After the stunning cruise through the Geirangerfjord, we weaved our way through villages, up and over a few mountains and along the shores of teal-colored fjords to make our way to Melkevoll Bretun, one of the most beloved campgrounds in all of Norway, if not Europe. Almost universally folks describe the campground as a retreat which, after the past few days of travel, is exactly what we were hoping for. We were exhausted and looking for just the right place to settle in and rest. Once we arrived, surrounded by glaciers, waterfalls and mountains, we knew we had found it. We settled in for five glorious days.
We had a choice of routes as we made our way to our next stop, the city of Bergen. At first we planned to visit Flåm, famous for its train ride, said to be one of the most beautiful in the world. But we asked ourselves, how much more beauty can we actually enjoy? It’s clear we were teetering on sensory overload. We decided instead to make our way to Bergen by the quickest route possible. Of course, there is really no such thing as a quick trip in Norway, because even if you try to ignore the beautiful scenery, or skip it altogether, it’s still right there in front of your face. So of course we had to make multiple stops for photos. Imagine if we had taken the scenic route, it would have taken us days to reach Bergen!
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, and according to Wiki, it has a population of 285,900 as of this year. It is, of course, on a fjord, and many of the suburbs are on surrounding islands. That’s a bit like Tromsø, only it’s much bigger. We parked up in the city’s free aire, which was a few kilometers from town, but easily doable on our bikes. We spent a gorgeous day roaming all around the Old Town. We decided to treat ourselves to a meal out, which we had thus far only had once or twice at IKEA, and that was still freaking expensive at about 50 euros for the two of us, and no wine!
In Bergen, though, we figured some fish and chips would be nice, so we found a takeout place. It wasn’t the best we’ve ever had, but it was so nice to enjoy a meal out. Later, after we’d spent a warm afternoon walking the city, we decided to stop in at a restaurant along the marina and have a beer. Steven asked me to guess what the price would be for two half liter beers and I said 25 euros. Even at that I thought I had overestimated. When the bill came in at 30 euros we both nearly choked. The waiter showed Steven where he could fill in a tip on the bill. We thought to ourselves, ‘Here’s a tip: don’t expect to see us ordering another round…ever!” But that’s Norway, if you plan on a visit here, you need to bring plenty of money.
We enjoyed Bergen very much, although we both agreed that it was not as clean as other cities we had visited in Norway. For some reason, there were overflowing trash bins, fast food wrappers and a mass quantity of cigarette butts all over the city. I guess it was a surprise because we had commented on how pristine Norway had been up to this point, but in this regard, Bergen disappointed. Still, as you can see in the photos, it’s a beautiful city.
We awoke on our departure day to find Bergen engulfed in fog. We slowly made our way through the city on what seemed to be a ridiculously tedious route, thanks to our GPS. At one point we were instructed to turn onto a road that went “up”. A guy on a bicycle (he turned out to be from Ireland, what are the odds??) waved us down and asked if we were familiar with the road ahead. When we said no, he kindly suggested we might want to rethink our route, as it was quite steep, narrow and with sharp switchbacks. We thanked him and pulled over to discuss our options. After deciding we had none, we continued on with fingers crossed that Bijou would get us to the top. She did, and so we continued our journey out of foggy Bergen up into the mountains. It didn’t take long to drive out of the fog and into a lovely sunny day. This day would turn out to be quite an epic drive, which is really saying something for us.
Our destination on this travel day was Preikstolen, more commonly known at Pulpit Rock. We planned to hike to the famous outcrop, but first we had to get there. It was a lot more stressful than we anticipated, as leaving Bergen would take us on not one, but three national tourist routes. The last of these was the Norwegian Scenic Route, Ryfylke. I jokingly posted on Facebook that I thought Ryfylke roughly translated as “butt-clencher” because it certainly was that!
