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Discussion in 'Rideouts, Trackdays, Touring & Spotted' started by Octoberon, Oct 9, 2021.

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  1. Wessa

    Wessa Cruising

    Apr 27, 2016
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    Reeperbahn
     
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  2. Vulpes

    Vulpes Confused Member

    Mar 14, 2018
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    Beatles fan are you? :p
     
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  3. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

    Jul 2, 2020
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    No, not at all. I'm sure it's nice and all that but it was just a potential waypoint out of Scandinavia. There's not fixed route sections yet.
     
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  4. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

    Jul 2, 2020
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    Bless you.
     
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  5. Tallpaul

    Tallpaul Noble Member

    Apr 7, 2019
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    Great thread, following with a lot of interest. I like the thought and planning process.
     
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  6. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

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    Thanks. I didn't expect people to pick up on like they have but this is definitely making it more fun for me as well.
     
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  7. Erling

    Erling Elite Member

    Dec 12, 2017
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    I had a look at the Northern Norwegian section. As it happens, I lived in Northern Norway for 14 years and consider myself pretty familiar with the region. It all looks great. Provided I had enough time, this is what I would do:

    Follow E6 from Nordkapp to Olderdalen. Take the ferry to Lyngseidet and follow FV91 and then E8 to Tromsø. Tromsø is the largest city in Northern Norway with its 65,000 inhabitants and well worth a visit. A sort of Klondyke city in the Arctic. But it’s just a stop along the way, if it doesn’t interest you you just cross it and continue along FV862 to Brensholmen. Just make sure you do the detour to Sommarøy just north of Brensholmen, very well worth a stop.
    https://sommaroy.no/eng-frontpage/

    From Brensholmen you take the 35 min ferry to Botnhamn, and you find yourself on the north end of the large island Senja. Follow the coastal road FV862, then FV86 to Gryllefjord, but I recommend the detour to Husøy if you have the time. Keep in mind that Senja island is very little affected by tourism, this is your chance to see first hand what thriving fishing villages look like. As you move south, there will be more tour buses and campervans.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husøy,_Senja
    https://www.lokalkjent.no/husoy

    At Gryllefjord you board the summer ferry to Andenes (1h40min). Now you’re in Vesterålen. The main road from Andenes would be FV82 on the eastern side of Andøya, but the western option is more spectacular. You’ll arrive at Sortland, the largest settlement in Vesterålen.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortland_(town)

    Again, if you have time for it, I’ll recommend spending some time on the scenic route. This definitely means going to Nyksund on the NW side; north of Myre. Let me know if you want any contacts.
    https://nyksund.no/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyksund

    As an alternative to spending much time in tourist trap Lofoten, I’ll recommend doing a round trip along FV820 before you head back east to the crossroad FV820/FV821 (Frøskeland). From there you head south along Eidsfjordveien etc. until you get on FV82 to Stokmarknes.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stokmarknes

    From Stokmarknes it’s a short dash along FV82 to Melbu, where you board the ferry to Fiskebøl. So now you’ve made it to Lofoten. I won’t go into details about Lofoten, Google and you’ll find lots of info in English. And don’t get me wrong, Lofoten is truly sepctacular. The road ends in the south west at the small place appropriately called Å (Oh!).

    If you got to Å, you don’t need to double back, there’s a 3-4 hrs ferry from Moskenes to the city Bodø. If you take it, you will have made up for some of the time spent exploring Vesterålen and Lofoten.
    https://www.torghatten-nord.no/

    If you must press on from Bodø, there’s always the E6 from Fauske, that will take you across the mountain Saltfjellet. The scenic route will always be to hug the coastline though, which means the FV17. If you connect to FV17 already near Bodø, make sure you time it to the tide at Saltstraumen where the road crosses the fjord, as this is an opportunity to observe the world’s strongest tidal current at work.
    https://visitbodo.com/en/saltstraumen

    As you’ll see from the map, you can switch between FV17 and E6 on several occasions, you can aim for reconnecting to E6 as far south as Steinkjær. Let me know what you’ll set aside time for and I’ll provide more details. Sonja is from Mosjøen and we spemd a lot of time in the surrounding region, last time this summer.

