Tag: Norway

Waking up on that fantastic spot on Saturday 6th of June, we just could not leave it. Therefore we took a short hike to see the wild beauty of the nearby Sjoa river. Only after finishing lunch, we decided to move on.
We stopped by the Gjende lake, located in the Jotunheimen mountain range, inside Jotunheimen National Park. The proglacial lake shows typical characteristics of glacial formation, being long and narrow, with steep walls.
Driving south the road 51 – Bygdinvegen we stopped also by the Nasjonal turistveg Valdresflye and its rocky statue attraction.
Afterwards we did a break by the Bygdin lake, which lies at roughly 1,060 meters above sea level in the Jotunheimen region, stretching about 32 kilometers from east to west. Renowned for its pristine waters and stunning alpine backdrops, the lake is most famously crossed by M/B Bitihorn boat.
As it was a camping day we picked up the donkey‑friendly campsite in the Gol area, called Tubbehaugen camping.

The day after, on Sunday 7th of June we continued on road nr. 7 towards south and made a first stop by Kulufossen, near Ål.

That wasn’t the best stop to be honest. The waterfall track is poorly marked and you won’t have a good view of it either. Shortly after we had a break at the Sønstevatn lake.

Later we arrived to the town Rjukan. There we visited the town centre and went to see the exterior of the Saheim Kraftwerk (world’s largest when built) as well as the famous Vemork hydroelectric power plant just outside of the town known for producing the heavy water.
Then we moved on to the town Dalen of the Telemark municipality, famous for the wood transportation canals, which serve for tourist boat trips nowadays.
Later on, driving the road nr. 45 Bjornevassvegen we did a break at that amazing rest parking place, named Honnevje rastplass. The best we have ever seen! It has a toilet of course but a sauna as well, as it is located on the bank of Otra river. On top of that you can pass the river by the bridge or just the stones if the water is low and access the ‘Island’ called Kjeøyne, which features a wonderful disc / frisbee playground.
Then we also passed by Sylvartun – the most important arena for silverwork and folk music in Setesdal.

At very late we arrived to the Halle Camping, popular for Via Ferrata tracks, where we parked by the cloudy Otra river.

On Thursday 4th of June we first visited the town Molde. Stopped by for a coffee and cake at Romsdal Museum.

Then we decided for the Trollkirka hike. The round trip of about 5 km takes you to the stunning limestone cave system featuring a waterfall and an underground river. It consists of 4 caves, with the last one supposed to be accessed from the top of the hill, which we could not find. Back then to the parking place there was the helicopter bringing the young guy, quite disoriented.

Our way then took us this time to the west coast and yet another remarkable scenic road – Atlantic Highway, 8.3 km long coast road, which leads across the archipelago of small islands and islets with eight dramatic bridges. Especially Storseisundet Bridge is known from James Bond movie “No Time to Die”.

For a short break we chose Haholmen parking by the Geitøya island, where Miska cooked some delicious food for us. Then taking the Atlantic highway left to right several times we finally left it for the town Kristiansund.
Starting our road trip in Kristiansand, we decided Kristiansund will be the northernmost (furthest) place we reach, before returning towards south.

In the late evening we parked the camper by the Gjevillvatnet lake, in the area called Osen, just nearby Osen bathaven, outside of Oppdal.

On Friday 5th of June I remember we were somehow not satisfied with the hospitality of the Oppdal town. We did go for shopping, but could not get to the tourist office.

Later we left this town, which has its own Oppdal Skicenter and on the way south we stopped by Magalaupet. A natural washing machine 😃 officially a 100 meter long wild zig-zag on the Driva river, at one point narrow only 1 meter.

Later on the way towards Dombås, we suddenly stopped again… as also several other cars were aside of the road. All the people from these cars were watching a couple of musk ox, very rare arctic mammal, which has a population only 200 to 300 animals in Norway – being the only place where it lives in Europe.

As we moved on down the road E6 we soon arrived to Dovrefjell mountains, near Hjerkinn, where we did a short hike to the Snøhetta viewpoint. Its modern and unique architecture, including a fireplace hanging from top, is an observation pavilion situated on the edge of the Dovrefjell–Sunndalsfjella National Park. And yes, we saw another couple of musk ox from there.

