Actually, more than a trip to the North Cape (or Nordkapp), this route of more than 12,000 km, and 16 days on a motorcycle, starting and ending in Madrid, is a complete tour of the Scandinavian peninsula, going up the entire Norwegian coast from Kristiansand to Nordkapp, passing through all the fjords and the Lofoten Islands and down through Finland. the Swedish coast, Malmö and the bridges to Denmark. This is the story, with data that will surely be of interest to those who dare to repeat it, in whole or in part, by car or motorcycle. It includes hotels, campsites, meals, ferries, and their prices, although we already anticipate that the prices in Norway are like you can make you tremble. Petrol at 1.8 – 1.9 euros/litre, or a beer at 7 euros, give an idea of how prices are there.
All along the way we have spoken to everyone in English. Above all, from Denmark to the north, it is spoken very fluently by everyone.
Norwegian roads, in general, are bad at worse. Very few stretches of highway, limitation to 70 km/h in most places, crossing of all the towns there have been and to be with limitation to 50 Km/h, and countless curves with the asphalt made a pain. They could use a plan to build new roads and highways and thoroughly fix some of those that are now in use.
Otherwise, Nordkapp, a Yamaha 660 XTX, a Yamaha XTZ 1200 Super Ténéré, my son, me, and a lot of desire to ride a motorcycle are the main ingredients of this adventure.
20-07-2013.- Madrid – Angouleme (France). 830 Km. We leave Madrid at about 09.00. Cold and fog in Pancorbo, as always. The exit from Spain and the crossing of Bordeaux are complicated, with a lot of traffic. We slept at the Kyriad Hotel on the outskirts of Angouleme. 83 euros for a double room with breakfast. WiFi. Good place and good parking, but on the street. Gas station 2 km away and restaurant 50 meters away. You can’t dine at the hotel and there’s nothing nearby except the restaurant. Total time with stops included: 10 hours, all motorway.
21-07-2013.- Angouleme – Aachen (Germany). 880 Km. All highway. Paris crossing: very heavy and very complicated. Belgium: Highways under construction and very slow traffic. We slept at the Ibis Hotel on the Belgium-Germany border. 65 Euros for a double room with breakfast. There is WiFi coverage. Parking at the door of the hotel, but on the street. The hotel is on the same highway. There is a Service Area where you can have dinner until 9:00 p.m. and buy drinks and the typical things of these places. Total time including stops: 11 hours. ¨
22-07-2013.- Aachen – Hirtshals (Denmark). 1052 Km. A thousand kilometers of highway and it seems that Germans and Danes have agreed to do all the works as we pass. In any case, the sections without speed limit of the autobahn are very much appreciated. They allow you to make up for lost time in traffic jams and city crossings, because the crossing of the Cologne – Dortmund area is very heavy and with incredible traffic jams. However, the Hamburg crossing is quick and reasonably straightforward. In Denmark there is a limitation of 110 km/h that no one respects. Total time 13 and a half hours, all included. Always by motorway. In the afternoon, as soon as we arrived in Hirtshals, we got the tickets for tomorrow’s ferry at twelve. 150 euros two motorcycles and two people. Hirtshals is chaotic. We coincide with a couple of sporting events and there is not a single bed to sleep in 20 km around. After asking in a thousand places, in the end they let us sleep on a couple of sofas in the waiting room of the customs, next to the gas station at the entrance to the village. The alternative was to sleep on the street, so welcome to the customs room. It is advisable to bring a formalized hotel reservation.
23-07-2013. Hirtshals – Ferry to Kristiandsand (Norway) – Egersund. 170 Km. The ferry full of people. We leave more or less punctually and in three long hours we are in Kistiansand. From here to Egersund, two and a half hours of narrow road, tunnels and curves, with spectacular landscapes. We slept in a cabin at Camping Steinsnes. 590 kroner (about 73 euros). We can finally take a shower. We had dinner in a Fast Food right in front of the Campsite. Sandwich, hamburger, beer, coke and water. 300 kroner (37 euros). This country is not exactly cheap, no.
