Bergen to Nordkapp

I loved driving in the fjordland of Wester Ross in northwestern Scotland.

It looks like the coast of Norway from Bergen to Nordkapp has similar
terrain, is that right?

Is there anyone from Norway in this newsgroup who can estimate how long
it would take to drive from Bergen to Nordkapp given 10 hour driving
days? appoximately?
--
Dan Stephenson
Photos, movies, panos from the Europe, USA, plus N.Z.:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

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On Thu, 8 Jan 2009, Dan Stephenson wrote:

Is there anyone from Norway in this newsgroup who can estimate how
long it would take to drive from Bergen to Nordkapp given 10 hour
driving days? appoximately?

I am not from Norway and do not drive, but did part of your route by
coach (chartered) or bus+train (privately) a couple of times.

With the organized coach tour we came down from Nordkapp to Oslo in 5
days, including some stopovers and visits and ferries (I'm not counting
the 0-th day, plane from Oslo to Alta and coach Alta-Nordkapp). First
day we did Nordkapp-Tromso, next day Tromso-Svolvaer on the Lofoten
islands, next day Svolvaer-Mo i Rana, next day Mo i Rana-Trondheim. From
there we went down to Oslo. The detour through the Lofoten is not
necessary (though it was nice).

In fact another time I did Narvik (where I came by train from Sweden) to
Fauske by bus in an afternoon. Fauske to Trondheim by train in a night,
and Trondheim to Oslo by train in an afternoon.

I've never visited the coastland from Trondheim to Bergen, although with
another organized tour we did Oslo to a small place on the inner end of
a fjord (could it be Laerdal) in an afternoon. Then reached Bergen from
there. Then did Bergen-Stavanger, stayed one day, then did Stavanger to
some small place inside Telemark, and finally went back to Oslo. This
implied some very nice parts on a ferry plus a boat excursion on the
Telemark canal.

The ferries can be quite large (they can carry the coach and several
cars), and do not necessarily just cross the fjord (in 3 times we did a
rather long navigation along it ... and very scenic).

In the case your route implies a fjord crossing by ferry (nowadays there
are places with bridges or tunnels which did not exist 20 years ago), it
might be important to know the ferry timetable.

--
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In article 2009010820484716807-stephedanospam@maccom,
Dan Stephenson wrote:

I loved driving in the fjordland of Wester Ross in northwestern Scotland.

It looks like the coast of Norway from Bergen to Nordkapp has similar
terrain, is that right?

Is there anyone from Norway in this newsgroup who can estimate how long
it would take to drive from Bergen to Nordkapp given 10 hour driving
days? appoximately?

I thought--until I opened it--you were talking about my favorite
coastline from shipboard. It is really great! But I know nothing about
driving the route.

--
Mary Loomer Oliver (aka Erilar)

You can't reason with someone whose first line of argument is
that reason doesn't count. --Isaac Asimov

Erilar's Cave Annex: http://www.chibardun.net/~erilarlo*

On 2009-01-09 02:56:42 -0600, Giovanni Drogo
said:

In the case your route implies a fjord crossing by ferry (nowadays
there are places with bridges or tunnels which did not exist 20 years
ago), it might be important to know the ferry timetable.

Giovanni thanks, that is exactly the info I was looking for. I was
concerned it would take weeks!

I will now look up all those places you mentioned, in my big road atlas.

I will also look up ferry schedules.
--
Dan Stephenson
Photos, movies, panos from the Europe, USA, plus N.Z.:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

(remove nospam from email address to reply via email)

On 2009-01-09 11:35:17 -0600, erilar said:

In article 2009010820484716807-stephedanospam@maccom,
Dan Stephenson wrote:

I loved driving in the fjordland of Wester Ross in northwestern Scotland.

It looks like the coast of Norway from Bergen to Nordkapp has similar
terrain, is that right?