After coming off two other tourist routes, the road split and we had to choose which we would take to head south on the Ryfylke. I picked Highway 520 because I thought it was the easier of the two and our GPS agreed. I had a fifty-fifty chance of being right, but the odds were not in my favor this time. When we reached the turn off to Highway 520 I took one look at the road and said, “Hell, no!” and kept right on going. The road was narrow and crumbly and it went straight up. I had no idea what was up that road but I was determined not to find out.
About a kilometer further down the road we pulled over to discuss our options. To my surprise, Steven wanted to stick with our original plan and take 520. He seems to have endless confidence in my driving skills and Bijou’s abilities, which is mostly good but also irritating when he wants to take a route I do not. Of course, as the driver, I always have the final say, but since he seemed so sure, I figured what the heck, let’s do it. So off we went on highway 520.
I regretted my decision immediately. Here is how the Norwegian Tourist Board describes this route: “Here you will encounter high barren mountains, lush hillsides, sheer mountainsides and deep fjords. The Saudafjellet mountain displays special natural characteristics. It is rugged, brutal and unyielding, and you might find yourself wondering what on earth it was that persuaded someone to lay a road exactly here.” Indeed, I did wonder.
Even more, I wondered what the hell I was doing driving on it! I will admit that once we got up the mountain and away from the edge that looked straight down, waaaaaay down, I relaxed a tiny bit and saw that the drive was absolutely stunning. Still, I was giddy when we finally got off the mountain and drove into Sauda where we spent the night right along the fjord. I find I am more excited about this kind of drive after the fact, when I can relax and look back. This one was a real challenge and I was so glad it was over.
We had a nice overnight stay, but still had a few more hours to drive to make it to Jorpeland where we stayed prior to our hike up to the famous Pulpit Rock. Considering what we had just driven, the rest of the trip was a walk in the park. We had picked out a fairly new campground which was just 3 kilometers from Preikestolen, so we figured we would be lucky to get a spot. As it turned out, we were the only ones there. Perfect! We parked up and spent the rest of the day talking about how anxious we were to be hiking to Pulpit Rock and making the other promise not to get too close to the edge. If you fall off, the next stop is Lysefjord nearly 2,000 feet straight down. Yikes!
NEXT UP: Preikestolen
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Funny, this was a great blog, beautiful! BUT what got me, overwhelmed… 😁 Was…. There were lampshades for sale? By the roadside? Just a weird thing to see… No????
LOL, we didn’t even notice the lampshades in that photo. That was a street fair and basically a garage sale. Everything was for sale that day!
Thank you for this most spectacular set of photos thus far!! I am lucky to have been to Norway many years ago, but it was a TRAIN trip so nowhere near some of the outstanding drives you have had> I love seeing them and your blog. The opening picture is breathtaking!!
I hope it won’t be long until you have your own vehicle in which you can travel all of the EU and see for yourself the fabulous places we have seen! It will be so wonderful for you
I looked at some of those options as we are talking about driving around Norway next year. They scared me!! I am not a brave driver! But the breathtaking scenery may just make a convert out of me.
Nancy, ultimately it’s all doable, you just have to suck it up, hit the gas and hang on! 🙂
I am saving all of your Norway posts as we are definitely renting an RV and doing this if Norway ever lets Americans in again!
I hope it won’t be too long, there is so much to see and for the most part, people are so welcoming! We have been so fortunate to be able to travel during the pandemic.
I had the same thought as Dolores. Lampshades??
Yeah, it was a street market where you could find just about everything.
Very nice. Personally, I love driving roads like that!
The same tri was on our original schedule for this past summer, but we now have it planned for next year.
Flying back to Germany tomorrow, hope to bump into you along the way.
Oh, yay! Have a fab trip tomorrow and welcome back to the EU! I hope we get to meet up in… oh, who knows. Somewhere! 🙂
I drove from Oslo to Bergen in 1978. All I remember was miles and miles and miles of two lanes (one in each direction) with WALLS of snow on either side. It was like driving through a tunnel without a roof. Absolutely nothing to look at FOREVER!!! Did I mention that it was in late May and there were very few cars on the road? It was super eerie.
