Best route to Norway

[Stewpot]

We are thinking about a visit to Norway in spring. We live in Yorkshire. Which route have people used from up here? Looks like the options are Hull to Rotterdam then drive to Hirtshal for another ferry, or use Harwich to Esbjerg and then onto Hirtshal to cross into Norway. It does go against the grain to go south and east to Harwich, but I have no experience of routes through Holland and Germany to reach Denmark. It's a great shame there is no direct route from Uk to Norway

Any tips from experienced travellers much appreciated. We have a 6m PVC . We hope to get as far north as Trondheim . We have up to 4 weeks time. Thanks

[malc d]

Hi Stewpot and welcome to the forum.

 

 

Be aware that a lot of the roads in the fjord region can be blocked by snow until early or mid June.

 

Some years since we were over there but we also found it a good idea to have some cash handy for the many ferries in the fjord region - at that time someone just walked along the queue selling tickets - no credit cards were accepted. Vans up to six metres cost a lot less on the ferries than those over six metres.

 

Fabulous country to tour

 

Have a good trip.

 

 

[Tracker]

Hi Stewpot and welcome to the madhouse where everyone has opposing views on just about everything!

 

First the good news - at under 6 mtrs in length you will save a lot on both getting to and the internal ferries in Norway of which there are many!

 

Now the bad news - in spring some roads and passes may not yet be open and snow free as it can take until late May or even June for that to happen and that could curtail your passage Northwards.

 

If that happens you might be able to get across to Baltic Sweden although Southern Norway is very good and spectacular in places.

 

There is no best route - whatever works for you is best - and the basic choice for getting there is between very long drives or very expensive ferries!

 

We went via Calais and drove right up to the Nordkapp and back and we covered 6000 miles in 6 weeks. I like driving but even I was beginning to have had enough by the time we got back!

[malc d]

Stewpot - 2013-12-27 10:13 AM

 

We are thinking about a visit to Norway in spring. We live in Yorkshire. Which route have people used from up here? Looks like the options are Hull to Rotterdam then drive to Hirtshal for another ferry, or use Harwich to Esbjerg and then onto Hirtshal to cross into Norway.

 

 

To some extent, the ferry you choose could depend on how much you like being on a ferry - or how good a sailor you are.

 

I think Hull to Rotterdam is around 16 hours whereas Harwich to Hook is more like 6 hours.

 

You can always gamble on a smooth crossing and take a longer route.

 

:-D

[vindiboy]

When we went to Norway we started at Calais, drove to Putgarten in Germany, crossed there to Robyhaven Denmark by ferry,no booking required just turn up,we then drove through Denmark to Hellsinger and crossed over to Sweden by ferry to Hellsingbourg. (that may be the other way round,memory duff he he) again no booking just turn up regular ferries, We then travelled up Sweden and crossed the mountains into Norway near Grong, and started our tour from there, we saw no officials at all paid NO road tolls anywhere and wild camped for the duration of our trip ( 4 ) months total, we did use the campsite at Geiranger as there was no wild camping available it cost about 30 Eruos for two nights with hook up and was right on the Fiord edge where cruise ships were at anchor,we did a six hour round cruise trip on the Fiord here by ferry, great. Our return trip was similar but we used the Orisund bridge and tunnel,fabulous and the cost was similar to the cost of the two ferries we used .I have full details of our trip written down so could give fuller info if anyone interested.we travelled May to August lot of snow in Norway but roads superb snow Don,t stop Norway.

[nowtelse2do]

Hi Stewpot, welcome to the forum. For the price of a phone call it might be worth ringing DFDS Freight at Immingham, I wouldn't email them, best to speak to someone. They have a freight service to Norway 2 or 3 times a week and the boats do have a few cabins for truck drivers but not always full. You never know your luck. ;-)

 

Dave

[Stewpot]

Thanks to all respondents. Vindiboy , this sounds like the detail I could especially benefit from.

[vindiboy]

Stewpot - 2013-12-27 2:04 PMThanks to all respondents. Vindiboy , this sounds like the detail I could especially benefit from.

 

We used the Vicarious book for Aires etc Benelux and Scandinavia great asset, found night stops everywhere from it sooooo easy.

[Cattwg]

Hi and Welcome,

Sorry can’t help you regarding ferries as we crossed Dover/Calais. Not sure how much research you’ve already done but here are a few tips that may help.

 

We were able to get very informative maps via the Norway Tourist Information sites. For example, one gave the location of dump stations heading north. Another the location of campsites.

We wild camped virtually the whole time we were in Norway. It’s important to know that this must be done at least 100m from any habitation.

Many of the campsites will let you dump your waste and refill with water – about £5 when we were there in 2006.

We used an aire in Oslo, at the Yacht Harbour, called Sjølyst/Bestumkilen. It includes water and a sani-station. It’s about 5 minutes from the city centre by bike or a bus stop is 50m away. About £12 per night in 2006. The marina is signposted from the E6 and the E18. There is a toll to take your vehicle into Oslo – if you reach one of these booths you have passed the aire. (Someone on the forum may have sat nav co-ordinates).

There is a ‘visitors centre’ at the Arctic Circle. It has a large free carpark, we along with several other 'vans overnighted there.

Norway and Scandinavia generally is expensive. e.g. Nord Kapp is owned (like Land’s End!) and getting into its car park and other facilities cost us £18 PER PERSON.

With very few exceptions the speed limit ‘out of town’ is 80 kph. This together with having to use ferries means that your average speed will be greatly reduced. 150 miles/day as a maximum is realistic. Be sure to stick to the limits - the fines are huge.

Headlights are required to be on at all times.

We also contacted Joyce and Morgan Pearce, the MMM consultants for Scandinavia, they sent lots of general information.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cattwg :-D

[vindiboy]

A must see in Norway is the Maelstrom at Salstraunem wild camp here or a camp site here, a fresh water Fiord runs into a salt water Fiord as the tide turns the fresh water Fiord starts to empty thousands of litres of water start to flow through the narrows at about 15 knots and create the most spectacular whirlpools and boiling water,the action is very predictable and there are time tables there telling you when it is going to happen,you can ride a high powered boat through the whirlpools at these times a great experience,as is the Sea Road, only about 5 mles long but a great experience,great wild camping here too.We drove the Sea road six times a super drive,Google these places some great video available on U Tube too.

[Brians dad]

nowtelse2do - 2013-12-27 2:02 PM

 

Hi Stewpot, welcome to the forum. For the price of a phone call it might be worth ringing DFDS Freight at Immingham, I wouldn't email them, best to speak to someone. They have a freight service to Norway 2 or 3 times a week and the boats do have a few cabins for truck drivers but not always full. You never know your luck. ;-)

 

Dave

 

Yes, DFDS do freight ferries from Immingham or Tilbury to Gothenberg in Sweden, when it is only a 100 mile journey to Norway. I wish we had known that when we went to Norway, as we had to go from Yorkshire to Harwich, then drove from Esjberg to Hirshals where we got the fast ferry to Kristiansand. It all depends whether you want fine dining and entertainment, or swapping tales with truckers - personally I find the truckers more interesting!

[Robinhood]

....some reasonable advice above.

 

Speaking from recent experience, and living not over-far from Hull myself, of the two options you yourself outline, (and subject to the relative crossing costs) I would favour Harwich-Esbjerg over Hull-Rotterdam.

 

Given you have only about four weeks I'd suggest you should make the most of the destination that is effectively costing the money. It may seem counter-intuitive to head South for Harwich, but the drive via the A1/M11/A120 is not difficult, and then you have the crossing to have a good rest.

 

Whilst the DFDS boat isn't particularly swish (being somewhat more freight-oriented than it used to be) it is quite acceptable, and more importantly, at the cost of some 200+ miles in the UK, it saves you 500 or so on the Continent compared with Rotterdam. Esbjerg itself is easy to exit, and you can be heading North towards Hirtshals (200 miles away) pretty quickly. This would allow you to safely pre-book a ferry the following morning, and find a stopover fairly close to Hirtshals leaving little doubt about being able to catch it easily.

 

This would get you to Norway in two and a half days from home, fresh after two relatively easy drives.

 

If you cross to Rotterdam, you have a journey of over 600 miles to Hirtshals, at least (to be practical) a couple of days driving, with a bit of uncertainty about arrival time at Hirtshals, potentially needing some leeway for a ferry booking.

 

In addition, whilst the relevant roads in Germany and Denmark are pretty good and fast (I don't know the immediate vicinity of Rotterdam), they aren't the most interesting route to drive, and the better sights are somewhat off the direct track. Best to do this area as the Northerly stretch of a tour to the German Baltic coast using a short-sea crossing, IMO.

 

FWIW, I could find only marginal difference in the all-up cost of reaching Denmark via Harwich-Esbjerg, and that of driving most of the way using Dover-Calais.

 

Booking Harwich-Esbjerg via the C&CC gave me a 10% discount on the not insignificant cost (more than a couple of year's membership).

 

You might also choose to keep your eye open for the much-rumoured (but a bit quiet as of late) re-incarnation of the Newcastle-Bergen ferry, which was always by far the best way to get to Norway.

