Daily mileage/riding time advice for Norway

Bob Jeffries · Dec 19, 2022

I've been planning a trip to Norway for next year. We'll be riding to Harwich for the overnight ferry to Hoek van Holland on the 26th May then up to Eemshaven for the crossing to Kristiansand and a little jaunt to Lysebotn for our first overnight stay.

We'll then be travelling north, mainly up the West Coast to eventually get to Nordkapp.

As the 3 of us are/will be retired time isn't a major issue so we are planning on taking about 4 weeks for the round trip staying at a mixture of hytte's and hotels.

For those who have done something similar what sort of daily mileage/riding hours would be reasonable - I've been thinking along the lines of about 6 hours riding/180 to 240 miles max each day. Is this reasonable/doable or am I pushing things too hard.

Any advice on must do minor roads, and some gravel greatly appreciated

PW Cymru · Dec 19, 2022

Hi Bob,
I'm sure you probably have this already but just in case it might help https://www.bikersroute.com/

theoneandonly · Dec 19, 2022

i had planned to do this with a friend , i figured 2 weeks , from start to Finnish ( see what i did there) . up Norway back through Sweden from London via Tunnel and Rostock.

4 weeks should be a doddle. as you are so very old :green gri

have a rest day every 3rd or 4th ?

Wapping · Dec 20, 2022

Given that the roads in Norway in summer are pretty good, I’d have thought your timings were easily conservative. If though you intend to ride every goat track and stop to photograph every waterfall and fjord bridge, you might need to get up a bit earlier. You are not in a rush, so why rush.

Quattroformaggio · Dec 20, 2022

Bob Jeffries said:
I've been thinking along the lines of about 6 hours riding/180 to 240 miles max each day. Is this reasonable/doable or an I pushing things too hard.

Perfectly doable.
Any modern pedal bicycle will easily let you achieve that.

Oh, hang on......

er-minio · Dec 20, 2022

What bike are you traveling one?
Solo or with a pillion?

I would agree with Wapping that 180/240 miles per day is fairly conservative if ridden on a GS, RT or comparable bike (not even mentioning a 6 cyl bike

).

Said that, in my experience, is vastly down to personal conditions (fitness, habit of long riding, etc.) and it can vary vastly.

240 per day would make for a relax ride up with plenty of stops, lunch, etc.

richardbd · Dec 20, 2022

Are the Norwegians still keen on their speed limits?

paul nicholls · Dec 20, 2022

If you’ve got four weeks for your trip, then don’t worry about daily mileages or hours.
That is more than enough time.
Or,if you really need to know, get a rough idea of your total expected tour distance and devide by the number of days of your tour.That will give you an idea of an average daily mileage you need to cover to complete your route.
Norway is stunning, if there is one place that I would say don’t miss, it would be the Lofoton Islands.
Truly jaw droppingly stunning place to ride a motorbike.

barak666 · Dec 20, 2022

We try to average about 200/250 miles a day with a couple of rest days thrown in. A lot will depend on the weather though - on our last trip to Lofoten we had 14 days of continuous rain! :blast

Bob Jeffries · Dec 20, 2022

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions guys. Two of us will be on 1250GS's and the third on an 800 Triumph, we are all comfortable with 300+ mile days but want to see Norway rather than just ride through it.

To some degree the mileage for some days will be down to finding suitable accommodation.

In deference to our being so very old we are planning days off the bikes, a walk to pulpit rock and mountain biking down from the top railway station at Flam for example as well as a few days of simple relaxation.

I'm also looking to see if I can include a little of the TET along the way.

Posh Pete · Dec 20, 2022

paul nicholls said:
If you’ve got four weeks for your trip, then don’t worry about daily mileages or hours.
That is more than enough time.
Or,if you really need to know, get a rough idea of your total expected tour distance and devide by the number of days of your tour.That will give you an idea of an average daily mileage you need to cover to complete your route.
Norway is stunning, if there is one place that I would say don’t miss, it would be the Lofoton Islands.
Truly jaw droppingly stunning place to ride a motorbike.

