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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I'm considering a roadtrip next summer, driving up to Scotland, ferry to Shetland then on to Bergen, across to Sweden, then home through Denmark, Germany and Holland.
Are there any places in Norway that are not to be missed on such a trip?

Cheers, Big Mick. :-D
 

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It depends on how much time you can spare. If you have plenty of time, I'd suggest going up to see Trollstigen and Geiranger. They are not mandatory, but pretty famous and you may want to say that you have been there :wink: And the road from there isn't too long to Aalesund, a city that burned to the ground in 1904. There is a saying in Norway, 'Before Aalesund burned', suggesting its importance in our history.

A shorter, but equally spectacular route to Sweden, would lead you out of Bergen to Vaksdal and Voss. There is an old and nice alternative road between Dale and Bulken/Voss well worth riding. From Voss you have two alternatives; south-east to Ulvik and Bruravik where you have to catch a short ferry ride to Brimnes before heading to Eidfjord. If you want to go hiking, you can climb to the glacier Hardangerjøkulen.

From Eidfjord, the road will take you to Geilo and Gol - or you could turn south towards Kongsberg. Kongsberg has an old mine open to tourists with old-style elevators taking you far down below, as well as train rides into the depth of the mountain.

If you go through Gol before turning south, you will end up in Hønefoss. From there I'd suggest you go to Eidsvoll where our constitution was written in 1814 and made official on May 17 of that year. From Eidsvoll, the natural route would go to Kongsvinger. Here the world's largest wood belt starts, stretching continuously all the way to Sibir or some far away part in Asia if my memory serves. From Kongsvinger, you have several routes into Sweden you can take.

But back to Voss. Going north would be my choice simply because the western part of Norway is a nirvana for riding and scenerey, whereas the eastern parts are mostly woods and fields. Quite boring, most of it, although not everything. Having a good map and possibly GPS will allow you to explore many of the little used backroads that offer so much more than the main roads.

As you head north, you have to decide whether you want to go the long route to Geiranger or the shorter route via Aurland. There is also a median option, heading north up to Vangsnes and catch the ferry to Leikanger, head towards Sogndal, Kaupanger, Lærdalsøyri and from there either to Aurland or towards Gol. Or Fagernes. The two latter are good routes, the former best reached without going north first.

I'd actually suggest you take the shortest route to Aurland if the trip is made during summer or autumn; then the old road to Lærdalsøyri is open, really spectacular. The new road is the world's longest tunnel and as spectacular as it is boring.

After reaching Fagernes, you can ride to Dokka and swing north to Lillehammer, home of the 1994 Winter Olympics. Then it's south to Hamar and the Viking Ship skating hall if that holds any interest before heading towards Elverum. From there you can either go north-east or south-east into Sweden.

I have also written a tour description from a 5-day trip we took last year in the area described here that perhaps can help you decide more where you want to go. It can be found here http://www.armbell.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758&mforum=kz400 - it requires you log on, but it's free and simple. Who knows, you may even take an interest in air-cooled Kawasaki twins while you visit :razz:

I hope this was of some help. I'm not really into museums much, but can source info if you want; when I'm on a riding holiday - which isn't often due to family - I want to ride on the most winding roads I can find and see as much variations of nature as I can possibly cram into it.
 

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
Wow, thanks for all the info!
I was in the pub last night with one of my riding buddies and I asked if he fancied a roadtrip next year. He did France, Alps and Pyrenees a couple of years ago, so I suggested going north next time. I'll have a look at your suggestions and see if we can put a plan together. If there is so much good riding and sightseeing in Norway, then maybe we don't need to go further round Europe.

Cheers, BIGMICK. :-D
 

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If you can, get hold of December issue of CYCLE WORLD - it will give you further information of Norway and Europe through an extensive article.

And I can guarantee you that even if you spent 2 full weeks of riding through our little nation, you'd still want more time in order to do more exploration. Include a bit of Sweden and you can spend a month and still want to come back for several summers. Norway is a bit like England, Scotland and Ireland crammed into one - and then some - when it comes to nature. It is longer to go from the south of Norway to Nordkapp than it is to go from the very south (Lindesnes) to Rome, Italy.
 

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Maybe you even start to understand why it's so hard to behave when riding a powerful, good-handling machine :razz:

There really only is one downside to live in Norway, at least for me, and that's the weather. In the western parts, which have the best roads and scenery, where I live we have on average downpour on around 270 days a year. It has been more or less raining heavy almost continuously now for the past month, and there are no signs of relief for the coming week.
 

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From the mentioned CW article:

Once we got north of Oslo, the world turned into a storybook land straight out of European literature. Small farms surrounded by forests in rolling hills, haystacks, barns, it looked like a painting of the Idyllic Scene.... Sparse traffic, thin population and excellent roads.... We might have gone faster, but the scenere was jaw-dropping at every turn. Rugged high mountains, rivers, streams, waterfalls, lakes, rock formations, so much EARTH it was hard to take in.
Pictures from the story here http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=217
 
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