Oh my, I can’t imagine! That was a heck of a good long drive, though, and if you had walls of snow then you missed all the scenery! Like the rest of Norway, you cannot get away from the beautiful scenery! Still, what a trip that must have been!
Really lovely photos! I especially loved the one with the trees reflected in the water. We drove around the fjords in Norway a few years ago and it was magical. We visited a beautiful inn called Fjordstove hotel in a town most famous for having been the birthplace of Walter Mondale’s parents ( or grandparents). I think the town was called Fjaerland. We loved it so much that we plan to return for a milestone anniversary.
Also, we had many laughs over all of the different forms that fish takes in Norway. Fisk! Fisk! Fish in tubes and cakes and patties… I love it and my husband can’t stand it. We joked about getting tossed in jail for speeding (very strict speeding laws, as I’m sure you’re aware) and how I’d have to go serve our jail sentence because of the inevitable “ jail fisk”!
Thanks so much for sharing your adventures!
Thanks, Monica, and thanks for taking time to comment! I love those reflection photos, too. There are so many beautiful shots to choose from, it’s difficult to pick. Yes, I was constantly on the lookout for those traffic cameras. I will not be surprised if a ticket shows up for us in France. Damn it. 🙂 We also saw all the varieties of fish! When we would stop for lunch, there was always a Norwegian family enjoying a picnic, with tubes of that fisk stuff on their table. I wouldn’t even try it. Steven bought some kind of squirty bacon stuff. 🙂 I hope you make it back to Norway for your special anniversary, it’s still beautiful there!
The views in Norway are absolutely stunning! Good job on that mountain pass road. I bet the pucker factor kicked in a few times. 🤣 Safe travels!
There were hills on this road that we couldn’t see over until we topped them, that’s like driving on a rollercoaster! It’s probably not the worst we’ve done, but it was the longest. 🙂
I dunno, that long tunnel with the roundabout is almost as terrifying to me as those crazy precipitous mountain roads. It’s all spectacular, that’s for sure! It’s sobering to see how much the glacier has receded. But still, it’s breathtakingly beautiful.
I often have the feeling you described of imagining myself living in places that we visit. The imagining is fun. But then I get attached and it’s hard to move on, LOL.
I’d move to Norway in a heartbeat if we could afford it. LOL, it is so eye-wateringly expensive it’s hard to imagine how people can actually live there. But, there are plenty of Teslas, BMWs, Mercedes and motorhomes to go around, at least one in nearly every driveway! Crazy, huh?
Love, love following your blog and all the beautiful pictures. Just wondering, what do you do for cell phone coverage? We are visiting Croatia for a month and then 3 months in southern Italy, then back to Croatia for a month. Thanks.
Melissa, we use a company called FREE Mobile from France. We use their SIM cards. We pay 20 euros for 25 gbs, and we have several cards. While we are in France, one card is basically unlimited. We even used these cards when visiting the U.S. Enjoy your travels!
What wonderful photos you have which really do justice to Norway’s beauty! I am sorry you missed the Flam railway as it is truly an incredible journey, but you are correct that sensory overload can certainly occur. Looking forward to reading about your Pulpit Rock experience.
I know, I really went back and forth over skipping Flam, but in the end, we just didn’t have the energy or the desire. I guess it’s a good thing to save something for next time!
Wow! I’ve had to read your blog 3 times just to take in the beauty of it all. We were translating the prices into Canadian dollars and I think we’ll have to adjust our budget for Norway. It’s on our list, but not for a couple of years. Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you guys 🙂 Cheers, Judi
I think I started this post a couple times and kept getting interrupted which was not okay with all this magical, incredible, eye-popping beauty. I seriously don’t know how you process all this in front of your face! The misty bridge and glacier mountain pics of you are beyond wonderful, certainly should be framed (but at this point you could likely wallpaper a small home with all the frameables). That reflection shot on your drive south is probably my favorite in what is such a huge collection of great. I had to laugh at your “challenging drive” – I know exactly what you mean about loving them after they/re over. And I’m always glad when I’ve taken some pics of said roads to show myself what I just did!! Norway continues to blow my mind.