The North Cape by 4x4 in the Snow (page 2 of 2)

This Thursday morning, March 28th, beautiful weather. Temperature: 0°C. We catch sight of the snow-covered Lofoten Islands in the distance, which we already visited in autumn 2019. Still heading south on the E6, we pass through the town of Fauske, then cross the Arctic Circle at 700 meters altitude just before Mo i Rana. The Arctic Circle exhibition site is closed at this time of year. Snow starts falling. Note that in Norway, unlike Finland, roads are cleared of snow. About 100 km north of Trondheim, the snow disappears from the landscape. Today, we struggled to find an open campsite. After two hours of searching, we finally found one about twenty kilometers north of Trondheim: Harran Camping (28 €). The temperature warms up noticeably to 5°C by 8 PM.

March 29, 2024. It's Good Friday. In Norway, during Easter, shops are closed on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday. It snowed last night. This morning, we're visiting Trondheim.

Saturday, March 30, 2024. Temperature: -5°C. Beautiful weather this morning. We do our shopping in Oppdal, then head towards Dombås, Otta, and take route 51 to Lom, where we visit the stave church (Stavkirkje). A lovely mountain road running alongside Jotunheimen National Park. We wanted to visit Geiranger Fjord, but the access roads are closed at this time of year. We backtrack and take route 51 south. We stop in Hegge to see the stave church. Then we continue to Fagernes and turn west onto the E16. We stop at Haalimo Camping (28 €) near Ryfoss.

Sunday, March 31st. Temperature: +1°C. Today, it's sleeting. We make our first stop at the Heddal Stave Church, then a second one at the Borgund Stave Church, which is absolutely stunning. We take route 52 to Gol via a gorgeous mountain road. We cross a pass at 1,100 meters. Lots of snow, but the road is clear. We spot several ski resorts in the area. From Gol, we take route 7 and stop at the Torpo Stave Church, which is pretty but small. Stop at the Oen Turistsenter campsite (29 €) near Geilo at 800 meters altitude. At this latitude, despite the elevation, the snow melts quickly. Temperature: 10°C.

Monday, April 1st. Beautiful weather. Temperature: -3°C. From Geilo, we take Route 40. We visit the stave churches in Uvdal, Nore, Rollag, and Flesberg. Since it's Easter Monday, Norwegians are off work and out for walks. The temperature has warmed up, and we pass many motorcyclists out for a ride. We cross the town of Kongsberg, then follow the E134 to the Heddal Stave Church, which is probably the most beautiful stave church in Norway. After that, we head back to Kongsberg, then toward Hokksund, Hønefoss, and stop at Odin Camping (44 €) south of Hønefoss by Lake Tyrifjorden. Today was the warmest day so far—+12°C at 7 PM.

Tuesday, April 2nd. This morning, the weather was overcast and chilly. Headed to Oslo, where we stopped at Bogstad Camp (43 €) by late morning—a campsite about ten kilometers north of Oslo. The advantage of this campsite is that it’s served by bus line 42, which takes you directly to Tjuvholmen in central Oslo. To buy bus tickets, use the Ruter website—3.70 € per ticket.

We took the bus to Oslo and set off on a walking tour that led us to the Opera House, where you can climb onto the roof. Then, we looped back via the cathedral, the theater, the National Museum, and visited the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art. In Oslo, there’s very little car traffic and few pedestrians.

Along the waterfront, there are beautiful wooden terraces where it must be lovely to stroll in the summer.

We returned to the campsite on the same bus line.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024. This morning, gray skies. Temperature: 0°C. We take the car to go to the Ekeberg Sculpture Park, which overlooks Oslo. This park features sculptures by various artists.

This morning, we left the campsite in Oslo in the snow. We're heading to the port of Larvik, about 130 km south of Oslo. We arrive in the early afternoon and buy a boat ticket (236 €) to Hirtshals in northern Denmark. Departure at 5 PM, arrival in Hirtshals at 8:45 PM. We go to the Kjul campsite in Hirtshals, but find it closed. We sleep in front of the campsite.

From Hirtshals, we head to Aalborg, where we visit the Kunsten Museum. We continue our north-south crossing of Denmark and cross the German border at Flensburg. We carry on to Hamburg, which takes us 2.5 hours to get through. Note that on German autobahns, there are major traffic jams around the exits of big cities. We return to the Knaus campsite (29 €) in Oyten near Bremen, where we stopped on the way out.

The temperature has warmed up significantly—15°C in the evening. The next day, we hit the road back to France and make stops in Belgium and the north for family visits.

In total, we covered a distance of 8,000 km.

That’s it for this travel journal. If you need any details, feel free to contact me.

Thanks for this account—what a fascinating trip! Which landscapes were the most memorable or breathtaking you saw? Did you try any local dishes?

Hello Michel,

What a fantastic trip! 😊

Thanks for your message.

Hi there, No, we didn’t try any typical dishes since we didn’t go to restaurants—just the salad bars in supermarkets. As for memorable landscapes, we really loved Helsinki, the Lake Inari region in northern Finland, Nordkapp Island, the Lyngen Alps, and Jotunheimen National Park. We’d also visited the Lofoten Islands during another trip in autumn 2019. Have a great day! Michel

Hi there, Your trip sounds really interesting (though probably some long stages); personally, I’d skip the snow! You mentioned a roadbook—did it help you a lot? Best, Alain

Hello Your trip sounds really interesting (though probably with long stages); personally, I’d skip the snow! You mention a roadbook—did it help you a lot? Best regards, Alain

Good evening, From Helsinki all the way to Nordkapp, we only followed the roadbook. Just so you know, it’s published by Bernard Louvot and covers about 2,600 km, with 50% off-road tracks and 50% paved roads. We did stages of 200 to 300 km per day, depending on how much off-road we took. Without snow, I think we could’ve covered more ground each day. Happy to help if you need any other details. Best regards, Michel

Good evening, Thanks for the info—I’m not a fan of long driving days, so I’ll just add more days to the trip! I checked out Bernard Louvot’s website... something to look into. Best, Alain

A small correction to avoid "cooling off" 🙂 potential travelers:

Most Finnish roads are maintained in winter (if they weren't, there would quickly be over 1m of snow on these roads/highways). Only tertiary roads/paths aren't maintained and are clearly marked as such. Your note that "Finnish roads, including national roads and highways, aren't cleared of snow" doesn't seem accurate to me. It's true that the term "cleared of snow" can be misleading. The snow is indeed removed, but there's always 0-3 cm of snow left. This maintenance is sometimes done within an hour of snowfall, sometimes even faster. It's not like in our countries where "cleared of snow" means almost swept clean, revealing the asphalt or gravel of the road. Our 4WD Def with winter tires but no studs handles 95% of the roads in the north. Local non-4WD vehicles (i.e., Finnish ones) do have studs in 85% of cases for ice, hard-packed snow, or black ice. We've never needed them (so far, after thousands of km up there). (for info: we've known Finland relatively well for 30+ years and stay in the North for several months each year, including in winter). Thanks anyway for your great travel journal and photos.

Good evening, Thanks for the correction. I didn’t express myself clearly when I said Finnish roads aren’t cleared of snow—I should’ve said they’re not *fully* cleared, and there’s always a layer of icy snow left on the roads, making driving tricky without studded winter tires, even in a 4WD vehicle. Have a good evening

Hi there. I haven’t done this trip yet; I just got back from Africa. I contacted Bernard LOUVOT; the roadbook hasn’t undergone any changes. Did you go for the digital version or the book? I’m not used to using roadbooks. Have a great weekend! Best, Alain