24-07-2013. Ergesund – Lysebotn – Ferry Lysefjord to Forsand – Hjelmeland – Ferry to Nesvik – Odda. 410 Km. We leave the campsite at 07.00. Straight into the curves of Lysebotn. In the end, the terrible road is the one that reaches the viewpoint. The famous curves – we have taken them downhill – have no mystery. The road to the Mirador is narrow and complicated, but the view from the top is impressive. Long tunnel after the curves and arrival in Lysebotn. Ferry to Forsand (600 kroner, two motorbikes and two people. About 75 euros), with an hour of delay. 3 hours of fjord and many photos, among other things, to the famous Pulpit of Rock. Some seals swimming and amazing scenery. Road to Hjelmeland and again ferry to Nesvik. This time it’s 20 minutes of fjord crossing and another 92 crowns. (11 euros for both and both motorcycles). Very complicated road to Odda. Narrow and dangerous, full of hairpin and blind turns. I don’t know how many tunnels we have passed, but surely more than twenty. Photos at some impressive waterfalls, already very close to Odda. We arrived at 9.45 pm and had dinner at a grill which is the only place where they give dinner!! until 10:00 p.m. We miss Spain, where you can have dinner at three in the morning if you feel like it. We slept at the Vastun hotel because we couldn’t find cabins. 1200 kroner (150 euros) for a double room. Norway is definitely quite an expensive country.
25-07-2013. Odda – Eidfjord – Ustaosed – Geilo – Hol – Aurland – Laerdal – Ferry to Songdal – Jotunheimen National Park – Lom. 490 Km. Another long day, but spectacularly beautiful. Roads of all kinds, mainly narrow and with thousands and thousands of curves. As it has started to rain cats and dogs in Aurland, we have taken the very long tunnel of 25 km. to Laerdal. We have been told that this is the longest road traffic tunnel in the world. The stretch between Songdal and Lom passes through Jotunheimen National Park with breathtaking views of glaciers and mountains. Absolutely recommended not to miss it. We sleep in Lom, a beautiful village, at the Nissegarden campsite. Cabin for two and two motorbikes, 600 kroner (75 Euros). We have dinner running, as always, because at 10:00 p.m. everything closes. You can tell that we are quite far north because right now it is 11.30 pm and in the street you can still read (and write) with natural light. In total 13 hours on the motorcycle, although with countless stops to take photos and to wait for the end of the rain. Lots of curves and tricky roads, too. Our first soaking in Norway. Let’s hope there aren’t many more. These roads, on top of that, wet, can become a Russian roulette. To avoid scares like in Hirtshals or Odda, we have decided that every morning, when we leave, we are going to call a campsite in the destination city to book so that we don’t have to look when we arrive. Yesterday and today we did it with the Vastun Hotel and the Nissegarden campsite and it was very comfortable. We don’t want more nights like Hirtshals’, nor more clubs like Odda’s.
26/07/2013. Lom – Geiranger – Ferry from Eisfjord to Valldal – Troll’s Staircase – Andalsnes – Molde – Atlantic Road – Kristiandsund. 360 Km. Two other objectives of the trip fulfilled. Today we have done the complete route of the Troll’s Staircase (Trollstingen) and the Atlantic Road (on Route 64) to Kristiandsund. The Troll’s Staircase is spectacular in terms of scenery, but like the Lysebotn Staircase, it is much simpler and less dangerous than other less famous Norwegian roads that we have passed through. The difference is that while in Lysebotn there was almost no one, in the Troll’s Staircase there was a traffic jam of buses, motorhomes and cars. In that sense, a real bore, but otherwise, it is one of those places that if you go to Norway you cannot miss. As for the Atlantic road, it has eight or ten kilometers that are a real blast, including the passage over the famous bridge. It is a pleasure to drive from island to island completely surrounded by sea. The entire Route 64, including the part of the Atlantic Highway, is one of those routes that will be very difficult to forget. We sleep in Kristiandsund, at the Byskogen campsite. 800 kroner (100 euros) for a cabin for two people with bathroom, television, living room, bedroom and kitchen. A drawback: The credit card does not work and you have to pay in cash. Fortunately, I still wear crowns that I brought from Madrid. We had beer, coke, water, pizza and nachos for dinner at an Italian in Kristiandsund. 400 crowns. (50 euros). Otherwise, today I have begun to reconcile with the Norwegian roads. Without being a wonder, at least today we were able to drive at reasonable speeds and even from time to time I went in sixth, which I think I hadn’t used since Denmark. We’ll see from here on out… In total, today, nine hours of travel, including stops, some of them quite prolonged.
