Our road trip/hiking trip to Norway was already back in 2017. In the time in Norway we drove around for 2500 km in a time frame of 3 weeks. In the article about Norway I only focused on the National Parks (Jostedalsbreen, Jotunheimen and Rondane) and Hikes we did. But I never explained the real deal with driving in Norway. Let me cover this in this article about our experiences.
Road Conditions
The road conditions in Norway are great. The infrastructure for a less inhabited country as Norway are amazing. Main roads and back roads are paved. Every viewpoint has a parking lot with benches and tables. The country is perfect for doing a road trip, as the whole scenery and nature to see already on the road will take your breath away. It is totally easy to drive there with a normal car, camper van or motorbike. Nether the less also big tour buses are driving around, which is sometimes tricky as there are mainly 2 line or 1 line roads to certain places.
Speedlimit/Toll
One thing I really like in Norway was the speed limit, which is at max 70 km/h – often even lower at 50 km/h or 40 km/h. It gives you a lot of time to enjoy the surrounding. Also, due to the curvy roads it is not possible to drive faster in the first place. Keep this in mind when planning our road trip and destinations in Norway.
In order to finance the whole infrastructure in Norway, there are a lot of toll stations around. Some needs to be paid in cash some are automatically over the license plate or dongle in our rented car. It is different from station to station what to pay, for that reason I can not give you an exact number. But here a rough number, for driving around 3 weeks in the south of Norway we paid around 150 Euros for toll on top of the cost for the rental car and petrol.
Driving in National Parks
Driving in National Parks in Norway is the same as on other roads. The streets are paved and parking slot at view points are everywhere. There are a view minor exceptions e.g. when we drove to our small camping place in the Jotunheimen National Park, it was a bit of a bumpy road but nothing to be worried about.
The journey is the reward
Be aware of distances in Norway, a 300 km drive between 2 destinations can easily turn into a 5 to 6 hours drive as the speed limit and the many view points are slowing you down a lot. With that in mind, try not to drive every day for 200 to 500 km otherwise you will end up driving only and not having a lot of time for the destination itself.
Ferry
All the ferries in Norway we did not book ahead. We just drove there, waited for the next ferry to come, drive on it and paid with credit card. This is usually working for the ferries in Norway itself. No pre booking necessary. It is different when come with the ferry from Denmark (Hirtshals) or Germany (Kiel) to Norway. As it is popular to come to Norway with an own car or camper van, these ferries are usually fully booked and should be booked in advance.
