Another way home from Norway

[barge1914]

Our trip round the fjords and up the west coast to Trondheim has been truncated. Despite the grandeur and beauty of the fjords we have had enough after 5 weeks of the almost continual rain and cold. It seems the jetstream is stuck in a loop and will continue to dump the contents of the Atlantic on western Norway for most of our remaining time here. We’ve just come 80 miles inland to the Rondane National Park where miraculously it is dry and occasionally sunny, although temperatures look like staying in single figures for a while yet. In the hope of finding some summer before we return to Blighty we’ll to spend some more time dawdling back through Denmark and Germany down the Baltic coast where temperatures are forecast to be more comfortable, and maybe meander around some of the German National park areas between Hamburg and Belgium.

So the question is for those who have been this way before, have you any good recommendations for places to visit and stay along this route?

 

[Dezi]

Our trip round the fjords and up the west coast to Trondheim has been truncated. Despite the grandeur and beauty of the fjords we have had enough after 5 weeks of the almost continual rain and cold. It seems the jetstream is stuck in a loop and will continue to dump the contents of the Atlantic on western Norway for most of our remaining time here. We’ve just come 80 miles inland to the Rondane National Park where miraculously it is dry and occasionally sunny, although temperatures look like staying in single figures for a while yet. In the hope of finding some summer before we return to Blighty we’ll to spend some more time dawdling back through Denmark and Germany down the Baltic coast where temperatures are forecast to be more comfortable, and maybe meander around some of the German National park areas between Hamburg and Belgium.

So the question is for those who have been this way before, have you any good recommendations for places to visit and stay along this route?

Hi Barge,

It depends on your interest and fitness.

We are both history buffs and enjoyed meandering around Lubeck, one of the Hansiatic league towns.

Parking about 6 euros a day here 53°52'17.5"N 10°40'43.5"E with toilets nearby. Short walk into town.

The Kiel canal is also worth a visit and could be on your route.

Several cheap camp sites along the southern Baltic coast, highlighted on google maps

Buxtehude known as = Friendly Fairy Tale Capital Of The World ( I just copy and paste this stuff ) is also a town worth a visit.

Dezi

 

[saxonborg]

Ribe in Denmark is a nice old town with an Aire quite close.

 

[mossypossy]

Same here

We were coming down the coast. Ålesund at the weekend with a grim weather forecast ahead.
We headed for Oslo and are currently in Kongsberg enjoying the sun. Silver mine in the morning.
Heading for Kristiansand and back to Denmark which we enjoyed on the way up. 29 days in Norway so far.
See you over there!

 

[Glass man]

I had exactly this weather when I was in Norway 6 years ago so simply drove East, in Sweden the weather was much better. Warm sunshine. If you like continue East into Finland.
BUT only one place in Finland for LPG
AND do check your breakdown insurance, most companies do not cover Finland.

 

[mossypossy]

Beware the mozzies

We went up the Swedish Bothnian coast in May, into Finland, up to the top, down to Lofotens and back to inner Sweden in late June. Mozzies were very annoying because we had got used to not having them up until that point.
Would not touch Finland atm.

 

[groyne]

Aahus has an excellent museum and art gallery, both well worth a visit.

 

[witzend]

I had exactly this weather when I was in Norway 6 years ago

Despite the grandeur and beauty of the fjords we have had enough after 5 weeks of the almost continual rain and cold.?

I guess thats all to be expected we had the same. Some sort of rain most days beautifull scenery spoilt by rain

 

[mossypossy]

Brutal truth

Scotland offers an awful lot of what Norway does.
Combine with more accessible and unbelievably cheaper Switzerland and you have it covered.

 

[barge1914]

Norway

Scotland offers an awful lot of what Norway does.
Combine with more accessible and unbelievably cheaper Switzerland and you have it covered.

True, but we’ve been there, we just had to come here and see...part of our quest to visit all the mountain ranges of Europe.