Later we also stopped, just for a short break on the Sohlbergplassen viewing point, which is a concrete platform surrounded by high pine trees, above Atnsjøen lake.
In the evening we were searching for a spot to oversleep.

Well, yeah! what a place we found!! Perhaps the most beautiful one, nested in the nature, under the trees overlooking wetland clearing of mountains of Jotunheimen National Park. This place we found as we passed Randsverk village and turned left to Riddersprangvegen from Fv51 road. It is close to the Sjoa river and its Knight’s Leap (Ridderspranget).
Even though that day was bit wet, I still managed to light a small fire in front of our spot and the magic was complete 🔥

On the morning, 2nd of June we booked a round trip with the new silent boat on the most famous fjord – Geiranger.

The boat was pretty full (even the tourists just arriving on the huge Aida ship joined us), but we still enjoyed the journey and the unbeatable views to the “Seven Sisters”, old farms, the “Troll rock” and the Vodka bottle waterfall.
In the afternoon we continued on our way and soon reached Ålesund town.

Had a delicious traditional fish dinner at XL Diner and explored the town in the evening. Our Ford Nugget was parked safely in the Skjerva bobilparkering.

The day after, on 3rd of June we still walked the streets of Ålesund and reached the popular hill viewpoint.

We then left the town for a bit of shopping to the nearby Devold Factory (Devold Fabrikken and Devold Museum) in Langevåg, where we had some tasty snack at Fergkaia.

Back to the country to the nature we passed Vikebukt bridge and headed to town of Åndalsnes. From there it was just a stone throw to another famous attraction and a scenic way – Trollstigen.

It’s a dramatic pass featuring 11 sharp hairpin turns and 9% incline around the 320 meter tall Stigfossen. This is another breathtaking place. And we did not sleep far from this icon. Somehow we found this secret small parking place (there was one additional camper there) which was just off the national road nr. 63, but closer to the creek (Klovstien parking spot).

In the morning of Sunday, 31st of May we went for a walk by the Nærøyfjord, starting at Nærøyfjorden Camping taking the Rimstigen hike walk by the narrowest fjord.

Later on we reached Flåm for a delicious food at the loacal street market, before visiting the Flåmsbana museum – the Flåm railway being one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. Afterwards we stopped by Stegastein – a viewpoint overlooking Aurlandsvangen and Nærøyfjord from 650 meters above.

We then drove through the world’s longest car tunnel – 24.5 km long Lærdalstunnelen, passed Lærdal and stopped by another massive waterfall – Hjellefossen by Øvre Årdal.

Later on the same day we took another amazing scenic way – Tindevegen, 32 km long mountain road between Årdal and Turtagrø. With its highest point at 1321 meters, this road crosses Jotunheimen National Park and is open only from May till October. Of course there was a lot of snow.

As a spot we chose wisely the Turtagrø parking, which we shared only with 1 more camper.

On Monday, 1st of June, we made a first stop at the place called Bøverdalen, where we watched some sportsmen having cross-country skiing training.

Then, later on we also checked Wilhelm Rasmussen statue (pillar) with the first King of Norway on its top.

As we were so close, we took a paid road – Visdalsvegen, which follows the Visa river and leads to the Spiterstulen Turisthytte 1111 m above sea. This is actually a base camp, the closest accommodation, from which you can take a hike to the highest peak of Norway, Galdhøpiggen 2469 m above sea. We cooked a lovely lunch and enjoyed the majestic surrounding atmosphere.

Then we continued to the popular small town called Lom. Visited its bakery and the stave church.

And we hit the road again, driving some fantastic scenic parts, like frozen Djupvatnet lake. Taking another absolutely amazing scenic road, road number 63 we passed by Geiranger Skywalk and headed straight down to Geiranger town.

After a short walk it was time to search for the overnight spot. But here around Geiranger we first realized, that the area is quite busy.

At the end, before flying out the drone late (around 11pm) from Ørnesvingen viewpoint we decided to park on that old road, parallel to the Oppskredtunnelen, even under the falling down rocks. I slept well 😊