We had really built up expectations for this trip. At first we had planned to rent a small campervan but it was stolen and we were offered a big monster as compensation. The thought of the narrow roads gave us cold feet so we rescheduled the whole trip to Denmark. Then we decided to visit Husbilslandet, which resulted in our own car and suddenly we were back in Norway. After a small test drive, we realised that the whole point of motorhomes is that you do not plan so much but go where you know and now both Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark came into the planning. Complete chaos, which may not be a form of planning that we are used to. In the end it was still Norway which felt just right.
This is part one of a longer series. You can find part two here.
We took the road via Charlottenberg and then it is obligatory with a stop in Morokulien. This little patch of land was actually an independent state for a week. The head of the town was none other than Lennart Hyland, but later Lars-Gunnar Björklund also became king of the little country. Still, you have to say that a TV personality has achieved a certain status when he can persuade two prime ministers to establish a brand new state. Morokulien has been in the press in recent years, when Sweden and Norway decided to build a joint police station to make it easier to co-operate across the border.
As we got away a little late in the day, it quickly became time to find somewhere to stay overnight. We found little Furuseths Gård outside Gjøvik, which turned out to be a little gem. You can read more about the campsite itself here.
It was the first trip with the motorhome and the weather was great so we decided to celebrate with some bubbly. The beautiful view and the fact that we managed to find a place far from the other motorhomes made it easy to see the charm of this life.
After a cosy breakfast and a bit of unaccustomed restoration of all manicures, it was off to Lillehammer, via Gudbrandsdalen.
Lillehammer is perhaps best known for the Olympics, or OL (olympiske leker) in Norwegian, but there is also much else to see. Many old wooden houses, a cool art museum, a cosy shopping street and of course everything that was built for the Olympics such as the Olympic village.
We also found something as unusual as an Austrian café. As it was our first coffee stop in Norway, we were a little shocked by the prices but otherwise it was really a super nice café. I was really hungry for waffle with ice cream but still felt that 158 bucks was too much. Instead, it became a classic in the form of an incomparably good punch cake.
After our short stop in Lillehammer, we travelled on through Gudbrandsdalen. Norway is truly a beautiful country and although we were very impressed by the beautiful scenery at the time, it would turn out that it pales in comparison to many other places. In addition to the main road, there are also two tourist routes nearby. We will tell you more about these roads in a later post.
The great thing about motorhomes is that you have incredible freedom to do what you feel like at the time. No fixed routes or bookings, you can take it as it comes. As our blue minds have not really let go of control, we still plan a little too much but we still make sporadic attempts at spontaneity... 🙂
An example of this was our sudden whim to spend the night in Rondane National Park. The campsite at Rondane Haukliseter Fjellhotell is located at 1000 metres above sea level and offers a fantastic view. It is also an excellent starting point for hiking as the trail centre is a stone's throw away from the hotel. You can read more about the caravan park itself here.
It was really bad weather that night, and for two motorhome novices there was not much sleep. There were many thoughts and most of them were about some horrible mishap that could happen in the storm.
When morning came we were rewarded with glorious sunshine and a breakfast with a great view. It was a bit cold to sit outside, but what's the point when you have such a view through the window.
We are a bit spoilt with wide roads in Sweden. It's not just about the road itself, but also a wide shoulder, central reservation and all sorts of measures to make it as safe as possible. In Norway, it's completely different. For example, the road down from Rondane was a winding serpentine road without railings with a 10-15% gradient. It felt a bit hard but on the other hand it was nothing compared to the roads we would encounter later. The road you see in the picture is by the way the Norwegian interpretation of a European road which might give some perspective on how they see it. With the exception of a few roads outside Oslo and Bergen, this is the widest they offer. It is rarely a problem for a passenger car, but a little more challenging for wide vehicles.
The next stop was Snøhetta in Dovrefjell. The famous mountain peak is the highest outside Jotunheimen and really beautiful to look at. Climbing the mountain itself is not something you do in fifteen minutes, but for tourists just passing by, there is instead a beautiful viewpoint that looks out over the top. It's a short hike from the car park, but if you want to make it a little longer, you can park down in the valley.
Maybe we should have taken more pictures but it was so windy that it was sometimes a bit of a challenge to stand straight. The trail is relatively steep but at the same time more of a walking path rather than natural path which makes it easy to get up, no matter which way you go.
At the top, they have built an exciting shelter with panoramic windows facing Snøhetta. The building itself looks like something a giant carved out of a gigantic block of wood. Inside, in addition to a beautiful long bench, there is also a kind of fireplace hanging from the ceiling. Really neat!
Not surprisingly, the architectural firm of the same name, Snøhetta, is responsible for the design. It would have been a scandal if any other company had got the job.
To summarise, it was a fantastic first day in Norway. The weather was not at its best with showers, clouds and fog but as the Norwegians say: Out for a ride, never grumpy!
English 
Swedish 
German 
French 
Dutch 
2 responses
Wonderful! Is the Norwegian countryside more beautiful than Italy's?
Difficult to compare as they are beautiful in different ways. However, I would say that we were at least as impressed by the views in Norway as we were in Italy.