27-07-2013. Kristiandsund – Tronheim – Mosjoen – Mo i Rana – Arctic Circle – Bodo. 940 Km. Another marathon stage. We leave Kristiandsund at 07.00. Another ferry. We take the motorcycles and manage to do 300 km in five hours on hellish roads, full of potholes, traffic and crossroads of villages. However, starting from Trondheim, and continuing along Route 6, things are gradually improving and, although the road is still narrow and one lane in each direction, we can move a little faster. It starts to get cold and I change the summer cordura jacket for the winter one. This is the so-called Arctic Highway or Route 6. The landscapes are still spectacular, among immense forests and with the sea always on the other side. Little by little, the forests disappear and the landscape becomes a desolate plain, with only a few bushes. We stop at 8:30 p.m. at the place where the Arctic Circle cuts the road. There is a restaurant, with a gift shop and a few monuments. Among them, one dedicated to Russian soldiers dated June 24, 1945. That day was the former Soviet Union’s World War II victory parade in Moscow’s Red Square. I have a hard time imagining what those poor men would have suffered in this deserted wasteland almost seventy years ago. From here I send you my deepest respect, wherever you are. We take a couple of photos, continue along the Arctic Road, which is quite acceptable around here and at 23.00 we arrive in Bodo in broad daylight. In fact, I ride the motorcycle with sunglasses. Sixteen hours of motorcycle, stops included. We slept at the Bodoverg campsite. 690 kroner (86 euros more or less), a very nice cabin. It’s twelve o’clock at night and it’s light like any other day in Spain, a couple of hours after dawn. It’s a bit strange, this thing that it never gets dark. The motorcycles, perfect. Tomorrow, the Lofoten Islands.
28-07-2013. Bodo – Ferry to the Lofoten – Svolbaer. 140 km, Today has been a slightly calmer day. We leave Bodo on the 10.15 ferry. 560 crowns (about 70 euros) both with the two motorcycles. 3 hours of very quiet crossing and we get off at the Lofoten. We travel 140 km along the roads of the islands and change from one island to another due to the network of bridges and tunnels that join them. Very wild. The passage of the mists between island and island is spectacular. We have passed through the town with the shortest name in the world. It is called “A” (“A” means “stream” in Norwegian). Then we went to another one called “Bo”. It is clear that the inhabitants of the Lofoten like short names. The Lofoten Islands remind me a lot of the island of La Palma. We fill up with petrol in the capital (Svolbaer) and sleep at the Orsvabaer campsite, five kilometres from Svolbaer. 650 kroner (80 euros) A wonderful cabin with two bedrooms, bathroom and living room, next to the sea and with wonderful views. We shop at a supermarket in Svolbaer and have dinner at the cottage. Today has been a very quiet day. Tomorrow the trip to Tromsø awaits us. Today I have decidedly put on my winter sanity pants. This morning when I got off the boat, it was very cold in the Lofoten. It is now 10:00 p.m. and the sun is shining, still high on the horizon.
29-07-2013. Svolbaer – Tromso. 450 Km. We leave Svolbaer at 7.30 in very good weather, although cold. We take the road that goes to Narvik. It is Route 10. The so-called King Olav Road, which runs from the village of “A” to the border with Sweden. Before arriving in Narvik, we will take Route 6, the Arctic Highway, towards Tromso and Alta. We pass the impressive bridge that connects the Lofoten Islands with the mainland and in just over seven hours we are in Tromsø, at Camping Tromsø. 500 kroner a cabin (62 euros), much worse than yesterday’s. The roads have been quite acceptable, although as always, with a single lane in each direction and without shoulders. Tromso doesn’t have much to do with it. The port and a couple of churches in the center. We had Reno and Whale for dinner, to change up the hamburger and hot dog menu a bit. The grace costs 650 crowns (about 80 euros). Good thing we have little time left in Norway. This kills anyone’s economy. Tomorrow we will take a couple of ferries and then the Arctic Road to Alta and Nordkapp. Hopefully the good weather will continue. We have not yet seen a single reindeer (except for the one we have had for dinner, of course, and logically, it was not whole!!).