    On the northwest side of the coast south of Trondheim you have already got some good advice, like the Atlantic Road, Trollstigen and Geiranger etc. At this point you may be seasick from all the ferries and ocean views, so you may want to cross the mountain to the east side of Norway. Make sure you follow the western side of the Oslo fjord, and Sonja and I will have beds and dinner waiting for you on our island Nøtterøy. See you!
     
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  8. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

    Jul 2, 2020
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    Wow, that’s amazingly helpful, Erling. Thank you so much! I’ll drag the map out later, after work, and plot that lot in.

    Because we have considerable ground to cover after Norway we may have to consider the time/cost/ferries factor but this is still all about discovery for now. We can whittle it down to a feasible size later if necessary. At this rate I can see another trip to Norway being in my future as there’s so much to see.
     
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  9. Erling

    Erling Elite Member

    Dec 12, 2017
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    The very north

    Skjermbilde 2022-01-07 134556.jpg
     
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  10. Erling

    Erling Elite Member

    Dec 12, 2017
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    Senja

    Skjermbilde 2022-01-07 134807.jpg
     
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  11. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

    Jul 2, 2020
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    #71 Octoberon, Jan 7, 2022
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2022
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  12. Erling

    Erling Elite Member

    Dec 12, 2017
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    Vesterålen

    Skjermbilde 2022-01-07 135003.jpg
     
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  13. Erling

    Erling Elite Member

    Dec 12, 2017
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    Lofoten to Bodø

    Skjermbilde 2022-01-07 135315.jpg
     
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  14. Erling

    Erling Elite Member

    Dec 12, 2017
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    Hugging the coastline from Bodø

    Skjermbilde 2022-01-07 135546.jpg
     
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  15. Tallpaul

    Tallpaul Noble Member

    Apr 7, 2019
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    I'm interested in a trip into Scandinavia soon. I retired on 1st January and wife and I want to explore Europe a bit more. Your trip sounds amazing but we don't want to be away for weeks at a time or become mile munchers!
     
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  16. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

    Jul 2, 2020
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    Congratulations on escaping from the rat race. :blush:

    We haven't addressed the issue of time yet. Once we have a basic route sorted out, then added in a bit for faffing about and smelling the roses, we'll see where we are. My friend has retired but I don't know how long he is willing to be on the road. Personally I'll do as much as I can afford both in terms of time and money.
     
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  17. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

    Jul 2, 2020
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    My mate's riding a Himalayan. I don't think speeding is going to be an issue. :joy:

    I've heard Norway is pricey. It's a good point though. We'll need to take things like that in to consideration when costing up the trip.
     
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  18. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

    Jul 2, 2020
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    I've been through all your route advice in detail now and incorporated it in to the main map now, @Erling. Even looking at it on a plain google map I can see that it's going to be quite spectacular. Still haven't got as far as working out any times yet but this is an enormous help. There really is nothing like local knowledge, and you seem to have a lot of it!
     
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  19. Erling

    Erling Elite Member

    Dec 12, 2017
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    It certainly looks like a plan! The Northern Norway section as it stands will take a bit more time than you had anticipated, but you'll get to see and experience a lot more than if you thunder down the mostly inland E6. I have only one comment to the map at this stage: If you'd like to stop by, you need to keep on the western side of the Oslo fjord after you get to Sandvika. Again, it's the slower scenic alternative (after Sande) or you can stay on the 110 kmh E18. Afterwards you can cross the fjord on the Horten - Moss ferry (40 min) or the Sandefjord - Strömstad ferry (2h30min) into Sweden.
     
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  20. Wessa

    Wessa Cruising

    Apr 27, 2016
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    Stock up on mars bars or any other chocolate bars that you like, man they are expensive :);)
     
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