# Norway



## rocky1968 (Nov 10, 2011)

as any body been to norway thinking of driving from birmingham to norway to acsi site 3km from sogndol.looking to get ferry from hirtshals in denmark after driving from france.


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## Patty123 (Oct 4, 2010)

yes, we did last year and got the ferry from hirtshals too, we stayed 5 nights just outside Oslo then travlled around the south before getting ferry back again, absolutely wonderful and can't wait to go back again maybe next year!


Patty


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## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

We went last year, what do you want to know?

You might enjoy our blog (click 'older posts' at the bottom to see more)
http://www.europebycamper.com/search/label/Norway

It is also a very expensive country, so we wrote 'Norway on a Budget' to help make the pennies go further:
http://www.europebycamper.com/2011/06/norway-in-motorhome-on-budget.html


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

*Re: norway*



Shuggy68 said:


> as any body been to norway thinking of driving from birmingham to norway to acsi site 3km from sogndol.looking to get ferry from hirtshals in denmark after driving from france.


My brother lives in Sogndal and I know a number of campsites in the area. We live in Staffs and travelled from Harwich to Esjberg then on to Frederickshavn to land in Oslo. You can also travel Harwich to the Hook of Holland to cut down the driving and cost of ferry. You can drive across Denmark and up the West Coast of Sweden. Two toll bridges on the way and you enter Sweden near Malmo. You can also cross from Frederickshavn to Gothenburg and then up the Swedish Coast to Oslo. Lovely campsite in Uddevalla Sweden which could be on the way
Hafsten Sweden
You could consider going from Germany to Denmark and on to Sweden or Denmark and on to Norway. One crossing is Puttgarden to Rodby - check out 
Direct Ferries Routes
This gives the possible crossing ports. There is a pretty spectacular route from Oslo to Sogndal either along E6 via Lillehammer and Lom to Skjolden Gaupne to Sogndal. E16 could also be taken and turn towards Lom and then in via Skjolden and Gaupne. Otherwise E16 continues and takes you via Aurdal and a ferry crossing to Kaupanger.

The route via Lom and Skjolden takes you over Jotunheimen which has Norway's highest mountain Galdhøpiggen. Fortunately the road skirts round it not over it!

Feel free to PM for more information but check this link regarding tollroads in Norway.
Link to recent info regarding roads and tolls and internal ferries

Whilst in Sogndal you could consider a trip to Flam and the renowned railway the road to Flam involves crossing the Fjord to Laerdal and taking a 23 km tunnel through the mountain to Aurland (spectacular viewing platform overlooks the Fjord which we got to in our MH.
Aurland Lookout
p.s. There is a glass barrier at the end although the series of pictures on the link don't show it very clearly!
Steve


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## Jagman (Feb 16, 2008)

Thanks for this thread Shuggy I'm planning Norway for next summer's trip and chatted recently about it briefly on a ferry-related thread started by teenymob. You have provoked excellent posts here and they will move my planning forward a lot  - cheers!

Great info Steve Addie and Patty, great links, about to look at the blog!

March Practical Motorhome has a decent article about Norway, I don't usually buy mh mags any more but this one had something about the AS Pollensa too so I got it! Decent article but nowhere near as informative as this thread!!!

Thanks again folks  

Dave


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

We have driven there from Calais in 2004. The blog is a bit dated now but you will find it >here<

I would love to go again but have largely been put off by the long drive to get there! Thanks for the tips on how it might be cut down and have bookmarked this thread. Food for thought for 2013?

peedee


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

peedee said:


> We have driven there from Calais in 2004. The blog is a bit dated now but you will find it >here<
> 
> I would love to go again but have largely been put off by the long drive to get there! Thanks for the tips on how it might be cut down and have bookmarked this thread. Food for thought for 2013?
> 
> peedee


In 2010 we crossed harwich Esjberg (overnight) then Frederickshavn Oslo (9 hours). Pleasant trip down fjord into Oslo landing near Opera House. We were going again this year to visit southern Norway campsites before returning to Sogndal but may put it off for a year.
I think I worked out that this year Harwich Esjberg (overnight and cabin) and then Frederickshavn-Goteborg was getting to be about £1000 return for ferry fees but the west coast of Denmark just south of Frederickshavn perhaps Gronhoj Camping is interesting sandy beaches with traffic signs on the beach! The Swedish Campsite Hafsten on the west coast of Sweden was 4 star but difficult to work out why no 5 star! Provided an airline outside reception. One way system in and out to access the site as it was single track roads with signs encouraging you to say you were still going in the right direction! In 2010 we went out via Harwich Esjberg, took E6 to Bodo and crossed to Lofoten, returned via Narvik to Ballangen back down E6 (which only has one ferry crossing on its entire length and that is north of Arctic Circle) Worked south to Western Fjords where we found two exceptional campsites
Trollveggen which accepts Camping Cheques close to Trollstigen which then takes you over the mountains to Gerainger and another on the coast close to the Northern end of the Atlantic Road where this campsite is well worth a visit unique and based around a family fishing business.
Skjerneset Bryggecamping

We came back via Sweden crossing the toll roads at Malmo staying just outside Copenhagen at Absolon Camping (Camping Cheque again I think) 
Absalon Camping
Reception helps you to get in and out of Copenhagen via train link supplying a multi journey ticket that is clipped for each journey and they then debit what you have used. We wanted to see the Little Mermaid but discovered it was in China at a trade fair and they had an LCD screen wih a webcam showing where it was!
So rute back to Harwich was via Denmark Germany Holland where we had to visit other campsites on the way. Harwich Hook was a cheaper crossing but although they are free the autoroutes were pretty congested in the Netherlands with some major roadworks.
Spent last night south of terminal at a campsite called Camping de Oude Maas
Camping de Oude Maas Good access to centre by cycle as you'd expect in the Netherlands but we were on the new pitches overlooking the river. Rest of site due for revamp as they were changing the access road to it closer to the nearby town of Heerjansdam which had a reasonable supermarket.

