Norway in May 2015 - Road Trip, Camping and Hiking

Greetings!

I saw a similar post to this one based around a trip in April, but hopefully things will be a little different by May.

My partner and I are in our late 20s and have booked a trip to Norway for 33 days from May 3rd-June 5th. We are planning a road trip to try and take in as much of Norway as possible in the month that we have.

I would just like a little input on the logistics of this trip from the kind folks on this forum.

Our very rough itinerary:
May 4th-5th: Hire car in Oslo and drive to Bergen
May 6th-9th: Stay and hike around Bergen
May 10th-May 11th: Drive to Alesund from Bergen via Geiranger-Trollstigen tourist route (if open)
May 12th-May 13th: Stay in Alesund
May 15th-May 16th: Drive from Alesund to Trondheim
May 17th: National day in Trondheim
May 18th-May 21st: Drive to Bodo via coastal road
May 22nd: Ferry to Lofoten
May 23rd-May 30th: Hike + Camp around Lofoten
May 31st: Ferry to Bodo + start return drive
June 1st-June 4th: Return drive with some short hikes en route to Oslo
June 5th - Return car and head home to Australia

We are considering doing the trip in this direction (counter clockwise), but if those on the forum think the weather might be better to do it in reverse (i.e. drive straight up to Lofoten and then take 3 1/2 weeks coming down) that may be an alternative. The advantage I suppose would be getting to be in Bergen for the festival towards the end.

Curious as to how much the ferries will cost on this sort of route. The main expense will be petrol and the ferries between Bodo and Moskenes.

We are bringing our Nammatj 2 tent (http://us.hilleberg.com/products/black-label/nammatj/Nammatj2.php), which is very much a four season tent, along with a couple of warm sleeping bags. The plan is to camp when we are outside of the major cities either in the wild or at cabins. Thoughts on whether this would be appropriate at this time of year, even up in Lofoten?

If anyone has some recommended detours along the route listed above I would love to hear them.

What are your thoughts on access to Preikestolen, Kjeragbolten, or Trolltunga this time of year? Any recommended hikes on the mainland or up in Lofoten - we are pretty fit hikers.

Thanks for any and all advice!

Good navigation programmes like www.viamichelin.com used for route and drivingtime planning will normally give you reliable costs for ferries and Tolls

Trollstigen opening dates:
http://www.visitmolde.com/no/Artikler/Rauma-artikler/Trollstigen-ved-Andalsnes/

Prekestolen is near Stavanger, 4-5 h drive south of Bergen. Season april-sept. There's a staffed tourist lodge nearby, the hike from the parking lot and onto the rock is a couple of hours.

What weather you'll have can't be determined now. Starting up north will of course mean colder than ending up there ON AVERAGE, but no guarantees are given.

Early may is a bit early for Kjerag, there might be snow and ice on the path.
May I suggest that you start with driving to Stavanger instead of Bergen and take the Prekestolen hike? Drive over Haukeli, if you're running late spend the night at Haukeliseter lodge.

Bear in mind that Stavanger (Sola) and Bergen (Flesland) both are international airports- perhaps you can get flights into them instead as you're focusing on the west coast?

Hello,

My name is Didier Van Bellinghen and I noticed you will do a road trip in May in Norway. I will be there too with 2 other people to shoot a trail episode for the Belgian television. I'm looking for people who are doing a roadtrip around The Atlantic Road on May 4th. Do you think you will be around that area on that day?

Would you be intrested in paticipating in our tv show?

If so, please contact me by e-mail: pictureperfect@live.be

Hope to hear from you!

Kindly,
Didier VAN BELLINGHEN

No @didiervb - we'll only be arriving in Norway on that date.

Thanks for the feedback. We're going to leave the itinerary flexible until arrival and decide closer to that point which direction to travel. I definitely think we'll travel to Stavanger first to get up Preikestolen.

Based on the current route, are there any photographers on the Norway forum that can offer some advice for landscape locations in late Spring that shouldn't be missed on this route. Of course there will be plenty of opportunities around Lofoten, but I am less familiar with the areas around Bergen, Alesund, Trondheim and Bodo.

Some possible locations that I have researched on the route in between these cities are:

• Renndolsetra

• Trollkirka Caves

• Borgund Stavkirke

Any other advice would be much appreciated.

Warmest regards from down under,

Zac

The whole Hardanger region. You'll probably catch the start of the fruit blossoming which is ridiculously photogenic.

Is it worth getting a DNT membership for the trip?

Is it worth getting a DNT membership for the trip?

That dpends on the number of nights you'll spend in a lodge or other accomodation that offers rebates. Google the lodges you plan to stay in, the prices are stated somewhere on their homesites. Members and nonmembers alike will all get accomodation- but if it's choked you might have to spend the night on a matress in the living room if you arrive late.

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