Is there anyone from Norway in this newsgroup who can estimate how long
it would take to drive from Bergen to Nordkapp given 10 hour driving
days? appoximately?

I thought--until I opened it--you were talking about my favorite
coastline from shipboard. It is really great! But I know nothing
about driving the route.

People have mentioned taking a boat, but I'm picking up a new car there
on European Delivery (I'm from America), and I recall how awesome
Wester Ross was and hated being stuck in a little rental car.
--
Dan Stephenson
Photos, movies, panos from the Europe, USA, plus N.Z.:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

(remove nospam from email address to reply via email)

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
news:2009010917181116807-stephedanospam@maccom...
On 2009-01-09 02:56:42 -0600, Giovanni Drogo
said:

In the case your route implies a fjord crossing by ferry (nowadays there
are places with bridges or tunnels which did not exist 20 years ago), it
might be important to know the ferry timetable.

Giovanni thanks, that is exactly the info I was looking for. I was
concerned it would take weeks!

Did you not see my report from three years ago?

I did the route the other way and didn't rush the Norwegian coast, but it
still only took about 7 days

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/rec...5b77672178196c

Note that you don't need to go via Tromso. Skipping that saves half a day.

tim

Dan Stephenson:
Is there anyone from Norway in this newsgroup who can estimate how
long it would take to drive from Bergen to Nordkapp given 10 hour
driving days? appoximately?

I am not from Norway, but I have driven there during vacations.
I have detailed highway maps for the middle 3/5 of the country from
a 1995 trip, but my smaller-scale map of the whole country is missing.

It appears that Bergen to Nordkapp would be roughly 2,100 km by road,
depending on which way you go. Based on the maps I have available
plus my knowledge of a new bridge not shown on it, there would be
two cross-fjord ferries unless there are more near the end of the trip.

People in Norway generally obey the 80 km/h speed limit on most
highways, but part of the trip will be on the E6 with a 90 km/h limit.
Of course there will also be slower sections due to towns or mountains.
In good weather, I think it should be feasible to average 65 km/h (more
on the E6) and therefore 4 days should be enough to complete the trip.

But will the weather be good? If you're talking about going there
*now*, in midwinter, I would be very surprised! Not only should you
expect plenty of snow, but very little daylight. I have no experience
driving in Norway in the winter, but I could easily imagine the trip
taking twice as long. Heck, it's even possible that some of the
highways I'll mention later on will be closed for the winter.


Giovanni Drogo:
I am not from Norway and do not drive...
The ferries can be quite large (they can carry the coach and several
cars), and do not necessarily just cross the fjord (in 3 times we did a
rather long navigation along it ... and very scenic).

In the case your route implies a fjord crossing by ferry (nowadays there
are places with bridges or tunnels which did not exist 20 years ago), it
might be important to know the ferry timetable.

In summer it is rarely important unless you are planning to take one
of those ferries that makes a longer trip, like the ones Giovanni
mentioned. Once they put a boat on, they try to keep it working for
most of the day (although there may be a meal break at some point).
Busier routes have two boats working. It is rare to have to wait as
much as an hour, and then the crossing is usually about 20-30 minutes.

I don't know what the winter timetables are like. Certainly if you
might be using a ferry in the evening you would want to know the time
of the last boat!


As I see it, for this trip you want to stay on main roads and avoid
mountains as much as possible. This means that you will want to
pass through the town of Otta (the town itself is small, but it's a
highway junction), and from there onward there is only one sensible
way to go: up the E6 for a long way. But from Bergen as far as Otta,
you have a choice of routes.

The route that looks best to me is to leave Bergen going north through
Knarvik and onward. The map shows a ferry crossing of the Sognefjord
at 112 km from Bergen, between the villages of Ytre Oppedal and Lavik.
You then go east to Vadheim and north to Førde, and turn northeast
to Skei, Byrkjelo, and Stryn. You have now gone a bit farther north
than Otta, but here is where the mountains get in your way. You turn
east and a bit south to reach Otta by passing through Bismo, Lom,
and Vågåmo. Then go north on the E6.

