Driving in Sweden & Norway?
 

We like independent travel and are considering driving thru Sweden & Norway for 2 weeks this summer. One forum traveler suggested we give up our car in Oslo, use "Norway in a Nutshell" and just enjoy the scenery. Another forum poster rented a car in Andalsnes and said "I can't stress how wonderful it is to have a car". What should we do?? Is summer driving in Norway tedious or difficult? If we do drive, does anyone have a suggestion for a 6-day itinerary from Oslo? Thanks in advance!

kte: Driving in Scandinavia is easy. Roads are good everywhere. We prefer to drive and we did wander the fjord country for five days. I do understand that the "Nutshell" tour is wonderful. We kept our car in Oslo because we were going on to the west coast of Norwasy from there. We did the calculation: keep the car for the whole trip (picked it up on last day in Copenhagen), or, turn it in at Oslo and pick up another as we left. It was less expensive to keep it. I could probably help you with an itinerary. When you leave Oslo, do you want to head for the fjords, the west coast, Stockholom, elsewhere? There is a fellow by the name of Bjorn who is Norwegian. He pretty consistantly offers help to anyone going to Norway. I am sure he will respond to your message. He helped me a lot. Questions?

We had a car last year in Norway. It was fantastic. We did park in Flaam for a day and did the Nutshell Tour from there (boat through the Narrow Fjord, bus, and train back to Flaam through the Flaam gorge). Actually it wasn't the Nutshell Tour that was our favorite part. You can read our trip report if you do a search on this forum for "Just back from Norway".

This may be of interest only to a few, but if you're thinking about getting a new car anyway, both Volvo and Saab frequently throw in free air tickets from N. America to Sweden if you buy one of their cars under their European Delivery programs. The car is always 7-10% cheaper than in N. America, shipment and delivery at your local dealer is free, and the firms often have additional deals on accommodation, tours, and other goodies in Scandinavia for buyers. In addition to savings on the car itself, you save the cost of a rental car while you're there, plus usually the Volvo or Saab is larger and way nicer than a Hertzoid or similar. <BR><BR>Individual dealers have details on these programs, or both companies' websites have links and info.<BR><BR>(Incidently, Porsche BMW and Mercedes have similar programs in Germany.)<BR><BR>We did this with a Saab a few years ago and it worked out wonderfully.

<BR>By no means, DON'T give up your car in Oslo! You'll miss all the fun and yhe beauty of Norway! With the car you can get on any road, one more breathtaking than the other/ You can stay in the Norwegian "hytte" - the beautiful huts that the Norwegian farmers rent in the country. You can stop and buy delicious cherries and in some places the best strawberries you have ever had (Valdal region). You could drive up the Trollstigvejen(?) and scream from joy! Go to the Jostedal Glacier. The Nutshell trip is just as it is called a nutshell! The roads are good though some are pretty narrow. But the traffic is light. You will see plenty of fjords, cross lots of them with ferries who runn all day long in the summer.<BR>In short, I cannot even think of a better way to see Norway!<BR>For me, Norway is the most beautiful country in the world. If you want more details, feel free to contact me by my e-mail address.<BR>Have a great trip. <BR>AA

Hi, kte (and Joe)<BR>By car is t h e way to see Norway. And keep it in Oslo. But plan a little when sightseeing Oslo, in order not to zig-zag on the toll line that is laid around Oslo (some NOK 12 or 15 for each inbound passage)<BR>And also be aware that many new roads recently are built, making a lot of former ferry crossings superfluous. Many tunnells, though. Hence study your map (Cappelen's, for sale anywhere in the country) in order to find the former ones and make detours on these.<BR>If you want somthing like the nutshell, car is no hindrance. You'll have nice rides over the mountain. Drive in tunnel to Flam, park the car, take a roundtrip with the Fam rail. Get by ferry to Gudvangen. Take the bus, or even a taxi through the mountain tunnell (15-20 minutes) back to your car. You'll be fine, and public transport never never can compete the car's flexibility. <BR>Don't hesitat to contact me. Soon I'm on my way to some Easter days in the snowy mountains - by car.<BR>Bjorn, Oslo

Yes, driving in these countries is very easy and pleasant what they forgot to mention was DO NOT SPEED ON THE HIGHWAYS, this can a very costly fine if you get flashed or pulled over. You will notice that the locals strictly enforce the speedlimits....something to think about...

WOW -- overwhelmed by wonderful responses. Thank you so much. It is settled -- we are DRIVING! I really appreciate your suggestions for itinerary too. Any more opinions on that are welcome.

<BR>Right decision!<BR>You'll thank all of us.<BR>Have a grat trip!<BR>AA

Hi there, anybody knows which is the fastest current road (avoiding ferries) to North Cape, Norway? I'm trying to decide if driving in mid September is possible. I would leave from Geneva, Switzerland on 14 Sept. and shall be back to Geneva on Sept. 24.

Thanks for your help.

use www.viamichelin.com for that information.

thanks Michael

Or GoogleEarth - both give approx. same route. Michelin says 46hrs driving, GoogleEarth 40hrs - one way! Your problem might be last little bit in Norway - slight risk of snow and icy conditions over Finnmarksvidda even in September - see weather from last year at http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Finnma...tatistics.html

Even when you don't like ferries, you should at least take a look at the "long-distance" ferries from Travemünde (Germany, near Lübeck) to Trelleborg (Sweden).
These are big ships like cruise liners not small river ferries, and can save you money on gas, the bridge tolls in Denmark and further via the Öresund bridge to Sweden and one (usually quite costly) overnight stay in Denmark or Southern Sweden. The downside is that you have to be at the ferry port at a certain day/hour.
An alternative would be the Fehmarn belt ferry from Puttgarden to at least to Denmark and takes only 45 minutes and runs every half hour. And saves a long detour through half of Denmark to Copenhagen.

If you don't HAVE to see Norway, the fastest will be thru Sweden from Denmark. No ferries.