UKC

So the Newcastle to Bergen ferry doesn't run any more, what's the best way to get to Lofoten from the Leeds?

The options I've worked out are:

Fly all the way - Manchester to Svolvaer.
Flights are expensive by the time you add them up because there are 3.
Car hire in Svolvaer is expensive.

Fly/drive - Manchester to Oslo
Cheapish flights.
Car hire is cheaper.
Long drive!

Fly/drive - Manchester to Stockholm (yes it's the wrong country)
Cheapish flights.
Car hire is cheaper.
Long drive!

Fly/train - Manchester to Oslo, train to Trondheim, sleeper to Bodo
Cheap flights.
Trains prices okay.
Travel in comfort but takes a while.
Car hire in Bodo/Svolvaer is expensive.


Any other reasonable ways to get there?

Any tips on where to base ourselves in Lofoten?
Or any other tips?

Thinking of going in July.

In reply to MeMeMe:

Flying to Bodo or Harstad/Narvik via Oslo (2 flights) with Norwegian.com is very good value and for a very reasonable fee you can take 2 or more 20kg bags. car hire is still outrageous, but may be cheaper than Svolvaer (?). Harstad/Narvik allows you to drive to Lofoten without cost and timing of any car ferries. If I had plenty of time I would drive all the way via Denmark with a car full of food to avoid spending silly amounts of money.

In reply to MeMeMe:

I assume you have read this:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1819


Chris

In reply to Robert Durran:
>

It only goes from Gatwick right?
Manchester is easier but it's a possibility if the flights are a lot cheaper!

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Yup, thanks.

Just wanted to check if anything had changed or anyone had any clever ideas of how to get there.

Have got the guidebook and it looks brilliant.

In reply to MeMeMe:

Not sure, but we went from Edinburgh. Check their website - excellent budget airline.

In reply to MeMeMe:

Last time we went we flew Mcr>Olso>Bodo. Picked up a car there and drove via the new road. That was for just two weeks mind.


Chris

In reply to MeMeMe: I wrote the following about a trip to Norway, with some tips.

http://info.rockrun.com/articles/arctic-norway---the-land-of-the-midnight-s...

Enjoy, and have a think about climbing around Tromso, it's amazing up there!

In reply to MeMeMe:

I flew to Oslo, then to Tromso and hired a car, dropping it off in Svolvaer before flying to Bodo, getting the train to Trondheim and then the train to Jotunheimen and then onto Oslo and back to Gatwick.

Was pricey mind.

The flight from Svolvaer to Bodo was worth more than I paid! Same price as the ferry but you get a 20 minute flight in a twin prop plane that is truly amazing.

Best prices for car hire I found from the UK were carhire3000.

In reply to Robert Durran:


This is also what I did (the Oslo>Harstad/Narvik option). I had the luxury of being picked up by a friend at Harstad/Narvik and then enjoyed the 3hr drive onto Lofoten. It's well worth doing this just for some of the scenary. It really is a truely beautiful place. The only down side was the
long wait at Oslo for the connecting flight so it did take about 18hrs to actually get to Lofoten. But on the up side travelling back I only had to check my bags in once at Harstad/Narvik as it was classed as a an internal on the way home so on arrival at Olso I just had to sit and wait....

In reply to MeMeMe: I met some guys in Lofoten some years back who had flown to Stockholm and then gone by train up Sweden and then over to Narvik. They got a ferry from there to Svolvaer. They said as students it was ridiculously cheap. I arrived home this morning in Helsinki have left Norway, a bit North of Narvik yesterday morning. We stopped for maybe three hours of ice climbing in Abisko - Swedish lapland - yesterday afternoon, but beyond that, solid driving. Stockholm I think is slightly further driving than Helsinki is, so don't take the drive lightly!

In reply to Robert Durran:

How long is plenty of time? I'm toying with the idea of spending 5 weeks in the Lofoten/Stetind area this summer?

Where do you the get the ferry from?

How much would you budget for a 2 person five week holiday in Norway? If you drove from the UK and took a car full of food?

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:


The Norwegians call people like you Germans!!

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Could take five days or a week to drive there, so enough time such that the drive does not seem an unreasonable proportion of the trip.


Calais to Dover! Then drive via Denmark. Unfortunately ferry to Bergen was discontinued.


Estimate mileage and look up cost of fuel. Other costs could be pretty low if you take all your food (especially including any alclhol!) and camp rough (campsites in Norway were pretty cheap 7 years ago; not sure now - we camped rough in Lofoten last Easter, since campsites were closed and accomodation was outrageously expensive)

In reply to Robert Durran:

We went Harwich>Esbjerg (£250 car and two passengers) last year on the way to Southern Norway which didn't leave too much of a drive.

