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Showing posts with label travel norway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel norway. Show all posts

Sunday, 13 December 2015

The magical Møre og Romsdalen.

Møre og Romsdalen is one of the most beautiful regions in Norway.  This is where you find Ålesund and Atlantic road, Trollstigen and Geirangerfjord.
We traveled there in may but june is a bit better. The mountain passages are open and the weather is better. We stayed t the Scandic hotel in Ålesund which was great  but I recommend you do that only while you're in Ålesund when you're travelling around the region, you can find mountain cabins to stay at. Do rent a car. Travelling here with your own may be difficult due to the fact there is little to no highways going to this region and most of them are going through mountains so they may be closed.  We just rented a car and traveled the region this way. You can do it straight away at the airport.  The bus from the airport does not go past 8 pm so if you have a hotel near by , you should think about a car.
We started by checking out Ålesund. This is a wonderful small town, reconstructed in art-art nouveau style after a fire took place at 1904, when a large part of town center burnt down which made other cities reconsider safety of the tradititonal building style in Norway, the materials, the way the buildings are spaced and so on. Now the little town is as romantic as it gets- little art-nouveau  houses,  the view to the ocean from one side and the mountains from the other. The harbour is right in the middle of town center as well as fjellstua- a great look out point at the top of the hill with a restourant. The climb is fairly easy , there are stairs all the way up to the top.

Othet things you should visit is the aquarium, the Ålesund church and Storhaugen lookout point.
The next day we went to Geirangerfjord. There are different ways to get there but we drove via Sykkylven and Hellesylt then by boat to Geirangerfjord. There are some tours going to Geiranger from Ålesund  but as it was may and only the beginning of the season so that was not an option. Plus car gives you liberties that no tour can. Going through mountains in May in this region there is still a lot of snow and the scenery is beautiful. Taking the road number 60 after Sykkylven you will be passing the Sunnmøre Alps, gorgeous mountain peaks.

 Most of these road will go through mountain passages and verity of tunnels as well as ferries so be prepared to take a lot of them during your trip. On our way to Hellesylt there is a gorgeous look out point to the entrance of Geiranger. Here we took a ferry going through the  Geirangerfjord . On the way you can hear the story of fjord and local farmers which is really interesting.  All of the Geiranger farms are abandoned due to the conditions here but it is fascinating how these people survived here and what they needed to do so. 
Arriving at Geiranger we take a brief walk and up and down the stairs next to the waterfall and check out a local shops by the port. After that we tarvel a bit upwards in Dahlsnibba direction to hike up the Storseterfossen. This is a very interesting place where you can walk behind the waterfall.  The hike is not that difficult and there is a brick trail practicly all the way up to the top.  This place is breathtaking . The waterfall, the mountain view is just magestic. This place is so quiet at the top becausr the rock hovers over the waterfall and when you get to the waterfall it is just something. A definite must.

After that you can go further up the main road to Dahlsnibba. But we drove further up the Geiranger serpentine to the view point and further away to the Trollstigen national tourist route. This is the road that connects Geiranger to Åndalsnes.  This is the road you can find several waterfalls, the Trollstigen serpentine  mountain passage and Trollveggen. The wonderful nature sights are complimented by modern architecture making this a wonderful route to take. 
As it was may the part of Trollstigen was closed so we could only travel this much. But the region is very beautiful. The Trollveggen is the tallest vertical rock wall face in Europe and  eventhough we couldn't go through Trollstigen  we still came to see Trollveggen and  check out Trollstigen.  Trollstigen has always been an important trade route in this region.  The new road was only built in 1916 but you can still walk the old horse road which has been there for centuries.

We leave to travel back to Ålesund and come back the next day for Åndalsnes. Here is where we take a hiking trip to Rampestrekken via Romsdalstrappa. This hike is one of the most demanding I have taken because of the steep climb upwards. At the top you will find another lookout point where you will see the fjord and Trollvegen. The view is absolutely fantastic but the climb maybe difficult and scary if you have fear of heights, so be sure to take water and good shoes with you.
After that we travel to one of the most known attractions in Norway- Atlantic road. This is where you can find Storseisundbrua, the curved  bridge,
This road connects several little islands and fisheries . The region needed a better transportation route for  quite some time in order to transport the fish and sea products and so the road was finally finished in 1989 and was nominated in 2005 as construction of the century. A definite must to enjoy the views of Atlantic ocean and the beautiful constructions them self.
All in all the region is gorgeous and there are so many attractions and thing to see a book  would not be enough to describe it all. The main things I can advise you is to travel here in June so every attraction would be available, be sure to take at least one boat ride here so you can see the fjords from all of  the angles, take some time and hike somewhere in this region , it most definitely  will be worth the while and if you have more time than we did , check out the Mardalfossen which is gorgeous site on one of the tallest waterfalls in Europe, as well as Rauma railway ,Valldal and Tafjord. whether you like architecture, nature or just the athmosphere, this region is for you. 

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

Travelling around. The things you need to know

Norway is a beautiful country to see, but it is also not very densely populated and there can be great distances between cities and nature so there can be a lot of moving arround involved.
Usually plain tickets are quite cheap but when it comes to bus or train, it can get very expensive. You can also come to Norway by personal car with a ferry, but there are things to take into consideration. Any technical help in Norway is expensive,  so you need to have a great insurance but also be very sure that your car is up to technical challenge of driving in different terrains specially winter which is october in the more mountainess areas.
Which is why my suggestion is that you get here by a plane and rent a car. It is not as expensive as going arround with a public transport if you are more than one person and  it is much safer than going with your own car as these companies usually have better local ensurance and cover service expenses. There is also a considerable amount of electrical wehicles avaliable for rent but I would not advise them other than getting around the city because  mountains are a challange for them . As I hears from my freinds, the car lost about 20% charge by just going up the hill . So they are a good option in the city but not in the country side. If youare more fitness driven you can travel by bike. There are great routes around country and people are very tolerant torwards cycling.
The other thing is where to stay . Hotels in Norway are fabulous but also can cost a bit.  Another thing is that if you are not opting for McDonald's eating at restaurants can also be quite costly. That is why  if you are not staying in the city I suggest  mountain cabins called Hytta in Norwegian. They are usually cheaper than hotels and can accommodate more people, and they have a kitchen so you can cook for yourself.  You can book one through official sites like booking.com or others but I  suggest trying airbnb this time. Norwegians usually own a cabin themselves so you can get one for a cheaper price and better equipped. a cabin can usually cost from 50 to 100 euros and can usually accommodate 4-7 people. It depends.  If you stay in the city that can get tricky. But there are options. I recommend a Scandic hotels- they are great and have a wonderful breakfast option which can save you some money . It is also a bit cheaper to book it from their website . They have great location usually in more than one location in the city. Other than that a hotel room in Oslo for example will be about 100 euros for night, depending on where you are staying. Yet again Airbnb vil probably have cheaper options. 
If you ask me I suggest you start in one city , check it out for one or two days and then rent a car and drive up to another city, soaking up as much nature as possible. For example from Oslo to Bergen or Oslo to Ålesund. Rent cabins for an authentic Norwegian experience and also to save a bit of money.