Me (m25) and 2 friends (m23/m24) are back packing from Tromsø to Oslo March 22nd- until we get to Oslo. Is there more scenery going through the west coast down to Trondheim, Bergen, then Oslo (highway 15) or cut through Otta (highway E6 I believe)
We have the necessary winter/camping/hiking gear incase we can’t find hostels or hotels (not really worried since it seems March- April seems like a slow time to travel to Norway)
Just looking for any helpful tips! Also if anyone is in those towns and wants to show us around cool bars/hiking trails. we are a pretty cool Mexican-American guys who are adventuring Scandinavia. Chasing beautiful scenery, beautiful towns, rich history and culture, and are in no rush since we have 3-4 weeks to explore!
Thank you! Here are the routes if the pictures upload
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1qdgel1
Posted by uuvlv
15 Comments
> Is there more scenery going through the west coast down to Trondheim, Bergen, then Oslo (highway 15) or cut through Otta (highway E6 I believe)
If by scenery you mean ocean, fjords, alpine mountains etc then yes. I would go even further west though.
Definetly go Bergen then Oslo, the best part of the trip is Bergen – Oslo over the mountains imo
Do you guys actually know how big Norway is, or did you just look at the map and think “yeah, that looks cool”? Walking from Tromsø to Oslo via Trondheim and Bergen in 3–4 weeks is… let’s just say extremely unrealistic.
So are you traveling by car? Hitch hiking? Walking? Taking the bus?
For reference, walking/hiking that distance would take you at least 2 months. Just for reference. It’s like traveling from Miami to New York.
Check pilgrimsleden
Trails from trondheim thats filled with hostels and cabins to sleep at
My recommendation for what to see if you want to experience the best of Norwegian nature is always:
* The west coast, the area between (and including) Lysebotn and Geiranger
* Lofoten
The times you show on the map are probably if you travel by car. It took my friends sister and husbound 24 houers of non stop driving from kirkenes – arendal. It takes 10 houers to drive from arendal – bergen. It will take a long time to hike trough norway, even more since there are snow in the mountians even in june/july. You need to find out how long it will actually take to hike that far. Not to mention all the unplanned obstacals like lakes, rivers, mabye non crossable motor roads ( you can get tickets for walking alongside some roads).
Here is the official site for Hiking, mabye contakt them with your pland and see what they say. They are professional hikers that know routes/ usefull info etc.
The Norwegian Trekking Association – your guide to Norwegian outdoor life https://share.google/iOJw4d3KZihQLJQCR
Here is another hiking recorce
Norge på Langs – Team Belgica https://share.google/GGk3DdUrELWSYe1eb
Sorry we will not be walking the whole trip, mainly riding busses, trains, even rentals! I didn’t know there was a difference between backpacking and travel backpacking 😅
A bit off topic but I don’t recommend using Apple Maps in Norway (outside the US, tbf). It’s very out of date compared to Google or Waze. I had to force a friend to stop using it after we got stuck several times. Very frustrating.
Plus it uses Yelp for business reviews.
Around Tromsø the risk for avalanche can be huge during March/April. So you have to use [varsom.no](http://varsom.no) to see if your hiking trip is possible when you want to take it. Tourists get trapped in avalanches every year in the Tromsø area and not all of them comes out of it alive. So be careful when hiking.
There is a pilgrimage from Oslo to trondheim which takes up to a month.
https://www.lifeinnorway.net/hiking-norways-pilgrim-way/
If you go all the way north I guess it would be more like 2 to 3 months.
I’d try to stick to the coast if possible going north, for the scenery (take longer though, I would think you’d need your own car then). Check out the website for recommended scenic routes in Norway.
[https://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/](https://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/)
I’d say 3-4 weeks is a good amount of time to experience this, unless you want to see “everything” along this route. Keep in mind that even if it may get spring-y (especially in western Norway), it *is* still winter, and plenty of snow at least if you’re not right at sea level. This might limit your hiking possibilities, unless you are prepared to cross-country ski. I love march/april here in Norway, btw.
Sounds great, you should check out hiddennorway.com for some beautiful spots to visit, they also have a transport guide, enjoy!
Just a heads up: Easter vacation is a big thing in Norway. It starts already the weekend before Easter and lasts until Easter Monday.
During Easter, expect accommodations near skiing areas to be full, but hotels in cities should be less busy than usual.
Buses and trains could also be sold out.
Traffic on Easter Monday is usually quite bad.