Shipping self and bike to North Norway ... how?
 

Looking for advice. I would like to get R1200R plus me and 'she who must be obeyed' over to Norway, preferably a good way up North with a view to getting to the Lofoten Islands without the long riding haul to get their by land. I know - I should take the ride but I only have a 14 day vacation period in 2018! Any ideas or experience of doing this out there. Thanks. Simon

I have just returned from a trip to the Lofotens and Nordkapp. As far as I know, you don't have too many options.

I took the Newcastle to Ijmuiden ferry and hit the motorways up to Hirtshals in Denmark for the crossing to the south of Norway. A very tedious 650 motorway miles and about 4 or 5 hours involved with the ferry crossing including loading / unloading etc. And then it's a long way up to Bodo for the Lofotens ferry, but mostly a great ride.

Your other option might be the DFDS freight ferry from Immingham to Brevik. This is expensive and takes a long time and is a commercial freight service. DFDS won't confirm your crossing until shortly before the sailing because they will reserve the few cabins they have for any truck drivers needing to travel with their trucks. And Brevik is still in the south of Norway so would still leave you with a long drive to the Lofotens.

In short, I don't think there is anything that will get you to the north of Norway quickly and easily.

Norway is a fairly slow country to get through in places if you want to take in the scenery. My trip to Nordkapp was 5050 miles in 17 days - an average of about 300 miles per day. This makes for very long riding days with few stops, which suited me. If you are not into that then 14 days is probably not enough for a relaxed and leisurely ride up to the Lofotens and to have plenty of stops.

Let's see if anyone else knows of a suitable way to get there. The old Newcastle to Bergen ferry is very much missed I think.

Thanks for the feedback...
 

Sadly you are confirming what I thought ... let's hope that the Newcastle / Bergen ferry gets reinstated. There was talk ...

Your best option? Talk to DSV or another Europe-wide trucking company. Put the bike on a frame/pallet and have it shipped up to whatever terminal they are using up there. Fly yourself and the missus out there. Reverse upon completion.

Doesn't get you the satisfaction of having made it all the way out there, but saves time and may even save you money compared to Norwegian hotel and gas prices.

(A UK-based DFDS employee and biker told me the Immingham-Brevik ferry absolutely will not take accompanied vehicles these days, because it makes them subject to a whole mess of import-export-whatever paperwork that they don't want to deal with.)