we have seen in Swiss. Swiss is a quality location but the tourist crowd makes it a little uninteresting in my view. Click on thumbnails to enlarge photos.
Flam also offers a number of activities. Its a popular location.
The Visit Flam website offers a ton of information.
Before setting off towards Oslo, we also enjoyed the Flam mountain railway and a bit of walking around in the beautiful town of Flam. Flam seems to be also an important destination for those who are doing the Nordics cruise or European tours. Unlike other destinations, we saw many Indians around. Click on thumbnails to enlarge photos.
The joy of being in Flam enjoying and embracing the nature was followed by a long drive towards Oslo.
The landscape kept us amazed throughout. We kept stopping and clicking photos.
350 KMS and about 6 hours later, we settled down in what was going to be our home for next couple of days.
Wed Day 5 and Thu Day 6:
A log cabin near the woods and lakes. The location was about 40 KMS outside Oslo.
We wanted a few days to be just lazy and relaxed and this one suited the idea best.
We found this in Airbnb.
It was also the cheapest of all the places we stayed. Click on thumbnails to enlarge photos.
The location, the host, the nature, the cabin and its coziness, the outdoor shower, nice sunny weather – It was a perfect two days (we wanted even more, but we had to return obviously).
It was so difficult at the end to pack and return and digest the fact that we are getting real close to our next working day!
Fri Day 7:
Checked out and visited Oslo city and spent a couple of hours.
We were neither particularly interested in anything specific in Oslo nor did we have any plans but just made use of the opportunity to make a quick visit. We were also hoping to have a coffee with a friend of mine, but unfortunately we could not meet as it was a working day combined with some unexpected emergencies he had to deal with.
That was followed by a drive of around 4 hours, 320 kms to Kristiansand and we settled for the night.
Nothing spectacular about the drive. It’s a busy road and we just had to munch the miles.
Sat Day 8:
Return ferry at 8:00 AM, arrived at Hirtshals, Denmark at 11:15 AM
Drove back to Netherlands – 950 kms.
Total distance of the trip was approximately 3500 kms.
More importantly we learnt that Norway is a destination that needs more visits. We still have not seen northern lights, we still have not seen the north of Norway – there is still a lot left for next time.
Some random time lapse of Norway drive
Finally found something rightly done for the kids to play just outside a road side cafe. This was just awesome! I wanted to try it out really.
I always keep logs of basic expenses of the car.
Very interesting to note that the fuel efficiency dramatically increased while being in Norway.
With Norway’s reduced speed limits, performance is at optimum rate.
Usually I average around 15 to 17, but that was not the case while being in Norway. Very interesting.
Thanks for staying up, Have a good day and safe driving.