One of our Nordic travel specialists, Alex Minnis, experiences one of the greatest journeys of his life on a recent trip to the Norwegian Fjords...
"If you had asked me at the beginning of the year if I ever had the intention of driving through the stunning fjords and mountains of Norway I would have probably looked at you with a puzzled expression; “It’s never even crossed my mind” would be the reply. Fast forward to a busy Monday morning after a week’s self-drive through Norway and I will happily talk for as long as I can about my incredible experience.
Leaving from Flam and guided by my co-drivers and our GPS I embarked on a journey that never ceased to leave my jaw dropped and the spontaneous decisions to pull over for photo stops. Of course the first issue to overcome was remembering to drive on the right side of the road and the reverse way round the roundabouts which of all the things I was most concerned about came naturally.
The sun was beating down on us and the sky was blue for the entirety of our journey as we weaved through long dark mountain tunnels, negotiated boarding 3 car ferries to the eventual ascension of mountains and then the inevitable hairpin bends guiding us down the mountains (eyes glued to the road in front where the rest of the gang took an abundance of photos).
We stopped by two spots where we were able to walk up to see where the glacier had rolled down the mountain to form the glacial lakes. One particular thing to take note when embarking on such a stunning journey is that Norway isn’t particularly aware of just how beautiful some of its scenery is – always keep your co-driver to keep an eye out for spots to pull over into to take some photography as there are very rarely any signs to guide you.
A well deserved Fjord cruise broke up the journey in the middle to sit back and fuel up on lunch and cups of coffee and by this time I had managed to become a specialist in navigating the large VW Passat we had hired onto the seemingly small vessels (I was unaware the handbrake could be a tiny button the left hand side of the wheel!!).
A moment I will always carry with me was upon discovering after a good forty minutes of winding up narrow roads, avoiding sheep and goats and through long tunnels that we were literally on top of a mountain with the sun reflecting off an enormous glacial lagoon. The sense of achievement of tackling such an epic drive became apparent in that moment and that was before the long and winding road down to our Hotel for that evening and a well deserved après-drive drink to help calm down the adrenaline I had pumping through me after such an action packed drive.
To people who enjoy driving this was Jeremy Clarkson heaven - to those that enjoy a scenery awash with a dreamscape of waterfalls, glaciers, walls of green trees and fjords dominating the land this was simply breathtaking.
The following day taking over as co-driver and handing over the driving responsibility to my colleague the famous Trollingstein road was tackled – admittedly I was relieved to be the one taking photos and looking out for any cars on the sharp bends as I gripped tightly onto the car handle in absolute awe.
THIS is what you come to Norway for and once completed it will stay with you forever especially when having to tackle a busy M25 on a Monday morning. There is nothing more wonderful than looking up to the mountain as you park your car at your hotel for the evening and saying: “I’ve just driven through all of that”..."
If you would like your own inspiring Norway adventure this summer, travel on the Norway Odyssey self-drive >>
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