30-07-2013. Tromso – Alta – Nordkapp (North Cape). 578 Km. We were thinking of leaving Tromsø at seven in the morning, but at six it was raining heavily, so we decided to wait for the rain to stop, and incidentally, stay in bed for a while longer. We needed it. We finally left at 09.00 with great weather. After fifty kilometers, first ferry, and after another twenty-five, second ferry. We leave Narvik on the right and head north along the Arctic Highway (Route 6) and continue all the way to Alta. From Alta, second stage on the E69 directly to the campsite to take the keys to the cabin and to Nordkapp, to take the obligatory photos. We arrived at Nordkapp at nine o’clock in the evening, with a splendid sun and still very high in the sky. Entering Nordkapp costs us 490 crowns (61 euros more or less) for both motorcycles. The pass is valid for forty-eight hours.
Beautiful place. We have achieved it. I remember the family and friends of Territori4x4, Vius and ARC Racing, who have encouraged us so much with this adventure. It’s good to have so many good people around. The roads more or less like the previous days. Potholes and one lane in each direction. No hard shoulders. Overtaking is an adventure. There are many line losses on speed bumps. Arriving at Nordkapp, many tunnels, generally in good condition. Much of the road is without painted lines. If you don’t have to overtake many times, you can maintain a more or less acceptable average speed. We return to the campsite for dinner. We are at the Mitnattsol campsite, thirteen kilometres from Nordkapp. A small but very nice cabin, 500 kroner per night (about 62 euros). We will be here all day tomorrow resting and seeing the surroundings. At about 11:30 p.m. we go back up to Nordkapp to see the midnight sun and then we go to rest. Quite foggy on the way up. I have counted 12 coaches in Nordkapp, about 50 motorhomes, more than a hundred private cars and a dozen motorcycles. This is like the Gran Vía. The spectacle of the Midnight Sun, impressive. Plus, we’re lucky to have a sky without a cloud. The ones that are there are very low and do not prevent you from seeing the sun. Today we have had enough of seeing reindeer, alone and in herds. Between Alta and Nordkapp, but especially in the Nordkapp area, there are hundreds. You have to be careful on the road. Otherwise, magnificent weather and about 18 degrees Celsius. So far we have not had any problems with gas stations. Even in this area, there is a petrol station in Honnisvag, 20 kilometres from the campsite and 33 kilometres from the North Cape. We’ll see how we do in Finland and Sweden. In total we have done exactly 6,268 km from Madrid to Cabo Norte. Now all that remains is to return.
31-07-2013. Campsite Mitnattsol – Nordkapp – Honnisvag – Scarvag – Campsite Mitnattsol. 65 Km. Day of rest and visits in the surroundings. We return to Nordkapp and see St. John’s Chapel, the Thai Museum, The King’s Views and an exhibition of birds in the area. In addition, for 160 kroner (20 euros) we had the first decent coffees since we have been in Norway and a couple of very good buns at Nordkapp. Then Honnisvag. It is a very quiet and picturesque fishing and tourist village. We eat at the restaurant Tre Kokker for 260 kroner (about 32 euros). When we leave, at four in the afternoon, they are already closing everything. In the afternoon we visit Scarvag, three kilometres from the campsite. According to a sign, it is the highest fishing village in latitude in the entire world. At six we are back to go to bed early. Tomorrow we want to reach Lulea (Sweden), in the Baltic, passing through Kautokeino.
01-08-2013. Nordkapp – Alta – Kautokeino – Kolari (Finland) – Lulea (Sweden). 868 Km. We leave the Mitnattsol campsite at 07.00 with a terrible gusty wind, which makes it take us almost five hours to make the 250 kilometers to Alta. It seems that these winds are normal here. In Alta we take the detour to Kautokeino, the wind disappears, and on fairly acceptable roads, at about 2:00 p.m. we arrive at Kautokeino. Little or nothing to see and we continue until we cross the border of Finland. We eat some hamburgers in a roadside bar for 20 euros, fill up the tanks and continue to Kolari, where we leave Finland and enter Sweden. The good roads continue and the reindeer continue to give us the occasional scare, because they cross when you least expect it. No problem with gasoline. There are plenty of petrol stations and petrol is almost half a euro per litre cheaper than in Norway. On the way, we get a couple of minor showers. Once in Sweden, we have passed the Arctic Circle again, but on this road there is hardly a half-demolished monument. At around 9:00 p.m. we arrive at the First Camp campsite in Lulea. A great hut, next to the beach on the Baltic, with bathroom, kitchen and microwave, 845 Swedish kronor (about 85 euros more or less). It gets completely dark. It had been many days since we had seen dusk.