Agreed and unless you really want to tick the box, I'd give Nordkaap a miss. Bimble up the west coast and take your time. Head for Sweden once you've done that. 3 weeks should do it. May? Hmmm ... Weather may be an issue?

Sent from my moto e30 using Tapatalk

ShakeyBMW · Dec 20, 2022

I had the Nordkap on my radar for next year or 2024. Why give it a miss Pete?

AustinW · Dec 20, 2022

We rode from Nordkapp to Rotterdam in an easy 16 days. That included 2 nights on the Lofoten islands, 2 nights in Germany, 2 in Denmark, most of a day sorting out a puncture and another day shopping for a replacement sleeping mat. I’ve no idea how much we did each day as we had no deadline, no bookings. Probably about 200 a day. Traffic is mostly light in Norway but speed limits low. The main route is quite direct but there’s loads of side loops to look at Fjords and other interesting stuff. It’s great but very very expensive.

Just checking with the OP. Your first day from Hook of Holland to Norway is a very very big one. Edit…. I guess there’s a night on the ferry from Holland to Norway.

Posh Pete · Dec 20, 2022

ShakeyBMW said:
I had the Nordkap on my radar for next year or 2024. Why give it a miss Pete?

If it's a tick box thing then fine but the scenery for the last chunk en route is tundra and pretty uninspiring. Much better taking more time to explore the coastal and fjordal areas in central Norway plus the Lofotens imho. Each to his own though.

Sent from here.

Khulu · Dec 20, 2022

Posh Pete said:
If it's a tick box thing then fine but the scenery for the last chunk en route is tundra and pretty uninspiring. Much better taking more time to explore the coastal and fjordal areas in central Norway plus the Lofotens imho. Each to his own though.

Sent from here.

But you can buy a reindeer hide from the Sami people up there and get a locally made knife (both of which I did when I was up that far).

Flintlock · Feb 4, 2023

Hello Bob - a small group of us rode from Northern Ireland up to the Arctic Circle in Norway back in September 2011 - I kept a diary of our trip. Some stats;
12 days total for trip
Total milage 4662
Avg miles per day 388.5
Most miles in one day 548
Least miles in one day 240

We stuck mainly to the E6 as the challenge we set ourselves was to reach the Arctic Circle and get home again within our 12 days. It was a great trip tho - you will have a great time.

bowser · Feb 4, 2023

richardbd said:
Are the Norwegians still keen on their speed limits?

hell yes and drink driving dont automatic 21 days inside, 0% so moring after needs to be watched

generaly roads in Norway are better than the uk, and a busy road in Norway is not busy at all

AndyB_11 · Feb 4, 2023

Keep in mind that the Norwegians have to carry out road repairs in summer meaning the E6 in particular will have long sections of contra flow controlled by traffic lights plus a lot of motorhomes and caravans to get past so the local police tend to sit with a camera and wait for impatient road users.

We went from Harwich then straight up through Germany and Denmark before stopping in Frederikshaven, morning ferry to Kristiansand and we were in Hamar by tea time. After that we just bombed up the E3 to just south of Trondheim where we picked up the E6. We had an overnight stop then carried on up the E6 and stopped at Mo i Rana which is just short of the Arctic Circle simply because it’s a big enough town to have expensive bars and restaurants :beerjug:

You can get to the Arctic Circle in 4 days if you do a big day straight off the ferry and to be honest, if Norway is the target you’re best ignoring Germany and Denmark. If you go up the E3 you get to see the big silver moose just north of Elverum and it’s worth using that route to see it. The downside is that if you go that way you miss out on the better scenery you’d get if you took a more westerly route from the ferry.

Daily mileage/riding time advice for Norway

Bob Jeffries

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PW Cymru

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theoneandonly

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Wapping

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Quattroformaggio

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Bob Jeffries

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Posh Pete

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