Norway

[Chrissb6]

Has anyone toured Norway? Been on my to do list l'm hoping next year the year???!!

[megawatt]

Been there in the car towing the caravan. What a fabulous country and lovely people. Fookin expensive though.

[Chrissb6]

There's always a price to pay for beauty Mate, but from what pic's lve seen and read about the place it's got to be done. already set a route out we'll be on the bike and camping so hopefully keep the cost down, its the booze that really hits the pocket. currently fuel around £2.00 a ltr, but the camp site are very reasonable around £15 and night for a very well sorted site.

[megawatt]

You can wild camp as well in Norway mate. Don't bother with the turist boats , fantastic views from the ferries, cheaper and less packed. Narrow Fyjord was awesome. Trollstigen Pass and the Atlantic road are must dos.

[Guest]

One big + its very cheap to get there considering the distance. £100 (inc single supp. and bike one way), can't be bad. but do bear in mind the size of the place, riding from the south to Nordkapp is like riding from London to Italy. be sure to visit the Lofoten Islands!!

http://www.sailingyachts.com/scandinavia/s_lofoten.jpg

[Joeman]

I spent new years eve in Norway whale watching from inflatable boats. Up in the Arctic circle, only a few hours of daylight, loads of snow and northern lights.

Spectacular place!

[Chrissb6]

One big + its very cheap to get there considering the distance. £100 (inc single supp. and bike one way), can't be bad.

Details please, my biggest problem is getting there, one hell of a hike now the Newcastle crossing is no more.

[Guest]

What's lost in getting there will be spent... there! Everything is expensive lol. Great country though - been there 8 times or so (ex gf was Norwegian).

I fancied the journey myself and probably will one day.

Excellent part of the world. Go in the Summer and you can expect it to be like we get in our warmer days.

[Guest]

You'll need to ride the 164 or so miles to Harwich. So thats about 10 miles further than Newcastle.

The sailings begin in April and run right through to October. 3 sailings per week. You may be aware that DFDS stopped this route this year. They couldn't make it pay. however another operator has stepped in and designated a ship for 'at least' 2015. whether it carries on after that remains to be seen. It seems to me they're using a different business model.. fill the ship by making the crossing itself as cheap as possible. The absolute lowest price is for a seat!! £50+£20(for the bike) rooms start at £60. + £20 single room supplement + £20 for the bike.

The boat leaves at 18:00 and arrives at Esbjerg at 13:00 the next day. From there its just a 3 hour ride to the ferry port at Hirtshals - then another ferry, that takes 2 hours to cross to Norway. That should be fairly cheap too. Im guessing around £60. for bike and rider.

So next year is possibly your last chance to do this without the huge overland route. If they can't make this a success. If it were me.. I wouldn't mess around. I'd go for it.

Now.. there is an alternative. DFDS run a 'freight' ferry from Immingham to Norway itself. And they do accept passengers and motorbikes.. but with a caveat. If they're full.. they will always give preference to their freight customers. However Ive yet to hear of anyone being turned away. This ferry goes to BREVIK which is just south of Oslo. This is quite cheap too.. the boat has nothing onboard aside from a cafeteria. so.. its very basic. lorry drivers don't need cinemas and discos and the like.

If I were to use that route.. i would ask them which is the least busy crossing.. and go for that one, just to reduce the already very low risk of being turned away.

website for the Esbjerg boat: http://www.reginaline.dk/index-uk.htm

and heres an idea on google maps of the distance saved.. and route to the second ferry. http://goo.gl/maps/MPQyR

In either case this is, in my opinion the best way to get to Norway.. at the very least it will save you a huge dogleg, crossing to the netherlands for instance and then the ride up to Denmark and across to Norway. do the sums. and it doesn't take a genius to work out the savings in cash and time.

If you want to explore the Freight ferry.. this is the website for that: http://tinyurl.com/q66557f

[Chrissb6]

I've already research and tagged the Immingham route Phil, it's not cheap but when you take time and distance saved into account for us it the way to go.

Route almost complete, just need to find a slot in the work schedule for both of us for next year

[Guest]

The DFDS ferry that ended this year was an outrageous price: £527 for a bike and rider. this new ferry regina line is a quarter the cost.

[Chrissb6]

My last quote for the Immingham crossing bike and passenger was over £800 But as said, you got to take everything else into account, the amount of time and miles saved getting there it's a no brainer! Norway is what we want to see, l don't want to spent best part of a week getting there and back

[Chrissb6]

My last quote for the Immingham crossing bike and passenger was over £800 But as said, you got to take everything else into account, the amount of time and miles saved getting there it's a no brainer! Norway is what we want to see, l don't want to spent best part of a week getting there and back