We join Compass guest Alan Eldridge as he blogs from our Wonders of Norway Tour.

Based on the ride today, I think this trip is going to remind me a lot of the Japan tour I did. A key theme is going to be… tunnels! I reckon that today we rode through around 20 tunnels, some short and other several kms long. In fact, we rode through the world’s longest road tunnel – the Lærdal Tunnel – which was 24.5kms on its own. So long, in fact, it has 3 rest-stops where you can pull over and reorient yourself.

I asked ClaudeAI to work out how far we travelled underground and it couldn’t give an exact answer but it’s close to 60kms!

We also visited the Borgun Stovkyrkje – a “stave church”. So named because their primary structure is based on large wooden staves. This church dates back to the 1180’s and is still a consecrated site.

Tonight we are in Gudvangen which is a small village in an absolutely stunning fjord. I’m sure we’re going to get more of this in the coming days… I’m going to try to put the drone up tomorrow morning and get some shots so wish me luck!

GUDVANGEN – FJÆRLAND

As we left the hotel, we retraced our steps from yesterday and turned straight into the tunnels again. Within 2 minutes we were in the 11km Gudvangen Tunnel, but this time we rode over the pass to Lærdal instead of taking the 25km tunnel. The road was beautiful and winding, however the busses and sheep kept things interesting.

The climb finished at an incredible lookout point called Stegastein. The viewing platform lead out over the edge like a bridge and if you know me, you know I was NOT comfortable out there. But I managed to get the drone up for some nice shots.

From there we headed up through the pass and down the other side. We stopped for fuel in Lærdal with plans to ride on to the next town via a short ferry for our lunch stop. However today was a public holiday in Norway (happy St Olaf’s Day everyone!) and there was a parade of trucks that got ahead of us and clogged up the ferry so we decided to loop back to Lærdal for lunch and let them get out of our way. It turned out to be a good plan as when we returned to the ferry, boarding was straightforward.

From the ferry it was a straight run through to Fjærland where we are staying tonight. However, before we checked into the hotel we visited the Glacier Museum which was quite interesting…

We’re in a very nice hotel tonight but the rain has set in now – hopefully it will clear by morning. 🤞🏻

FJÆRLAND – GEIRANGER

OK, it’s official.

Norway is utterly, outrageously, offensively beautiful!

I mean, I shouldn’t be able to take a photo like this…

It’s been a mixed day weather-wise… it rained a lot overnight but had stopped by morning. It was still overcast but that cleared occasionally throughout the day, giving spectacular vistas with blue skies.

The valleys here are just amazing – they’re so deep and the sides are so tall and steep – almost sheer in places. It’s really something to see in person and I’m sure the videos aren’t doing it justice.

To be honest, I’m glad I did the Iceland Westfjords tour first because it was incredible and I loved it, but Norway’s fjords are next level. I’m certain I would have been disappointed if I’d done this first.

Part of the afternoon was spent on a ferry – taking us from Hellesylt to Geiranger. Looking at the map, you can see why the ferry – there’s just no roads from that direction…

We’re in Geiranger tonight which is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been (see the gallery below). Just postcard beautiful. The big ships and busses mean lots and lots of tourists though – the buffet at dinner tonight was a contact sport! And no, the irony of me making that statement isn’t lost…

GEIRANGER – MOLDE

The morning kicked off with a tight, twisty climb out of Geiranger. Lots of switchbacks with traffic and wet, wet roads. The lookout over the fjord was impressive and I managed to get the drone up for a but, but not much because of the rain.

From there we headed toward the main experience of the day – the famous Trollstigen road! It’s the kind of road that would be a biker’s paradise, except for all the cars, busses, vans, and cyclists. In the end, the ride down was slow and congested but the benefit was that I could enjoy the scenery.

After a quick lunch stop we took another ferry and then rode into Molde where we are tonight. Dinner was at our own organising and several of us had a nice dinner at an Italian/Norwegian place. But it was a reminder of the prices here – I had a bowl of fish soup (admittedly it was advertised as a large bowl) and it was $450 NOK which is about $67 AUD. For soup – yeesh!

MOLDE – TRONDHEIM

The highlight of today was riding the famous Atlantic Road – about 8kms that spans across a bunch of islands and includes the Storseisundet Bridge.

Apart from the speed, the riding here has been excellent as the roads are in fantastic condition with very few potholes. The other observation on the roads (and the country in general) is that there is almost zero litter. Aussie roads have crap all along the verge from people tossing things out of the car, but not here. It’s refreshing and very nice to experience.

We have a rest day/laundry day tomorrow here in Trondheim, then the day after we continue north!

TRONDHEIM

It’s a rest day today, giving us time to have a wander around Trondheim. The itinerary materials describe this as a “compact and highly walkable city” and they’re pretty right.

First stop was the Nidaros Cathedral – beautiful architecture on the outside but as it’s Sunday there were services going on so I couldn’t get in for a look-see. Fortunately one of the other guys on the tour, Chris, did get in and shared some great photos.

From there, I checked out the Gamle bybro bridge, the Erkebispegården (archbishop’s palace – they were bumping out from the Olavsfest party last night so machinery everywhere), and the Kunstmuseum (art museum).

From there, I walked to the Stiftsgården (an old noble townhouse), then up the short, sharp climb to the Kristiansten Fortress on top of the hill.

All up, it’s a pretty city. I was going to go to the Rockheim (the museum of Norwegian music) but considering my knowledge of Scandi music is ABBA and death metal, I decided to just have a chilling afternoon.

It’s an early start tomorrow for a 480km day to Mo-I-Rana, the northernmost point of our ride.

TRONDHEIM – MO I RANA

Our longest day today at approx 480kms. In the rain, too. Yep, we do this for fun…

Actually, it was a pretty good day. The rain was persistent but not heavy and the traffic wasn’t bad. The speed limits here though… average speed is about 80km/h with pockets of 90km/h but we can’t work out what the difference is. Oh, and there are constantly sections of 40, 50 or 60km/h as you go through small villages. You gotta stay on your toes to know what speed you’re supposed to be doing. And because the roads are all in excellent condition and well designed, you really want to be doing north of 100km/h…

After leaving Trondheim, we had a quick photo stop in a small town called Hell. It seemed rather nice – I don’t see what these Christians are all wound up about…

For most of the day, we were following the Namsen river. In the afternoon, we stopped at a waterfall where there were salmon jumping, trying to head upstream. Very cool.

Tonight we are in Mo I Rana, tomorrow we head across and enter the Lofoten Islands which are supposed to be stunning. Woohoo!

Originally published on Alan’s Continental Drift Blog – click through for the story of the full trip!

SEE UPCOMING DATES FOR WONDERS OF NORWAY HERE