Chris

In reply to MeMeMe:

Fly to Stockholm, take the sleeper train to Narvik (ok, it's around noon or something like that). And then hire a car, or take the bus.

As for basing yer self... either the Gandalf camping (ie. non-official camping below Gandalf) or Kalle. Both have bunch of climbing nearby, and you could prolly hitch a ride to Henningsvaer/Svolvaer from both.

In reply to MeMeMe:
There is a Freight ferry Immingham to Gothenberg but it only goes once a week. You have to be a ferry geek to try it, I guess.
We used buses and a taxi on Lofoten 20 years ago. The flight from Bodo to Svolvaer is the best ever. The pilots both put their hands on the throttle during landing, presumbaly in case one of them drops dead the other can take over. You are in the cabin with the pilots.
I guess the road links all the way to the mainland now. The traffic into Svolvaer from the north used to come in short compact bursts as they all raced off the ferry, so useless for hitching.

In reply to MeMeMe:

If you're in a group you could drive...

We took just over three days from Birmingham, Calais, Hamburg, Stockholm, Harstad. Wasn't too expensive but the costs were shared between 4 of us.

A few other friends took the boat from somewhere in the east of England to somewhere in Denmark and drove but they went to Sjovegen (Narvik ish).

One of the better places I've stayed in Norway and is in Lofoten, is the excellent camp site at Kabelvåg, though its pretty popular so can get quite busy.

There is also free camping at the base of Presten on the road into Henningsvær home to the famous climbing cafe and also the best fish soup in Norway.

Svolvær isn't too bad a place, but very expensive

If I get some holiday off from Svalbard, I may also be around near Lofoten for a couple of weeks. Would be good to find people to climb with if you're interested.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:


4 People for five weeks came to about £1000 each.

That included car insurance, fuel, ferry tickets, hostel fees, 4 weeks of camp site cabin fees, food and beer money. Plus some shrapnel for the extortionate price of a 2 min shower.

Can be much cheaper if you're car is already insured and you will be the only one driving. Fuel will be high cause its only shared between two and If you camp then the camp sites can be free if you're cheeky or they go for about £10-15 per night.

In reply to TobyA:

Sweet, where abouts? I was desperate to try the Rihtanjira icefall that goes up by the ski lift at the Abisko ski centre. Never got to though, maybe next year. Do you have any suggestions for where to go around there?

In reply to MeMeMe:

Just moved from Lofoten (well actually Ofoten!). In the past I have driven from Bergen, in winter this can taken anything from 2 -3 days to .... if the roads get closed much much longer...

You can fly from oslo to Evenes (Hastard / Narvik) takes about 1:45min and if you book with Norwegian air early the flights can be quite cheap. From there you can hire a car or cheaper take the flybussen which will take you to Svolvær. Flying direct to Svolvær is going to be expensive!

You could go Oslo - Bodø, also cheaper flights and then take a ferry, bus etc.

You can also take the Hurtigruter boat. Why they call it the Hurtig (quick) route I don´t know it takes 3 days from Bergen (weather depending) to Svolvær, cost out of season around 5000 nok with a car. If you add 3 meals a day then it will cost you 10,000 nok for two people. The boat stops in ports regularly and you can leg it to the local shop to buy food. Should be called the Sakte-ruter (slow route). You could get a much cheaper ticket without a cabin.

There is another ferry option from the UK. You can get your car on a cargo vessel, but its not as simple as that, and it would probable add an extra long day to drive.

When we go back next time... We will probable send our sea kayaks and climbing gear by cargo to Svolvær and then collect it there. Costs about 1800 nok for one sea kayak, but if you just had climbing gear / tents etc. it would be cheaper. You can ship with Norcargo from the UK.

July will be high season so all cost will go up. We moved there at the start of august last year and it was really lovely. Very few people. By the start of september it was getting quite cold at night / frosty in the morning. By mid october it was winter.

In reply to Jamie Simpson - Alpine Dragons: We flew Manchester - Oslo - Trondheim (I think) then hired a car and drove to Bodo where we got a ferry across. This worked out reasonably cheaply(ish) and wouldn't miss the ferry from Bodo for anything. Take boxes of wine in your luggage...

In reply to MeMeMe: Have you checked the option to fly Manchester > Stockholm > Kiruna (cheap-ish tickets shouldn't be too hard to find), then rent a car and buy all the food in Kiruna (way cheaper than in Norway)? It takes 4.5 hours to drive Kiruna - Svolvaer.