Tonje's Travelogue 2: Road Tripping in Norway

We saw some amazing places and took part in a whole bunch of incredible activities organized by Fjord Tours. We hope you enjoy this article and become inspired to start planning a trip of your on.

Our story begins in Oslo where we live beside Bislett Stadium. We had spent the last few months renovating after some serious flood damage from dodgy pipes in the 100 year-old building and were looking forward to a summer packed full of plans. Douglas’ mum was turning 60 in Scotland while his cousin was having a baby and another was due to get married, we had also been invited to a wedding in Poland. Then one day, we all woke up the same as any other day, but the world was different. COVID-19 was here.

Covid was everywhere and has a huge impact on everyone’s lives, so we won’t dwell on it. Instead, we want to lift you up and inspire you to visit Norway once the world opens up to International tourism again.

The last couple of days prior to our trip were spent worriedly buying supplies and trying to make sure we had clothes for every scenario imaginable. Obviously, we would later realize that we were packing waaaay too much, but better to have too many clothes than not enough, right?

With our VW Caravelle packed with everything from toothbrushes to fishing rods, we hit the road and took the E18 to Flekkefjord. This was a little mini holiday before our road trip began officially as we were meeting up with friends and staying together in a cabin. Here we caught mackerel from a lake at the bottom of the garden and learned how to crab under torchlight, it really was an amazing start to what turned out to be an amazing life experience.

After a lovely weekend, our solo adventure began as we took beautiful route 44 to Stavanger. This road is one of Norway's National Tourist Routes (Norwegian: Nasjonale turistveger) of which there are eighteen such roads designated by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration for their picturesque scenery and tourist-friendly infrastructure, such as rest stops and viewpoints. See other scenic routes in Norway HERE

There were not many cars on the road, and the views were pleasantly surprising. Although we were so far south and close to the coast, the landscape was still rugged and mountainous, some of the most beautiful we have seen. The drive took 2-3 hours including some photo stops.

Suitable places to camp were few and far between on this stretch. Start early in your search to grab a prime spot before they are all taken. We stumbled across an old storage facility carved into a natural cave recess in the mountain. It was a little close to the road but when the fish started from our very first cast in the nearby fjord we knew we’d made the right choice.

The next morning started with a refreshing dip in the same fjord as we fished the night before. We shocked ourselves awake in the bitterly cold water we and cooked up some fish for breakfast. Happily, this would become a recurring theme for our breakfasts throughout our trip (often we were too chicken to take the morning bath but we were at least lucky to catch our fair share of fish to eat).

With our bellies full, and our hearts eagerly awaiting our first official activity, RIB safari, we continued on our way to Stavanger.

Now we started to feel like road trippers.

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