02-08-2013. Lulea – Stockholm. 930 Km. We left Lulea late because it was pouring rain. The excuse of the rain also serves to get up at 09.00 instead of 06.00. We take the E4 and drive to Stockholm bordering the entire Baltic Sea. The E4 is a mixture of national road and motorway. It has most of the route of one lane in each direction, but it also has frequent sections of about a kilometre of double lane, which gives a bit of overtaking play, especially to the hundreds of trucks and motorhomes that circulate on this road. We do a good average, but even so, we arrive in Stockholm at 22.00. In total there have been 12 hours of motorcycle, including stops. Near Stockholm, the road is now definitely a two-lane road. We will see how it continues to Malmo. The perfect Yamahas have already carried 8000 Km.de trip. The tires are beginning to show signs of wear, after so much highway and so many twisty roads in Norway. The Ténéré has a Metzeler Tourance and the XTX a Pirelli Diablo. Both are behaving wonderfully, in terms of wear and in terms of grip in the dry and wet, on good and bad asphalt.
We slept at the Connect Hotel, near Stockholm airport and very close to the highway, with the motorcycles well parked in the hotel parking lot, but on the street. A Swedish biker, with whom we have been chatting at a gas station, has told us that it is better not to leave the motorcycles on the street, if we were sleeping inside Stockholm. 800 Swedish kronor which is more or less about 80 euros for a double room with breakfast. The room is a bit small, but very neat and quite comfortable. Tomorrow we want to sleep in Germany, so another marathon awaits us. To sleep.
03-08-2013. Stockholm – Malmö – Copenhagen – Odense – Flensburg. 1025 Km. At 07.30 we are leaving the petrol station on the way to Malmo on the E4. 650 km of highway. Good weather and we are moving quickly. We put on our summer sanity. We cross the very long 6 km bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen. 25 euros each toll and a tremendous wind crossing the bridge. We cross another huge bridge to reach Odense and take the same highway by which we went up to the German town of Flensburg, just after crossing the border with Denmark. The sun is going down, it is quite cold and the wind is still blowing strongly. We arrived in Flensburg at 8.30 pm and slept in an Ibis hotel for 60 euros for a double room. The hotel is in the shopping area known as Scandinavian Park. It has restaurants, supermarket, casino, a Hein Guerike and Dainese store, the hotel and some other businesses. The best: The burger is open until 01.00 in the morning. In total, today, thirteen hours of motorcycle, all on very decent highways. Today we have completed 9,000 km of travel. Tomorrow we would like to reach Angouleme, in France, 1,500 kilometers from here. We’ll see if we can achieve it.
04-08-2013. Flensburg (Denmark) – Hamburg – Cologne – Liège – Paris – Angouleme. 1,579 Km. 20 hours. It’s just that we’re in a bad way… We wanted to drive and we said why don’t we push? Result: Flensburg – Angouleme. 1579 Km. in one go, stopping almost just enough to refuel, pay tolls and hydrate a little from time to time. We haven’t eaten today and it looks like we’re not going to have dinner either. At about 9.30 p.m. it is completely dark, but we continue at a good pace along the highway, until the exit to Angouleme. Then there are 60 km of national road. We arrived at 03.00 on August 5 at the Ibis Hotel in Angouleme, quite tired, to be honest. We left Flensburg at 07.30 in the morning, so we have been on the bike for 19 hours and 30 minutes. The Ibis, as always, acceptable for 50 euros for a double room. Tomorrow, the last pull to Madrid.
05-08-2013. Angouleme – Bordeaux – Madrid. 830 Km. We left at about 10.00 a little crushed from yesterday’s beating. Travel on motorways with no incidents other than paying tolls and an impressive traffic jam in Bordeaux. At tolls, the card almost never works and you have to look for cash or spend half an hour arguing with the toll people. On the way out of France and into Spain we get a downpour. It has rained more in these 50 km than in the whole trip. At 8.30 p.m. we arrived home. The trip to Nordkapp is history. We have crossed half of Spain and all of France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and again Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and half of Spain. In total, 8 countries, 16 days, 12,000 Km. The bikes, incredible, perfect. You have to look for another dream immediately.
