UKC

OK. So I'm going to Norway on holiday and need some tips. I've already planned most of the itinerary but there's a couple of details that need filling, like what to do.

Any advice on what to do in the following places?

Tromso
Lofoten
Jotunheimen

I won't have lots of climbing gear but adventurous walks/scrambles in the mountains are a definite must. I'd also like to do some non-mountainy stuff like sea-kayaking and whale watching.

If there are any locals on here that would be stunning!

Also, any idea how I can rent a car without needing to take out another mortage?

In reply to Eric the Red: The surfing on Lofoten looks awesome. Take a decent wetty!

http://www.nordicsurf.no/images/upload/images/88.full.image.jpg

See the latest carve mag in WHS for more pics.

In reply to Eric the Red:
there's some good climbing on the islands around tromso, check out the climbing guide for kvaloya (it's in norwegian though...). also, store blamann is worth going up. the mountain ridge along the northcoast of ersfjorden, also kvaloya, is quite popular. or go to senja, a really really beautiful island!
check out troms turlag and den norske turistforeningen (dnt).

In reply to Eric the Red:

Tromso: Hamperoken is qruite a good scramble. If you take a rope then doing the horseshoe from the other end (stortinden, bjornskartinden) would make a long and interesting day out. (I only managed half of it before backing off, without a rope).

Head a bit further east and do some stuff on Lyngen maybe? The glaciers are pretty nasty late in summer, so you may be better off staying on rock.

Lofoten: There is so much good stuff there that it is hard to recommend anything specific. There is enough to keep you going for years.

Jotunheimen: The only thing I have done there is glitterind. It's quite a nice long day walk with an ice cap at the top. Ignore the bit in the guidebook that says you don't normally need axe & crampons. When I did it you certainly did.

In reply to Eric the Red:


for cheaper car hire

http://www.rent-a-wreck.no/eng/index.php

The cars are far from being wrecks. I work in Bergen and often use them.

Just back from Lofoten last week - based myself down south around Reine. Pictures in my profile.

Slugain

In reply to naine:

I've got an overnight stay on Senja at Silsand on the way from Tromso to Lofoten. I'm trying to break up the journey and have discovered a more scenic route involving a ferry which is good but I'll need something to do on the way!

Is there any good short walks on Senja? Something that can be done in a couple of hours or so? Or is it best just driving and stopping when there are nice views and generally being granny like? The next day is the rest of the drive to Svolvaer which is a long day so no real opportunities for getting out then.

The amount of stuff to do in Lofoten does look ridiculous but if you only had one day, what would you do? (I have 3 but that's not the point)

No climbing though. I don't have room for any kit at all.

In reply to Eric the Red:

Have you thought of Romsdal? Lovely area, and you can walk / scramble to and along the top of the Troll Wall. Last summer a group of us headed out to spend a week or so climbing in Romsdal then head to the Jotunheim for a week. As it was it pissed down every day, so I would heartely recommend kayaking and whale watching! Actually, Romsdal might be an excellent place to combine walks / scrambles with kayaking in the fjords.

In reply to naine:

No it's not: http://www.blixt.no/KvaloyaArchives/index.html

In reply to Eric the Red:

Lofoten is a v long island chain - where you arrive and exit should have some influence on what you do. Moskensøya in the south is stunning and the hills are directly accessable from the road or by v convenient ferries.

In reply to Joe G:

Thanks but I've already booked all the accommodation so somewhere I hadn't heard of is out!

In reply to Slugain Howff:

I'm driving in from the east and staying south of Svolvaer. Then ditching the hire car there (ouch, one way hire car supplement) and getting the ferry out of Moskenes to Bodo.

In reply to TobyA:

That does look stunning. Is a rope needed and I see there's still snow on there in August! Is it something that could be done with just a pair of legs and some stout shoes?

In reply to Eric the Red:

There is a good bus service linking the rest of the island to Moskenes - but then you probably know this.
An increased service on Monday and Friday's mean these are good days to take the ferry into Kjerkfjord or Vindstad from Reine. From there some very fine hills are accessable in and out in a day. I was there on my own so no climbing got done only scrambling.

Some pictures here from last weekend

http://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/author.html?id=41696

In reply to Slugain Howff:

Looks proper rubbish! You must have had a rotten time. You have my sympathies.

In reply to Eric the Red: You can go on whale watching trip in andenes north of tromso, i went on it and you got up real close to spermwhales

In reply to heather monkey:

Tell me about it 24 hours sunlight and thin curtains - bloody nightmare it was!! Forgot to pack my factor 50 too.

In reply to Eric the Red:
Nope.


That's a glacier in the background. No snow on the route at all last August.


Yep. I did it in approach shoes. Route down across the scree is a bit of a bitch in them! Managed to break my ski pole. Send me an email and I can send you pics of the relevant guide book pages. The map you need is called Tromso Fastland and you can buy it Tromso.

When are you actually going to be in Tromso? I'm going for a conference in August and desperately want to climb but don't have a partner.

In reply to TobyA:
cool, didnt know that one. i went out with norwegians and their book...

In reply to TobyA:
btw, when in august are you there? i'm in tromso at some point around the 23rd.

In reply to TobyA:

You have mail!

But because this is a public forum and someone else might be interested. How long should the route take to do?

In reply to Eric the Red:

OK so my accommodation in Jotunheimen has fallen through. Anyone got any recommendations or experience?

In reply to Eric the Red:

http://www.visitlom.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1030&subtabid=1032

In reply to Eric the Red: Shame 'cos it's lovely. We did Galdhoppigen (over glacier but there are groups you can join just for that bit if you're not taking ropes - there are other routes to the top though). Also did the Bessegen ridge which, although busy, deserves to be - stunning views. Stayed in the hut at the far end which was expensive but good and a ferry trip out the next day after a further exploratory wander was an ace couple of days.
Also visited Romsdal which was good, did a couple of walks round there one which we randomly selected from the map which turned out to be a fair scramble up a water fall, over a plateau and back down another fair wee scrambly bit.
Also went to Rondane, which unfortunately was very wet so didn't do the planned hut to hut walk there.

In reply to Eric the Red:

If you stay in DNT huts, then they guarantee a place for everybody who shows up (even if its a mattress on the floor) so I can't really see how you'll have a problem with accommodation. As you're under 26 you can become a youth member of the DNT (easily done) and then it's 55 crowns to stay in a dorm. At least it was last March and I can't imagine the prices have changed in the mean time.

Mehmet

In reply to Eric the Red:

Re Jotunheimen, there is an excellent but expensive book by James baxter describing walking / scrambling / climbing routes on the 2000m peaks and all the accommodation options including DNT huts.

It also has a section of general advice which I would have found handy before my first trip to Norway.

In reply to Eric the Red:

Thanks all. I've just found a load of info on DNT huts. 55NOK seems a bit cheap, are you sure. Everywhere I'm looking is a bit more expensive than that.

Still, it's something to go on!

In reply to Eric the Red:

Don't worry about booking accommodation in norway.

There are cabins (hyttes) everywhere that can be rented cheaply by the night.

In reply to Eric the Red:

DNT prices haven't been as low as 55 NOK for years. Heres's the latest pricelist.
It costs 480NOK for a full adult membership.

http://www.turistforeningen.no/english/article.php?ar_id=9668&fo_id=360...

In reply to Eric the Red:
>55NOK seems a bit cheap, are you sure. Everywhere I'm looking is a bit more expensive than that.

I double checked and it's actually 50NOK! http://www.turistforeningen.no/english/article.php?ar_id=9668&fo_id=360... Look at youth in a dorm at the member's rate. The membership price is 270NOK and pays for its self in just over two nights.

They make up the money on the food, which as long as you take your own is not a problem. Otherwise breakfast is 100NOK, 10NOk per slice of bread for lunch (the fillings are free, but they assume you'll have open sandwiches), and dinner is around 30NOK. All in all if you buy all your food then it comes to about £50 a day. However if you take most of your own or all of your own food then it's very cheap.

When I was there in March we took all our own breakfasts and lunches. We had dinner for the first half the trip and saved up for the next half. In future we've decided to take all own dinners but only some lunches and breakfasts. Dinner was the lightest food we had (as it was dehydrated) and we were happy with out menu. Breakfast on the other hand usually had as wishing for the hut breakfast but we had all the food we were carrying. Our lunches were the heaviest part of our diet which is why it seems worth spending the money there.

I don't know how you're planning to get to the Jotunheimen, but just so you know both times I've been there in winter we found it very easy to get to by public transport. The first time was from Oslo and the second from Bergen. The Norwegian coaches are excellent, very comfortable and spacious and run an excellent service. If you are approaching from the North in summer there is a bus from Lom to Spiterstulen. In winter there is a snow cat from Tyin to Fondsbu, but I don't know what the summer arrangements are. There is a coach service to Tyinkrysset (Tyin crossroad) which may be where a bus to Fondsbu goes from? In winter the snow cat starts 5K from there in Tyin so in the past I've a taxi for that bit.

The Olavsbu and Gjendebu cabins both looked as if they had excellent peaks to climb surrounding them. The easiest way up a lot of these peaks are either a scramble or a rock climb, but there are of course plenty of peaks you can walk up as well. I'm suggesting these two as they are both DNT huts. Olavsbu is a wardened self service hut, which means if you opt for hut food you select it from the shelf and cook it yourself. Gjendebu is a full service hut which means if you opt for their food you'll get an excellent three course evening meal.

Hope this helps,

Mehmet

In reply to Slugain Howff:


Eric the Red says he's 24 in his profile so I've been quoting the youth rates. The 50NOK is the price of a youth member staying in a dorm in a DNT hut, not the membership price.

Mehmet

In reply to Mehmet Karatay:

Ah!! the benefits of youth. Sorry if I doubted.

In reply to Mehmet Karatay:

Time has passed since my profile was updated and I'm now 26! I think that this makes me a youth member still, just.

Very helpful, cheers.

I'm coming down from Bodo. Train to Trondheim, a day there and then a train to Otta where I'm getting a car. I know it's expensive but I want to make the most of every hour I have and I've found that you can make travelling take hours instead of most of a day. Anyway, it's positively cheap compared to the price I'm paying to pick up a car in Tromso and take it to Lofoten! (OW!)

So er, thanks. I don't fancy sleeping on the floor so is it worth booking ahead? As for taking your own food, where can it be bought? I'll have the car so anywhere reasonably near Otta I suppose.

I'm looking at staying at the hut east of lake gjende on the road. (spelling!?)

In reply to Eric the Red:

Have a go at Mack Brewery, the most northern brewery in the world. Also, soem reasonable bouoldering in Kvaloy.


Bouldering, and endless hiking...


Most places rent mountaineering gear in the vicinity, but you can also just hike to the top of Galdhöpiggen sans crampons and alike (highest peak in Norway)... Summerskiing (downhill) is also a possibility.


Lofoten would be the place for Whale watching... Sea kayaking is possible about anywhere, albeit Lofoten migh offer some stellar views (but also possibly rougher seas).


Oh, and whitewater rafting is a nice past time, many firms organize such activities near Jotunheim.

In reply to Eric the Red:

I really don't know I'm afraid. I've no idea how busy it gets in the summer. If you know exactly what dates you're going to be there I see why it will do any harm to book, but I can't really imagine it being a problem if you don't. If you do sleep on the floor you still get a foam mattress.

Gjendeheim sounds nice but I've never been there. I stayed at the other end of the lake (which we skied across) at Gjendebu. A boat trip will probably be worth it. I don't know what your specific plans are but getting the boat to Memerubu (halfway along the lake to the N) and then walking up the valley to the foot of some glaciers and Alpine looking peaks could make a good trip. If doing this it might be nice to camp up there one evening and then walk back again to catch a boat, possibly after climbing one of the peaks?

I'm guessing there will be some supermarkets in Otta but I don't know any details. What I do know is when I passed through Otta on a Sunday, everything except a petrol station seemed to be closed.

Mehmet