Adventure Bike Rider Forum

dubber68 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:20 pm Well I have found myself with a 24 day window in June and I am thinking about heading to the North cape.
..........................

Hell yeah.

You cannot account for the weather but it is a great trip never the less.

With 24 days, you could come down through Finland and do the Baltic States via Helsinki and Tallin.

Tallin is a fantastic place to visit. Finland however can be a bit monotonous but the roads are straight and the country can be crossed relatively quickly.

Old Git Ray wrote: ↑Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:29 pm

PaulinBont wrote: ↑Mon Apr 02, 2018 9:08 am.........
Why Nord Kapp? Why not go further North and camp at Sletness?

I thought only Svalbard was further North, after 400 miles of sea and with no roads.

Where is Sletness ?

NE of Nordkapp

Statoil petrol stations are now CirkleK. You can still buy the coffee cup though.
Lofoten is a must and a much better place to visit than Nordkapp. Nordkapp is
a bit like Lands End or John o'Groats Nothing other than a tourist trap. And if you
want to go to the most Northerly point in Norway you have to go to Knivskjellodden.

If you want to and you can, go. Do it.
Is it a tourist trap.....probably....but it’s the top when it comes to riding on tarmac.

I went in 2014 and was so chuffed to get there after looking at it in maps for 30 years or so.

Go and enjoy yourself.

I am almost definitely going. Trying to decide whether to book the Stena ferry before the offer runs out at midnight.

How will you get to Norway? The easiest way is to get to Hirtshals (DK) then a ferry, either Colorline (Kristiansand)
or Fjordline (Stavanger, Bergen). Then set your compass to N and ride...
From Kristiansand take the RV9 to the RV134 then to the RV13. Once there you'll have to get Google maps out
and find the little squiggly roads that pass or run parallel to the main roads.
Have fun.
Oh and don't expect or plan for a higher average speed than 50km/h unless you just stick to the main roads...
But that is like travelling to the UK and driving up the A1/M for sightseeing.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Grass ... 886200!3e0

I was pretty much going to follow the Google maps route North and then meander back. Taking the Norway coastal route with detours for sightseeing etc.

Fairymuff, but just remember the only thing you'll see in Sweden is trees and Volvo's, possibly the occaissional mousse or reindeer.
http://www.fortheride.com/stories/two-w ... your-life/

I did it last year in June, ferry from Harwich to The Hook, then northern Germany to Copenhagen, Sweden then Oslo. I took the coast road up to Trondheim, then The Lofoten Islands (absolute must), followed by Tromso, Hammerfest then Nordkapp. I took five weeks off, and included 5 free days. Can't comment about the mossies, as I stayed in hotels.

Going back this year, this time via the Baltic Countries and Finland. Should reach Nordkapp on the 20/21st June, so may see you there?

Another here who got to Nordkapp in June 2017. We went North via the Baltic States and Finland. I felt quite emotional when we eventually made it to Nordkapp. Finland was not boring at all. Nowhere is the first time you pass through. Although we didn’t take any photos at all in Finland so I guess that says something. Norway though was mostly brilliant. The scenery just blows your mind and just when you think the view you just looked at can’t be topped around the next corner is the new best view you ever saw.

Camping - there are loads of sites. Most have huts to rent - a bit more ££ than a camping pitch but if the weather is shite they are a godsend. All camping sites have decent hostel style kitchens although not all had equipment in them. Book a site as you get near to Nordkapp if you want a hut. We phoned ahead at about 11.30 and got the last hut on the site we had picked. For the rest of the trip we just winged it. We did walk away from one place not far from Bergen. I think they wanted £40 for a pitch. The showers and toilets stunk although the rest of the place was great. Otherwise every site was great.

Weather was mixed. We had enough rain to fully test our gear and get us into huts most nights in the north. In the north it was around 6C for several days with sleety rain. Mozzies - when it was warmer there were enough but they are mostly big and slow. We didn’t sit out the tent much and mostly used the kitchens or lounges for relaxation. It’s little bastard black fly that will get you. Stay covered and it’s fine. Scotland is worse.

Bad things.... it’s very expensive. You know that of course, but it is proper pricey. It got to me in the end and we ended up wanting to leave the country so we could afford a few of the little things we like - beer, chocolate, coffee. Speed limits - low and fines are humungous. You can still get a bit of a wiggle on if you want as there’s lots of remote roads but the prospect of prison or a huge fine for what we would consider a relatively minor transgression puts a damper on things. I though I could adjust and would be happy cruising at 40-50mph but I wasn’t. We saw loads of camera vans and police speed traps to make us wary. Static cameras at most limit changes, although not as many as in Finland which has cameras at every limit change.

Despite all that we would go again. Lofoten, Fjords and Nordkapp the highlights for us, and when go again the far north east will be our target.