Road trip adventure through Norway

I’ve said it a few times already, but living here in Linköping has really opened up great travel opportunities for me, and I never thought I would experience so many amazing things in just one year.

On Friday 25th of March, I finished my last class with a presentation and a debate, and my friends and I decided that we had earned a few days off before jumping back into work. We thought about travelling for a while and initially wanted to stay in Sweden, but two of my friends are from here, so we wanted to go somewhere none of us had been before…. so Norway it was.

We were able to borrow a car from a friend’s parent and left for Norway early Saturday morning. I can’t explain to you how much I was looking forward to it…. Firstly, I never thought I would be able to travel around Norway anytime soon because the country is notoriously expensive and I’m on a student budget, and secondly, I won’t be able to see my friends for a while because we’re all starting our internships soon and I’ll be away collecting data for my Master’s thesis after that, so this trip came at the perfect time.

Our first destination was Lillestrom, a municipality very close to Oslo, where we booked our first Airbnb for the night. By not staying in Oslo directly we were able to save a lot of money on lodging and still get a really nice Airbnb.

   

These were some of the views from our flat! We had a huge terrace overlooking a lake and could also use the sauna! To save money further, we drove our car to the train station in Lillestrom, parked it there and took the train to Oslo. This saves high parking costs and a hefty toll to drive into town!

It only took about 10 minutes to reach the city.We explored Oslo for the rest of the day, and watched the sunset from the opera house before returning to our Airbnb and ending the day with a Sauna.

This is a floating sauna, and people actually jumped into the water afterwards. In the back you can see the opera house.

The next day, we left early again, since we had many stops planned along the road to our next Airbnb.

We first stopped in Jevnaker to check out the Kistefos museum. It is actually still closed, since it is not really “tourist season” yet, but the building itself was really intriguing, and there were many sculptures we were able to check out also.

Our next spot was 100% spontaneous and hilarious. My friend spotted a meteorite sign, and we excitedly decided to check it out, in hopes of seeing a spectacular crater or something along the lines. Turns out, it was a flat surface… covered by snow, LOL. the drive there was still very pretty and it gave us a good laugh.

The sign that started it all

Next we went to see our first waterfall. The walk there was quite tricky because it was covered in snow and ice, but it was undoubtedly worth it. The colours of this place were just stunning. And you had to cross a hanging bridge to see the waterfall, which gave me serious explorer vibes.

Location: Rjukandefossen

Throughout our drives we also had many (unglamorous) snack breaks, with fantastic views of fjords and incredible mountains. We brought all our food from Sweden, and did not eat out, which saved us a lot of money and made traveling through less populated areas a lot easier.

An unholy amount of bread, hummus and peanut butter was consumed on this trip

Next we stopped to see the Borgund Stave Church, which was really impressive and ominous at the same time. At one point the sun came out and shone directly on the church, which made it look even bigger and the roof designs even more intricate.

We often also made stops in little towns. There were so many interesting and beautiful houses in Norway, and I loved driving through them and the areas they were situated in.

We then arrived in Aurlandsvangen, where we would stay for the night. Easy to say that this was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen or stayed at. Our Airbnb was situated right by the Fjord, which made for some spectacular evening and breakfast views. We also drove higher up the mountain to get to a viewing point of the fjord. After enjoying the view we cooked some pasta and enjoyed the jacuzzi bathtub before turning in for an early night.

Once again, we left quite early, since we had a few stops on our schedule again. First we went to Skulestadmo, to see a beautiful waterfall. Non-frozen this time.

Then we continued on to Granvin, for another waterfall, much bigger than the one before and truly impressive. We encountered more snow this way, so the walk to the waterfall was not super easy and resulted in many wet socks. The views were definitely worth it though.

     

Then we went to see another waterfall in Voringsfoss. Apparently the biggest of them all, and let me tell you, I was not ready for this view:

After all of that we made our way into Bergen, where we spent the rest of our day and also the next morning. I absolutely loved our stay there! We totally lucked out with the sunny weather and the city was bustling. There were a ton of cute cafes, and some of the most beautiful small houses I have ever seen. Every alley was worth exploring and I could have easily spent a few more days there just walking around.

     

     

The next day, after lunch we made our way to Roldal. We did not have as many stops on the way, but still saw numerous beautiful waterfalls and fjords. We also took the ferry at one point, which was exciting in itself.

    

The closer we got to Roldal the more the area resembled a snow desert, and the views were simply incredible. We were really lucky and the roads were cleaned and dry, so we could truly enjoy our drive high up in the mountains. Once again our Airbnb had incredible views. If you also want to go to Norway I would really advice you to go with more people and maybe not in the “tourist seasons” as we were able to get great lodgings for affordable prices that way. After settling in to our apartment we went sledding right in front of our lodge and ended the evening with a home cooked meal and a cozy movie night.

The next day we then left the icy cold and made our way south, for our last night’s stay in a beach cottage in Sweden in Grebbestad. Once again, our Airbnb was really lovely and close to the beach and we enjoyed the most sunny weather. My Swedish friends actually took a swim in the ocean and I am sorry to admit that I was not brave enough to go that far, lol. We had a walk on the beach, watched the sunset and then cooked and enjoyed the rest of the evening inside.

 

   

On our way back to Linköping we made a final pit stop in Smögen to walk around a little and then in Göteborg for lunch before we arrived back home at 5pm.

I know this is a very lengthy blog post, but if you ever decide to go to Norway, I hope you can find some places here to visit yourself! I really enjoyed this trip and am so grateful for my amazing friends who I could share this experience with.

Now it is time for me to go back to work, before I leave for my internship soon, which I will update you about in my next blog post. Take care, and talk to you soon, //M.

 


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