Motor homeless trip to Norway

[SteveE]

After years of wanting to take the motorhome to Norway and the Nordics, we’ve decided that it’s just too far to drive for our limited time off work… so we’re planning to fly to Bergen around the 2nd week in April and pick up a hire car.

The rough plan is to drive to Voss and Gudvangen for a few days walking and kayaking in the fjords, before returning for a few nights in Bergen to explore the city.

Appreciate it’s a different type of trip without the van but would be great to know if anyone has any tips or recommendations? It looks like the ski season runs in this region until mid/late April, so not sure what the roads will be like. Any info or advice is welcomed… hopefully we will manage a longer Nordics trip in the motorhome at some point in the future.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Maybe too late - but have you considered a Hurtigruten coastal cruise?
I did it a couple of years ago, and it was brilliant.
Not cheap of course, but what in Norway is...

 

[guy b]

Have a look at the National Scenic routes. It’s a stunning country, we drove from pretty much the top downwards pulling as many of these routes in as possible. Think some of it will be pretty much snow bound still in April but being Norway it’s pretty efficient in clearing snow.

The Scenic Routes

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

 

[SteveE]

Thank you, we hadn’t considered cruises… I’ll do some research!

 

[SteveE]

Have a look at the National Scenic routes. It’s a stunning country, we drove from pretty much the top downwards pulling as many of these routes in as possible. Think some of it will be pretty much snow bound still in April but being Norway it’s pretty efficient in clearing snow.

The Scenic Routes

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

Great thank you!

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[guy b]

Great thank you!

Watch out for hiding police with speed cameras. There is no 10% rule like the U.K. Fines start off hideously expensive and increase to loss of license in something like 15km per hour over.
Travelling at 44km/hr in a 40 zone cost just over €400.

 

[Phill D]

Voss is a decent place although I have only ever stayed there in winter.
There are a few places of interest in that area, Hardhanger fiord, Stalheim, Rong,

It really depends how far you want to drive, and how much walking you want to do to get to some stunning views.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

I second the Hurtigruten cruise we did it a few years ago prior to our epic 90 day trip in the Motorhome in 2024. We did the full 10 day trip but if we did it again I would only do the outward trip from Bergen then fly back from Kirkenes. The only interesting part of the return trip was Northern Lights spotting in the early hours the rest was just sitting and reading as there were no stops.
P.s. the ship is a floating restaurant with fantastic food, forget the wine at £35 a bottle for ordinary wine. Many locals just board for a meal then get off a couple of stops later and get a taxi back.

 

[cyberyacht]

I thought they did different stops on the way back. That's what it appeared to be in the ad in the paper.

 

[Riverbankannie]

I thought they did different stops on the way back. That's what it appeared to be in the ad in the paper.

That’s correct, all different on way back. Some stops in middle of night both ways, some stops you get a few hours ashore , some just an hour. At Kirkennes, there was time for a booked dog sledge and visit to ice hotel and at Tromso, a short concert in the cathedral. We found the included breakfast and dinner sufficient for the day and went tee total for the trip.

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[Puddleduck]

Channel5, 9 pm on 17 January might be interesting.

 

[NPea]

The roads are great and the advantage of a hire car is that it will have suitable tyres, probably studded. As soon as conditions are poor the roads are ploughed so if you find yourself struggling just pull in and wait for a plough to pass then follow it. As already stated, dont speed and drink driving limit is zero though this doesnt seem to bother the locals. Be careful with right of way decisions. If it is a tight spot to pass, the locals will stop and wait, any contact then the moving vehicle is at fault.
Try to avoid driving at night until used to driving on snow as it can be a bit disorienting.

 

[starquake]

We've done early/late season cruising in Norway, and a Hurti cruise is on our list of things to do as they do go to the more interesting stops that the other lines will often only have one cruise a year visiting, where Hurti goes every week. However if you havn't cruised Norway, you really should, as many lines run from Southampton to many places in Norway where the roads would be a challenge to get to the same place ...

The other unsaid advantage of a non-Norweigan cruiseline is you don't end up paying Norweigan alcohol pricing if you fancy some wine in the the evenings (and the food is usually included in fare). It can be very reasonable (as in under £100 pp pn), which often you struggle to get hotels + food and drink in same budget for (£200 per day in Norway isn't much of a budget from experience).

If you do a 100% Norway itinary from Sotuhampton cruises can be 7, 10 or 14 days, so be sure to book the itinary that suits! Takes some research, but was our favourite trip to Norway of recent years.

We're booking on one for the Solar eclipse in 2026, going to Bruges, then some of the interesting Norway stops including Tromso, then onto Iceland for the total eclipse in summer, then onto NYC.

 

[Bailey58]

Channel5, 9 pm on 17 January might be interesting.

Susan Calman at 8 pm?

 

[Brize]

Appreciate it’s a different type of trip without the van but would be great to know if anyone has any tips or recommendations? It looks like the ski season runs in this region until mid/late April, so not sure what the roads will be like. Any info or advice is welcomed… hopefully we will manage a longer Nordics trip in the motorhome at some point in the future.

Steve, if you are going to be in that area it's worth considering a rib trip along Hardangarfjord.

There may be other places but we went from Norheimsund, only about an hour from Vossevangen.

Norheimsund Rib Seafari – FJORD CRUISE WITH WATERFALL SAFARI ON THE HARDANGERFJORD

www.1nhs.no

It's not cheap, and we took the 1 hour trip, but it was worth every cent and we would do it again.

Have fun!

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[pandas]

We flew into Tromso, Hurtigruten cruise for 4 days around the northern tip. A few years later we took the motorhome from south up to Tromso. Both great adventures although the trip in the motorhome was outstanding. Maybe you don't need to eat the whole elephant in one sitting!

 

[SteveE]

Steve, if you are going to be in that area it's worth considering a rib trip along Hardangarfjord.

There may be other places but we went from Norheimsund, only about an hour from Vossevangen.

Norheimsund Rib Seafari – FJORD CRUISE WITH WATERFALL SAFARI ON THE HARDANGERFJORD

www.1nhs.no

It's not cheap, and we took the 1 hour trip, but it was worth every cent and we would do it again.

Have fun!

Thanks this looks great! I’ll try and convince my wife we should go! The drive alone from Voss looks like a great trip! We certainly won’t be short of things to see over there!

 

[SteveE]

We flew into Tromso, Hurtigruten cruise for 4 days around the northern tip. A few years later we took the motorhome from south up to Tromso. Both great adventures although the trip in the motorhome was outstanding. Maybe you don't need to eat the whole elephant in one sitting!

Completely agree, I think Noway will be a few different trips for us, without the van for now but eventually (hopefully) a much longer trip in the van.