An alternative, basically doing the other two sides of a square, is
to start out going east from Bergen, passing through Nordheimsund
and Alvik. The map shows a ferry across the Eidfjord at 126 km
from Bergen. You continue east through the town of Eidfjord and on
to Geilo. Angle northeast to Gol and Fagernes, southeast a little way
to Aurdal, east to Dokka, and northeast to Lillehammer. Here you pick
up the E6 going north (and somewhat west in this area), which takes you
to Otta and beyond. As far as I can see this is 65 km longer than the
first route, and it involves some highways not marked as main roads
on my map as well as some high land in the Eidfjord/Geilo section.
But after that hard part it gets into the lowest-lying part of Norway
for a while, so you then have the best chance of good conditions.

It is possible to cut across the center of the square, which saves
about 75 km compared to the first route, but again this involves
high land and some roads that are not marked as main highways on
the map, so I would not recommend this route for your purposes.
You would start out going east from Bergen, then jog north through
Dale, east to Voss, and north to Vangsnes. The map shows a ferry
across the Sognefjord from here to Hella, although I'm not sure
this is still current; and then you go east to Sogndal. After this
it's northeast to Gaupne, Skjolden, and Lom, where you pick up the
first route.

(I'm giving these routes in terms of places rather than highway
numbers because highway numbers may have changed since the map was
printed.)

By the first route I make it about 485 km from Bergen to Otta.
From there to Mosjøen is 660 km straight up the E6. From there to
Narvik is 510 km on the E6 with one ferry crossing at the Tysfjord
(I think a relatively long one, like 45 minutes). For most of the
rest of the way I don't have maps, but it looks as though it should
be less than 500 km from Narvik to Nordkapp. So there, subject to
finding accommodation, is your "4 days, more or less". Personally
I'd rather have 2-3 weeks to do it!

Of course, if you have advice from locals about conditions at the
relevant time of year, that would be much more useful than anything
I can suggest as to which is the best route, and as to travel times
as well for that matter.
--
Mark Brader "Clearly, neither Mark Brader nor
Toronto Steve Summit read the whole book..."
-- Greg Black

My text in this article is in the public domain.

"Mark Brader" wrote in message
...
Dan Stephenson:
Is there anyone from Norway in this newsgroup who can estimate how
long it would take to drive from Bergen to Nordkapp given 10 hour
driving days? appoximately?

I am not from Norway, but I have driven there during vacations.
I have detailed highway maps for the middle 3/5 of the country from
a 1995 trip, but my smaller-scale map of the whole country is missing.

It appears that Bergen to Nordkapp would be roughly 2,100 km by road,
depending on which way you go. Based on the maps I have available
plus my knowledge of a new bridge not shown on it, there would be
two cross-fjord ferries unless there are more near the end of the trip.

ISTM that the recommended route would be to use the E16 East to the 51 and
then North to the E6. Thus you avoid any of the ferries in the South of the
country. On a local map this looks like a detour, but on a national map it
looks quite sensible.

This leaves the ferry at Bognes as the only one, one which can't be avoided
unless you take a detour via Sweden. The latter isn't actually any longer
(in distance), but is more minor roads and will be much harder to navigate,
so will probably not save any time.

The ferry at Bognes is not a large time penalty, you can see the full
details in the post that I referenced earlier.

I can't make it much under 2300km BTW.

snip

It is possible to cut across the center of the square, which saves
about 75 km compared to the first route, but again this involves
high land and some roads that are not marked as main highways on
the map, so I would not recommend this route for your purposes.
You would start out going east from Bergen, then jog north through
Dale, east to Voss, and north to Vangsnes. The map shows a ferry
across the Sognefjord from here to Hella, although I'm not sure
this is still current; and then you go east to Sogndal. After this
it's northeast to Gaupne, Skjolden, and Lom, where you pick up the
first route.

