Hi,
Planning a trip to Norway for a couple of weeks near the summer and looking for any must see destinations, routes that people would reccomend when there?
We haven't decided on which bikes to take, road or off road is there much off road terrain that would justify taking more trail orientated bikes over there, and if so where can I find more info on routes?

Possibly thinking of swapping the R1150RT for a big traily !!

Many Thanks

AL

Interesting discussion here:
Scandinavia and North Cap in July 2009 - Page 3 - ADVrider

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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand

Hi, some info from the country section of the HUBB, also available at Minutes of a Motorcycle Addict - Two wheels good trip. Four wheels bad trip.

Where should I go? What's to avoid?

Regarding fine motorcycle roads in Norway, you basically can't go too wrong whatever you choose. The area around the capital Oslo is dull, and this is where you find the most boring stretches of highway. But apart from that, you can go inland in the mountains and have a great trip, or you can go up the west coast having a ball for your eyes and on your bike. Obviously, even in Norway there are tourist traps. The North Cape plateau is probably the worst of them all if you ask me, but that's because they make you pay to go into an area which a number of us Norwegians consider being common land, thus being subject to the freedom to roam right. Besides, the plateau is not the northernmost point. Actually, it is Knivskjelodden, being 1600 metres farther north - and free of charge. Be prepared for a walk of some 7 kilometres to get there, but hey - how often do you visit the Cape?
To help you in the planning process, The Official Travel Guide to Norway can at least give you some ideas where to find e.g. the Top Ten Nature Attractions in Norway.

I'd like to ride on some gravel roads - is it possible?

Very possible, and very enjoyable too. Here's a road map of Norway.
It's in Norwegian, but pretty self explanatory. From scale 1:100 000 you can see what kind of surface the roads have. On the file symbols to the left, choose "Vegdekke" (Road Surface). Then choose "Vegdekke_massetype (Fra 1: 100 000)" (Road Surface_type (from 1:100 000))
Refresh the map with "Vis kart" (Show map)
You typically want to find the roads called "Grus" ("Gravel") and/or "Skogsbilveg" (Forestry road/trails)

Which maps do you recommend?

Cappelen have the best maps of Norway. Scale should be at least 1:350 000 to be able to see also the smaller, most motorcycle-friendly roads. Cappelen's maps are easy to read and very updated. They're a bit pricey but they are worth every krone. You can find them at any bookstore in Norway.

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

Hello Hans,

Excellent interactive map.

Are all the Grus, (Gravel) roads available to drive, or are there still limitations, time of year etc ?

Also the forestry trails, the green ones, can I drive them without too much intervention from the politi ?

I am looking at a couple of green forestry trails in Linderud area.
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.
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I put grey circles around them.
Are these OK ?

Many of the gravel roads are private. Most of them are open (at least during summer), but some are closed.

If there is a road (ment for cars) and no sign tells anything else you are free to go.

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No these are not okay, none of the gravel roads in Oslo are.

This is a nice area: ABCSøk: Kart

If you go via Lierfoss you will meat gravel at Moen.

Norway has a couple of interesting tunnels to ad to your BTDT (Been There, Done That) list. One is in Drammen (40 km SW of Oslo) and is called Spiraltoppen. It goes up to a lookout point by going around in a spiral 5 or 6 times inside the hill. The other is the longest tunnel in the world, 24.5 km. It is NE of Flåm, which has a nice clean and neat campground; the only one in town. There is also a nice brewpub in town that brews their own and ale.

I also recommend the ferry from Hellesylt to Geiranger. It is a 22 km ferry ride. The captain does a tour boat talk as he goes up the fjord. And it's cheaper than taking a tour boat. From Geiranger go either direction out of town. East leads to a great viewpoint and over the mountains. North leads to an even better viewpoint ... (The ferry comes from the right and Geiranger is to the left by the cruise ships)



and then on to the Trollstigen, which is a piece of road that switchbacks down the frontwall of a glacial valley with several waterfalls next to the road.



The route from the BTDT tunnels to the Trollstigen has dozens more tunnels and lots of ferry rides. All in all a very interesting country.

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Our Favorite Roads, until the next trip!
Bob & Kathy
The adventures of Lemonade