 

e.g:

 

http://travelswithanthony.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/ferry-nice-new-start-up-service-from-newcastle-to-norway/comment-page-1/

 

You may fall a bit foul of road-closures early in the year, but three weeks was enough for us to get from Bergen to the Lofoten Islands and back on our last tour, but we had already toured the Fjord areas a couple of times, and a tour there would easily soak up four (or closer to three once you were there) weeks.

 

The Norwegian Tourist Board are good at sending information, and they used to provide such things as ferry timetables with pricing - invaluable for route planning (and as stated above, being under 6m you will find the cost of ferry use relatively painless).

 

www.camping.no is a useful site (English option), and a good campsite and information guide is downloadable in PDF format.

 

Enjoy!

 

[EJB]

Our routes:-

Harwich - Hook overnight

Bremen Stellplatz

Campsite middle of Denmark

Campsite Hirtshals

Ferry to Kristiansand

 

Harwich - Hook overnight.

Bremen stellplatz

Bridges to Copenhagen

Ferry Copenhagen to Oslo overnight.

 

PS. We always go last few days of May for the whole of June...never found a blocked road but one drive up a mountain road to a viewpoint was closed.

[sean.clarke]

Hopefully the best route in 2014 for UK to Norway will be the "soon to be announced" Newcastle to Bergen ferry....? but that has been "soon to be announced" since.... 2010?

 

Some recent news articles around the announcement, but still nothing concrete. I certainly have my fingers crossed for April 2014.…....

[Stewpot]

Once again many thanks for the suggestions. Any more observations welcomed

[Addie]

We spent a month in Norway in our 6m panel van conversion.

http://www.europebycamper.com/search/label/Norway

 

Also from Yorkshire, we took in Denmark with our route - but if you wanted to hot foot to Norway you could always drive to Hirtshals to Kristiansand. There was rumor of a new ferry from Newcastle to start in 2014 - but that seemed to have been a bit of a red herring.

[TrevR]

South Yorkshire here ...and I can't wait to get back to Norway on the Newcastle ferry. The route still holds some promise and I'm running a web campaign for its reinstatement (by Norwegian Seaways) No link for now as I don't want to be seen as dropping links.

[TrevR]

We've been working really hard at campaign HQ and it looks like Out & About Live have rolled up their sleeves too. There has been a great response to the International Ferry to Norway Campaign (ICFN) from Out & About Live members and we know have 74 motorhome owners supporting the ICFN campaign. We know there are hundreds, if not thousands more motorhome owners across the UK who would love to tour Norway and we urge everyone to come and support the campaign by registering your interest in travelling direct to Norway by ferry from Newcastle or Rosyth. ICFN is the only campaign group that meets regularly with Norwegian Seaways and we are able to bring you the most accurate and up to date information on the progress of the ferry to Norway.

 

You can read the notes of our last meeting with Norwegian Seaways on 26 Nov 2014 at

 

http://ferrytonorway.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/1447-norwegian-seaways-meets-icfn-in-manchester

 

Our next meeting with Norwegian Seaways Ltd is scheduled for January 2015 but in the meantime we'll keep Out & About members updated here.

 

Great work guys, keep the support coming B-)

[nowtelse2do]

I was chatting to a UK trucker who works and drives trucks over in Norway. He was back over here for awhile but is going back to Norway soon. I've cut and pasted his reply to me after I asked him how he took his van back over there, i must admit I thought he had a camper but his reply was interesting all the same, although Wednesday's 8-) don't look promising.

 

Dave

 

Hi D

No, it's a Caddy van but I have kipped in the back of it on the odd occasion after having had a bust up at home. Guess that doesn't really qualify it as a bona fide camper. DFDS freight boat out of Immingham has 2 sailings a week, Sunday and Wednesday but they don't take passengers on Wednesday apparently. As I said, you end up in Brevik, roughly 100 miles from either Oslo or Kristiansand. It's a bit of a shame that they stopped doing the Newcastle-Stavanger-Bergen route back in 2008. Heard rumours it was going to start up again but haven't seen it confirmed anywhere. Also heard Harwich to Esjberg in Denmark has been ki-boshed as well and with the van being a bit worse for wear I might as well let the boat do the majority of the work as opposed to driving all the way. It's actually a lot cheaper to do it this way than I thought it would be. Only about 240 miles from Brevik to Sandnes and a Kiwi friend is coming over for the roadie to get some pictures for a trucking magazine down under. Hopefully he'll be bringing some Amber Nectar to soothe the 26 hour crossing.