Your map is out of date.

There is a nice new (toll) tunnel under the mountains here.

From Voss you should continue East to Fagernes. Main highway all the way.
The only 'little' road necessary is a short link between the E16 and the 51
about 30 Km before Fagernes (just after Ryfoss). As this turns a 60km trip
into 10Km it is almost certainly the signposted route (to the North), but
it's not a big deal if you miss it and double back at Fagernes.

(I'm giving these routes in terms of places rather than highway
numbers because highway numbers may have changed since the map was
printed.)

By the first route I make it about 485 km from Bergen to Otta.
From there to Mosjøen is 660 km straight up the E6. From there to
Narvik is 510 km on the E6 with one ferry crossing at the Tysfjord
(I think a relatively long one, like 45 minutes). For most of the
rest of the way I don't have maps, but it looks as though it should
be less than 500 km from Narvik to Nordkapp. So there, subject to
finding accommodation, is your "4 days, more or less". Personally
I'd rather have 2-3 weeks to do it!

I agree.

It's 36 hours driving time, an easy 4 days, possible in 3. Usually, the
only place that you will encounter serious traffic is at Trondheim. You
should avoid this town centre, unless you really want to look at it (it is
by far the most interesting town on the route! - though that's not saying
much). If you do this, look out for the congestion charge! Most of the
locals have automatic tags and just ignore the toll points and drive
straight through the "free flow" route. It's all too easy to follow them
without realising that you are the only person on the road who should have
stopped to pay (I've no idea what happens if you don't pay).

Of course, if taking longer to do this trip, the above route isn't the one
that I would be recommending

Of course, if you have advice from locals about conditions at the
relevant time of year, that would be much more useful than anything
I can suggest as to which is the best route, and as to travel times
as well for that matter.

TBH I wouldn't even contemplate doing this outside of the Mid May to Mid
Sept period. Earlier than this and the roads may still not be clear of
snow, later than this and the days are too short to appreciate the only
thing that the area has to offer, it's scenic beauty.

tim

In article 2009010917195375249-stephedanospam@maccom,
Dan Stephenson wrote:

On 2009-01-09 11:35:17 -0600, erilar said:

In article 2009010820484716807-stephedanospam@maccom,
Dan Stephenson wrote:

I loved driving in the fjordland of Wester Ross in northwestern Scotland.

It looks like the coast of Norway from Bergen to Nordkapp has similar
terrain, is that right?

Is there anyone from Norway in this newsgroup who can estimate how long
it would take to drive from Bergen to Nordkapp given 10 hour driving
days? appoximately?

I thought--until I opened it--you were talking about my favorite
coastline from shipboard. It is really great! But I know nothing
about driving the route.

People have mentioned taking a boat, but I'm picking up a new car there
on European Delivery (I'm from America), and I recall how awesome
Wester Ross was and hated being stuck in a little rental car.

The ship I was on also carried cars. . .

--
Mary Loomer Oliver (aka Erilar)

You can't reason with someone whose first line of argument is
that reason doesn't count. --Isaac Asimov

Erilar's Cave Annex: http://www.chibardun.net/~erilarlo*

In erilar
wrote:

In article 2009010917195375249-stephedanospam@maccom,

People have mentioned taking a boat, but I'm picking up a new car
there on European Delivery (I'm from America), and I recall how
awesome Wester Ross was and hated being stuck in a little rental car.

The ship I was on also carried cars. . .

While the Hurtigruten steamers are combination passenger/mail/cargo
ships, the time in port at most stops wouldn't allow getting the car
off, visiting the sights and getting it back on again.

A one-way (or part-way) cruise originating in Bergen while driving the
rest of the way might be an interesting compromise.

My wife and I did the Bergen-Bergen round trip in the spring of '07 and
are ready to do it again, even though I'm certain the scenery hasn't
changed :-).

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN