[Closed] Driving to Norway - Northern Lights

Ferries from the UK are few and far between these days, so it will be a looooong drive.

I'd fly and hire a car. 24 hours on the Newcastle to Bergen ferry was Ok, as we treated it as a day of the holiday, but two to three days driving would be tiresome with family in tow IMHO.

The flip side to that is that the north sea can get very rough.....

I've only been to northern Norway in the summer so I imagine my experience of the roads would be somewhat different! We flew to Tromso which might be worth considering as I imagine you wouldn't really need to travel far beyond that to be in with a good chance of seeing them, possibly just using public transport/organised tours? Very long way to drive otherwise, especially as a lot of it will be in the dark!

I imagine they have rules dictating winter tyres/snow chains etc. along the lines of Sweden. If you're determined to drive yourself, the ferry services (Hurtigruten?) are very good, and may cut out a lot of time in the car, skipping around the coast.

Get ferry to Sweden from Harwich to Gothernburg and then drive North. Ferry crossing leaves on a Friday, and arrives on the Saturday /Sunday I think. It's s till a drive from there though. You will have to have Snow tyres, don't have to be studded, but must be showing the S+M symbol.

S+M Tyres, would that be the rubber queen?

😉

Hi i'm based in Sweden and often drive to Norway for Snowboarding. I would fly to Oslo and drive up or fly to Åre Österstund in Sweden and rent a car from there. Tyres with studs are mandatory in Winter months.

Sweden is cheaper than Norway, which really is silly silly money. Both are utterly beautiful.

Just put Oxford to Tromso into Google. 2218 miles, 38 hours at the wheel, estimated fuel £431. Same again on the way back. If you hear "are we nearly there yet?" once every five minutes like my back seat is programmed to do, and a few times for the ferries too, I bet they'd manage to say it over a thousand times.

Visit Norway site says you don't have to have studs, but must carry chains. Anyway, tis a bloody long way even from Bergen (reachable by car ferry).

Harwich doesnt go to Sweden anymore. Denmark is your best closest to Norway.

I would go Sweden or Finland to save money, if you must go Norway then Lofoten Island are stunning, as said above Norway is so expensive it is funny.

Cheers All, thanks for the info. Perhaps flying is the best option. Plenty of time to plan so will do some searching on flights etc.

What are all these ferries people are talking about? There used to be a Newcastle-Kristiansand, which then became Newcastle-Stavanger-Bergen, but that stopped a few years ago. As far as I'm aware one either has to drive up through Germany and take the ferry from there, or go Harwich-Esbjerg and then either head up to northern Denmark for a boat, or take one from Copenhagen to Oslo.

Either way I wouldn't drive all that way for the Northern lights! The roads will be fine, but they are small and slow, the near-universal 80kph speed limit is pretty strictly enforced, and it will be dark most of the time. My sister flew to Tromsø with her family in Jan and they had three consecutive nights of astonishing green glowing skies. Norwegian fly there for not all that much.

Fly to Kiruna in Northern Sweden, via Stockholm. Plus , the Ice Hotel is nearby.

[url= http://freight.dfdsseaways.com/dfds_ferries/north_sea_ferries/brevik_immingham_ferries/ ]DFDS's Immingham-Brevik ferry[/url] takes PAX. It's very dull though as its meant for truckers.

I'd fly, go to Tromso stay for a couple of days and fly home, bankrupt. Norway is bonkers expensive: I took the median amount of cash out of a cashpoint on our tour last year. Turned out I'd emptied my account of about £500. £130 per night got us the worst hotel I've ever stayed in - like a homeless hostel but less well kept. I'd go back as it is beautiful & the people are lovely, but I'd camp and take food and alcohol in.