 

[barge1914]

Norway

In the Rondane National Park last night we had 1C. Woke up this morning to find the hills just a few tens of feet above us had a nice new coating of snow...what we could see of them through the murk! We’ve just moved a couple of hours further south, the day sunnier and warmer already, but on arrival at a little parkup by a quiet lake we are being bombarded by hail...did we do something to offend someone??

 

[phillybarbour]

This is an interesting read as we’ve planned a similar trip for early Sept 20.

 

[witzend]

This is an interesting read as we’ve planned a similar trip for early Sept 20.

Well don,t be put off we,re glad we went, But don,t think we,d go again

 

[Greenwayjay]

Hi, sounds hard going weatherise and we all a bit of sun. Ive been to Norway a couple of times Kayaking and Denmark and Sweden with my van around this time of year over the past few years and its been ok/great weather then. As we know climate change is happening and suggest you get a good weather forecast app, Ive been using this for the past few years and happy to pay for it, it right for most of the time, so I recommend MeteoGroup Weather Pro… just checked it for Rondane and it say its pants now but improving from tomorrow, with no rain for the next week...I use it to plan my adventures as has a 10 day forecast….hope that helps.

 

[mid4did]

Sorry to hear your tales of bad weather.Looks like we,d better take snow chains on our planned trip in september
We had brilliant weather last year may-june.Our last couple of stopovers were a campsite beneath the briksdal glacier then Oslo.gothenburg is also well worth a visit using the water taxi from a car park by the bridge.I used the trelleborg ferry to germany.We liked hamburg also ,the fishmarket is a popular place.

 

[barge1914]

Hamburg

Sorry to hear your tales of bad weather.Looks like we,d better take snow chains on our planned trip in september
We had brilliant weather last year may-june.Our last couple of stopovers were a campsite beneath the briksdal glacier then Oslo.gothenburg is also well worth a visit using the water taxi from a car park by the bridge.I used the trelleborg ferry to germany.We liked hamburg also ,the fishmarket is a popular place.

Any recommendation where best to stay in Hamburg?

 

[barge1914]

Kiel

Hi Barge,

It depends on your interest and fitness.

We are both history buffs and enjoyed meandering around Lubeck, one of the Hansiatic league towns.

Parking about 6 euros a day here 53°52'17.5"N 10°40'43.5"E with toilets nearby. Short walk into town.

The Kiel canal is also worth a visit and could be on your route.

Several cheap camp sites along the southern Baltic coast, highlighted on google maps

Buxtehude known as = Friendly Fairy Tale Capital Of The World ( I just copy and paste this stuff ) is also a town worth a visit.

Dezi

I like the sound of Lubeck, I think we’ll go it a go.
Did you visit Kiel itself, if so was it worth it, or industrial and grizzly?

 

[barge1914]

Norway

This is an interesting read as we’ve planned a similar trip for early Sept 20.

You’ll be surprised at the cost of everything, if you budget for twice what you normally spend for everyday necessities you won’t be far out. If you’ve got used to the abundant fare of French supermarkets you may find the offerings in Norwegian ones a bit meagre and austere. No wonder Norwegians seem to generally be of somewhat slender healthy proportions!

 

[mid4did]

Any recommendation where best to stay in Hamburg?

We were headed for the fishmarket as it's listed as a parking area but had an event going on with lots of old ships in port with the car park given over to stallholders of all descriptions sellind food and drinks ,beer etc.A great day out for nothing.
I just found a free spot on the road a couple hundred yards away.We didn't stop overnight so can't really say what it'd be like there overnight.
This is where we parked 53.546118, 9.940450.

 

[Tonybvi]

We lived in Bergen, reputed to be one of the wettest places in Norway (West coast and surrounded by 7 mountains) for 6 years. We just had to get on with life despite the rain and when the sun shone it was extra special. The saying goes there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes! Despite the weather we absolutely loved living there and would go back like a shot - mind you we were expats and therefore somewhat shielded from the high cost of living.