[TigerLilly]

The sumemrs coming and I am hankering to get back to the open roads of Norway, the Nordkapp and make it to the Russian boarder. To exercise the Allmansretten and camp wherever I like and to take full advantage of the midnight sun and bike whenever I like.

Been looking at the ferry options to Norway. Infact the options are so poor that I have spent a week trying to solve an unsolvable problem.

08 saw DFDS sacrifice the Newcastle to Bergen route. Thats the route that allows a biker to arrive in the heart of Bergen (party city), turn left and hit the fjord country for non stop biker bliss until returning home.

On top of that include the demise of the Icelandic run - Scrabster Bergen boat.

As far as I can tell the options this summer are:-

Harwich to Eijsberg, Copenhagen to Oslo. Cost for 2 bikes £1100 instead of £650. That is almost double to waste a day driving south in England and a day hanging around Denmark. Make that four days wasted on a return journey.

Newcastle - Ijmuden then drive through Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. This turns a 3500 mile totally scenic trip trip into a 5000 trip through the northern motorway network.

Use freight options for £1000, if available.

Is there any co-incidence that DFDS a Danish compnay scrap a Norwegian route and charge almost double the Danegeld. I think not.

Lil

 

[Tiger-G]

Hi Lil,

I understand your frustrations.

I'm 35 miles from Newcastle, and when the ferry sailed from there to Norway it was a great start to the holiday, only having to travel that distance to get to the ferry. A good night's sleep on the ferry in comfort then off into Fjord Country in the morning.

If the route isn't making the money it should for the ferry company then they have to close the route, and you are right, the options to get back up into Norway from Europe make the the trip a pain in the arse (literally).

I wonder just how expensive Norway is now ?? When I went to Nordkapp last time the cost of fuel and food was very high, and that was 8 years ago.

Good luck with your choices

Brings back some very happy memories of my trip, the never ending getting on and off ferries, the stunning scenery, the waterfalls, the glaciers, the empty roads, crossing the artic circle, the midnight sun, and the goal of reaching Nordkapp

It also reminds me of just what a "long" Country it is, it's a fair old drag all the way to Nordkapp.

Enjoy

 

[TigerLilly]

Its true that there is a problem with financing the route but options like summer only sailings or one sailing a week were never tried. Most summers we would go to Norway and spend approx £1500 - 2000 in the Norwegian economy.

Lil

 

[fenderbender]

What a crying shame it's so difficult to get to Norway now. We did the trip last summer knowing that DFDS's decision meant it would be perhaps our last chance, as we only tend to get 7 or 8 days for our annual jaunt.
It was horrifically expensive - hotels so expensive that we ended up in wooden camping huts, beer so costly that we generally went without - but it was the ride of our lives, even with Norway's ultra-low speed limits and the prospect of huge fines for transgression.

 

[TigerLilly]

Decision Made

Finally decided to bite the bullett and do the 5000 mile round trip via Amsterdam and the standard DFDS. Could have booked Immingham freight option but DFDS could easily have kicked us off in favour of a higher paying load. We just didn't have the time to burn.

5000 miles makes its own problems. I am having my tyres taken off for new ones on. I will store the old tyres until needed to get the remaining use. Mhy husband is like wise junking a chain and sprocket set.

There is also a service just before we go and pretty much as soon as we get back.

Still... here is expecting that the biking will be worth it.

Leave in two weeks - and woundering what the hell I'm doing at work until then

Lil

 

[Tiger-G]

lil,

Hope you and Hubby have a great holiday, and can't wait to see the pics.

You're right, it's going to be a long haul, but the thought of the midnight sun should make it all worth while.

I'm looking to do something different this year so might try Eastern Europe - Prague, Poland, Romania, Croatia, etc. It's just the thought of organising it all that puts me off

Good luck and stay safe !

 

[Espen36]

If u wanna save time spent on the bike, there´s a ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark. From Denmark u can take the ferry to Oslo. Just a few hours drive between the ferries. U can also take the Dover-Calais ferry, drive to Kiel in Germany and take the ferry from there to Gothenburg in Sweden which is just 4 hours from Oslo. Should save u alle the bnoring hours on the bike through North Germany, Denmark and Sweden (at least 15-20 hours drive).

 

[Sin_Tiger]

Rothsyth (Edinburgh) - Zeebruge ? Tried their website but it just kept going round in circles

Bergen is beautiful and the west coast road out of there looks like a great bike road, only ever travelled it by car going to the Rolls-Royce / Bergen engine factory.

Pity you couldn't negotiate a lift on an Supply Boat / Anchor Handler going from Aberdeen over to Norway, that's almost a daily occurence, don't know anybody in the Offshore Logistics business do you?

 

[TigerLilly]

Thanks for the info Espen but we considered everything. We live in Northern Ireland so a north Britain connection is far better for us. A day traversing the English motorway network is not a jolly and if we go via Northumberland I can see family, as well as travel the old Military road (B6318) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B6318_Military_Road and have lunch in the Milecastle Inn http://www.milecastle-inn.co.uk/.

Our favoured future route would be Scotland, Bergen. What a jolly that would be. Surely someone can realise that there is an opportunity here. Even for a weekly connection.


In the meantime there is 2 weeks work, packing and bike fetterling. I shall also be stopping in Haltwhistle en route to stock up on some cheap decent drink - Allendale brewey I reckon. On DFDS last year they kept whisking the beer bottles away before they were finished. 'Please drink harder and faster' was obviously their profit policy. No concept of a drink being something to relax and chat over. Then of course there is the Norwegain drink prices.

Lil