Whilst Norway is expensive, the northern coast offers a slightly better chance of seeing the lights than inland (including inland Norway, Sweden and Finland) because statistically it has lower cloud cover averages. Also the farther north you are the better the chances, so if you are going to fly, see how far north you can afford to get. I would plan to stay for at least 3-4 days to get the best chance of seeing the aurora and would make sure you have plans for things to do in the day to make it a memorable journey, just in case it's cloudy.

Spud, go to Norwegian.com for cheap flights, Gatwick - Tromso direct, 3.5 hours. carhire3000 is the hire site I always use, aggregator site, always been trouble free.

Check airbnb for accommodation, and if you drive to the Lyngen Alps (beautiful, Tolkeinesque mountain range a couple of hours east of Tromso) look up Patrik and Henkrika at the Magic Mountain Lodge In Lyngseidet.

Great place in a lovely spot, elevated position overlooking the fjord. Reasonable prices (especially for Norway!) get a 4 person dorm, cook for yourself or let them do it for a bit more £ - the food is very good.

I imagine they have rules dictating winter tyres/snow chains etc. along the lines of Sweden. If you're determined to drive yourself, the ferry services (Hurtigruten?) are very good, and may cut out a lot of time in the car, skipping around the coast.

Odly, not as strict as you'd think, they've dropped the requirement to have studs in winter as they actualy churn up the ice too much if there's a high volume of trafic and eveyone has them (unlike say iceroad truckers where the road re-freezes between trucks), but you do still need chains and snow rather than winter tyres, and 50% still fit studs even in the towns (which is apparently the magic number for avoiding the two extreams of slush and an ice ring).

I've got cousins in Tromso, they've driven it once and flown every other time, unless you really like driving I'd fly. And I'd not do it in winter as the route involves some pretty high roads!

If you're flying be aware that just like the UK the airports close if it's snowing (and if going north you'll have at least one change as the last 'big' airport is Oslo), they're better prepared for it, but you still can't land a 747 on snow! So make sure you're covered by either the airline or insurance for weather delays. Don't buy it as 2 seperate tickets.

tinas, next time you go, Norwegian airlines fly direct from Gatwick to Tromso, for not much money.

Firstly, having been in your position, I want to wish you both all the best for your wife's recovery, as it's just a truly horrible experience for her. Lots of good vibes to you both.

As for going to Norway in February; will she have recently finished her chemo/treatment at that time? Because if so, then I'd strongly recommend putting the trip off until the summer. Norway can be incredibly beautiful at that time of year, but also incredibly cold, and unless you are acclimatised to the conditions, it can be very draining on the body. No matter how well you wrap up, the cold can really get inside you, and if you're less than 100%, you could end up feeling quite ill. A short trip won't allow you enough time to acclimatise. If your wife's experience is anything like my missus', then even weeks after her treatment, she may still be feeling quite weak and easily tired. -20ºC and lower is no place to be if you're below par. Whereas Norway enjoys surprisingly warm summers, and getting around is much, much easier.

As for the driving in winter there; snow and ice create a multitude of very difficult driving conditions, which aren't for the inexperienced. Don't make the mistake many tourists there do, and think you're Juha Kankunen. Because you may end up dead!

Go in summer, fly, spalsh out and treat your lady. Cos she'll deserve it.

Love to you both to get through everything. Cancer's a ****.

Thanks Stoffel for the kind words, and I hope you're wife and you are doing well. She's got one more round of chemo to go and radio in August. The big thing will be if any further surgery is needed which we'll find out in October. Either way it's a long recovery road ahead once the treatment is over.

The advice here is great, I think a trip to northern Scotland might be in order and then somewhere else in summer. It's her 40th next year so a special trip for her and the family is definitely on the cards.

Thanks Spud. Remeber; your role is incredibly important, as her support. Make sure you also get support for yourself, wherever you can, be it through therapy/counselling, talking to friends, having others do stuff for you, etc. Because she needs you to be as strong as you possibly can. Spending peaceful, relaxing time together is an excelent way of helping her get back to 'normal'.

All the best.