It is worth pre-booking an Autopass if entering Norway via Oslo. We must have crossed the border in a wrong lane to get our fine that we explained in the Atlantic Road thread. The toll booths have number plate recognition and some have a telepass (electronic gizmo) only lane and we must have gone through one of these lanes.
Norway Autopass

p.s. for original post this campsite understates its location near Sogndal
Kjornes Camping


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Did it a couple of years ago. If I have one bit of advice its Take plenty of food with you, its eyewateringly expensive. Forget eating out (fish and chips in Bergen cost me £18 for 2) 

Dover to Calais

Then Ferry from the very top of Germany to Puttgarden

Drove to Copenhagen for a few nights (book your campsite!!!)

Ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo (Make sure you are out of bed forn the trip up the Fjord in the morning) The ferry works out cheaper than taking the Oresund bridge (terrifyingly expensive!!!) and driving up to Oslo

Drove around Norway a bit DONT underestimate the time you will need, HUGE country, reasonable roads BUT it takes a long time to get anywhere. Also the Ferry Fjord ferry costs TRIPLE once you get over 6m long and they are high to start with.

Ferry from Stavanger to Hirtshals (look on their website for a deal, we got a half price crossing that way)

Back through denmark and Holland to Calais and then home. 

PM for more details or a phone number.

It is a STAGGERINGLY beautiful country.

Fuel and campsites cost about the same as the UK BUT wildcamping is no problem at all provided you are more than (I think) 100m from nearest house which is not difficult at all)

Check out the Toll road costs as well, some are a tad on the (very) high side !!! (Google search will find the info you want) 

They dont half do tunnels as well, some are like a multi storey car park, they spiral inside the mountain, dead cool !!!


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

Mrplodd said:


> Did it a couple of years ago. If I have one bit of advice its Take plenty of food with you, its eyewateringly expensive. Forget eating out (fish and chips in Bergen cost me £18 for 2)
> 
> Dover to Calais
> 
> ...


Harwich-Hook for us in Midlands to save drive to Dover. Further North try crossings from Hull to Netherlands. Also consider Dover to Dunkirk gets you closer to Denmark or North Germany. Toll roads all free. Denmark has two bridges but the interlinking autoroute across Denmark is free so perhaps compared with peage in France balances the apparent cost. You'll see from the charges that touring Scandinavia with a M/H under 6m is a real advantage. The ferry operators can tell your vehicle length to the centimetre, on the internal ferries you turn up and queue up for the next available ferry and pay as you get on. The ticket collectors don't need to ask you the length and we are 6.68 metres long and were always charged correctly at over 6m! We considered the Puttgarten crossing from Denmark but went for the experience of the bridges. It didn't seem to be necessary to book the crossing to Germany but there may be an advantage to pre-book for discounts.
Booking Scandinavian Ferries
The bridges in Denmark
Oresund Bridge prices
Storebaelt Bridge Charges
NB Oresund Bridge charges include 25% VAT!

For Absalon Campsite (north of Copenhagen) coming from Norway we actually used the ferry from Helsingborg to Helsingor which was slightly more than the Oresund Bridge but shorter drive.

The tunnel building in Norway (23km long one from Laerdal to Aurdal which has three chambers lit with three different colours to relieve the monotony!) is a safety issue to avoid a high number of deaths that can be attributed to falling rocks. Also perhaps the reason for the 50 mph 80kph speed limit on most roads. They do speed cameras in Norway too. Roads however in general and especially, north of Trondheim very clear. We started up one morning to the sound of the SATNAV saying,
"In 207 kilometres, at the roundabout take the second exit!!"
Popular belief is that if you are heading for Nordkapp then take the Swedish roads, others may advise different. We didn't go round from Narvik to Nordkapp which is another 1500 km and can be a bit like Cornwal with mist and fog for periods. We chatted to a Norwegian telephone repairman who said he'd been in Nordkapp for 3 weeks and saw nothing! However we saw numerous M/H either heading north to, or south from Nordkapp. We have some Norwegian connections who live north of the Arctic Circle who do cross the border to Sweden to do shopping trips to get cheaper prices. There is a chain of supermarkets REMA 1000 where food prices are keener, strangely fuel prices can be cheaper outside town centres than in and fuel prices are often lower on Sundays! We didn't eat out much but had a couple of reasonably priced meals in Tronheim, one of which was taken in the revolving restaurant on the communications tower overlooking the city. Also took a meal in Mosjoen and didn't really notice a huge difference in prices. Meat is expensive to buy though and we did once have the most expensive Swissroll in the universe with an afternoon tea overlooking Aurland!

As stated above tunnels are something out of the ordinary with junctions and roundabouts inside... and if tunnelling is your thing then
National Road Museum near Lillehammer (off E6 northbound from Oslo)

Steve


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

And one day I might get the spelin korekt for Esbjerg! Mind you our word processor never micks mastooks!

Esbjerg, rather than "Esjberg" as indicated in my posts, is a seaport on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark!
Copenhagen is on the island of Sealand and the bridges cross from Sweden to Sealand then Sealand to Funen (or Fyn) and a non toll bridge from Funen (main city Odense) back to the mainland of Jutland at a point roughly on the same latitude as Esbjerg.


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

You might like to read my blog BUT only for background info and the pictures as its now 6 years old http://www.motorhomefacts.com/blog-display-jid-209.html

but I've just reread it and a lot is still true


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