What a trip! Ive updated the daily blogs with route maps to give an idea where I was. Very good weather overall, with one wet day, and two dodging showers but mostly dry. Total mileage in Norway was 3587 miles, managing to get 200 miles above the arctic circle. Bike didn't miss a beat, the only maintenance being a check of tyre pressures and an oil top up on last day but one (500ml)
Don't think you can go far wrong wherever you go in Norway.
Using the Immingham freighter is a definite recommendation if travelling solo, perhaps not so cheap if you have a pillion but you'll have to do the maths on time & cost dependant on your situation. Me & the bike cost around £460 return for a 26 hour trip with own en suite cabin & all meals. Very convenient from north of England/ midlands.
Accomodation in Norway no problem, especially for the first three weeks in June ( Norway schools generally finish last week in June so that's when holiday season starts through to mid august). I only prebooked the first night and the nights on Lofoten, everything else was on spec the day or so before dependant on where I planned to be.
Wouldn't bother with tent next time but would use combination of hytte and Vandrerhjem hostels. 300 to 450nok for two bed hytte on reasonable sites and 300 to 500nok for private en suite room in Vandrerhjem incl breakfast. Cost depends on popularity & location. Most of the rooms I had were twins so a cost saving can be had if you don't mind sharing with a mate. Also its worth getting a YHA card as this gets you 10 to 15% discount in hostels (card is about £15 in UK - there is a tesco clubcard deal at the moment which gets you one for £5, but theyre available to buy at the hostels in Norway for similar UK price). Whatever you've heard about Norway being expensive is true, so budget where you can or start saving.
I mainly self catered, took some ready meals and used local supermarkets. I thought there was a great shortage of places to stop on the road for a snack/drink other than petrol stations, but these were fine. Not many roadside cafes like in UK. Take a bottle of your favourite tipple, managed to make my Glenlivet last until day 11!!!
Thoroughly recommend the Hardanger hostel as a base for a few days.
Buy a statoil mug on the first day of your trip and maximise those coffe stops!
I was reasonably organised and had a rough itinerary, but use the local tourist info offices for ideas on places to see plus plague the life out of the hostel staff who know the area.
Gravel roads are great fun and generally take you out of the way to the best spots. Off the main roads you don't get the choice anyway.
Definitely go to the Lofoten Islands, you'll need a minimum of 3 days to do them justice, it's just a long way there and back unless you're going to Nordkapp anyway.
If you have an iPhone get the free Viber app for 'free' (uses your contract allowance) international calls & texts to other iPhones with Viber - works via Internet so you need a connection but I got one every night as every hostel had free wifi - otherwise this blog wouldn't have been done daily.
By the way, all the daily blogs were done using my oldish 3g Iphone with an app called 'BlogPress'. There may be others but this app was even easier to use than Blogger itself!!!
Can't wait to get back there and will definitely return 2012 if not sooner!!
Posted on the go
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