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20 day itenary Norway - Need some feedback/confirmation

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend and I are leaving next week for Norway for +- 20 days. At the moment we are preparing the route and the first dilemma already presents itself: do we focus on south/west Norway or do we also visit the Lofoten islands? I have made a first planning below and was wondering what you think about this?

Important information is that we leave by car from Antwerp (Belgium) and we don't want to take a flight. This is obviously not ideal, but it is the only way to combine north and south/west. We would camp for most of the days. Depending on the weather and our mood, we think we will stay in an Air BNB up to 3 times.

In the planning you will see that we prefer nature over cities. It is because of skipping the cities that I believe this route can be realistic (and exhausting).

What do you think? Would you recommend us to only focus on the south/west? Is seeing the Lofoten Islands worth the trip? Is it too ambitious?

Note: This is a first version of the route. The first decision we have to make is whether to include the Lofoten Islands. When we know this, we will work out the route and activities in more detail. In any case, don't hesitate to share further tips (hikes, locations, wild camping coordinates) :)!

Link to itenary: https://flic.kr/ps/3X3tLr

Posted by
7050 posts

The link is harmless, it goes to a flickr image. But, it would be better if it was posted as text in the forum.

However, you have not scheduled any time for quarantine.

Posted by
2 posts

Sorry for the link above. I didn't see any other possibility to add my schedule. In text form it was unreadable. As mentioned above, it is a reference to the photo of the route.

Regarding the quarantine: My girlfriend and I are fully vaccinated and according to the latest information on the government websites, we do not have to respect a quarantine.

Posted by
7050 posts

If you are fully vaccinated and have EU-certificates to prove there is no need for quarantine.

But it would be a lot easier to comment on the plan if you post it in the forum and not as a link. Regarding Lofoten, I'm not sure it's worth it. Sure, the scenery is amazing, but so is the scenery in the south. And it is a long drive to Lofoten.

Posted by
1117 posts

Your schedule looks pretty ambitious to me. Too ambitious, in my opinion.

You are going from Antwerp to Hirtshals in one day... o.k., theoretically doable, probably, but certainly not my cup of tea. Remember that those 11 hours are going to be your minimum time on the road. You haven't figured in taking breaks, or rush hour in the Ruhrgebiet, or the Elbtunnel bottleneck, or construction zones, or other traffic jams. All of which are very likely to happen on that route.

I would need a vacation after such a day, but you plan to take the ferry from Hirtshals (3 hrs.), then go all the way to the Lysefjord (4 hrs.), then, probably, set up camp or get settled in your Airbnb, and then do the pulpit rock hike. At what time of day do you plan to start in order to get all that done? By the time you get back it's going to be pitch dark. Remember you are far up north and the sun sets before 7 p.m. this time of year.

Then, you give yourself one day to "chill", and on the next day you plan to drive another five hours to get to the Trolltunga. Well, you better get started early, because the hike needs to start before 8 a.m. so you will be back before dark. Also, I hope you have booked a guided tour which you need to do after Sep. 30.

I'll leave it to you to go through your schedule once more and do some more research. To me, it looks very much like you are seriously underestimating the distances you will be driving on small, windy roads, and that you will end up seeing all nature through your car window only. If you want to enjoy Norway in other ways than from the front seat of your car, I would certainly leave out the Lofoten.

Posted by
10280 posts

The OP said in late July that he was going next week . . . I think his/her trip is long in the past now

Posted by
1117 posts

Oh, goodness... you are right! I totally missed that.

Wonder if he got everything done he planned to do. :-)