Going to Norway (& back) - 2018. Looking for tips.

[Amarillo]

Drive - up through Sweden and down through Norway. Way more enjoyable. But then that's me. I enjoy driving.

Agree. You have 10 weeks(?) for this trip. If you don't go north through Sweden and south through Norway, go north through Norway and south through Sweden.

We spent 10/11 weeks driving north through Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, then south through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Apart from Finland, we never felt rushed.


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[Jabberwocky]

Maybe I'm not being ambitious enough, that said if it were just me.......Anyway I do have to factor in some days where we don't travel. And we have a need to be in Denmark w/e of 8th Sept. So I think we will have a very leisurely time in Norway however far north we will get.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Any issues about availability of 907 Camping Gaz?

 

[briwy]

Yes, cant get them Rik but if you are using campsites then they all have kitchens which you can use for free.
We took two spares for five week trip but ended up only using one, 85% wild camping.

 

[Hotel California]

Agree with Brian , on the campsites in Norway and Denmark we been , we used the sites facilities/kitchen to cook ,
Make sure your 907 is full before departure and have a backup 904 or even just a 901 . You will find Campingaz but probally in less shops than in France and the UK .

 

[bvddobb]

Indeed, I just costed Trondheim to Tromso as you may have seen!! That said I will confer with the boss. More interesting than flying return but also much more expensive - may have to give Tromso a miss as I suspect it will turn out to be a real budget buster.

We have always heard that taking your van on Hurtigruten North to South is a lot less expensive than taking it South to North... Fewer people seem to drive up North and take the boat back than the other way around...

 

[bvddobb]

Agree with Brian , on the campsites in Norway and Denmark we been , we used the sites facilities/kitchen to cook ,
Make sure your 907 is full before departure and have a backup 904 or even just a 901 . You will find Campingaz but probally in less shops than in France and the UK .

We doubt you will find any Campingaz at all... There is no use for butane in Scandinavia, generally speaking, because it stops evaporating around 4 degrees Celsius.
An alternative is to get yourself one of those refillable propane bottles the size of the 907. You can have it refilled in many places in Scandinavia. We have one of those, and it works like a charm.

 

[bvddobb]

Here is our top tip for you:

More and more one finds tunnels in Norway, to evade having to take a mountain pass or to evade a long and narrow winding road along a fjord coast.
But the beautiful thing is: in many cases the old road still exists, sometimes not so well maintained anymore, but can still be driven! They are quite often the old gravel roads with stones along the ridge. So, whenever you are nearing a tunnel, slow down and see if shortly before the entrance you can find the beginning of the old road, and venture there. You may find the most beautiful and quite drives you have ever dreamt of...

Here is an example. You see the main tunnel road in the center, and the old mountain road climbing up over the pass on the left:

Or here, an old road along the fjord coast, now abandoned because of a tunnel:

 

[Jabberwocky]

We have always heard that taking your van on Hurtigruten North to South is a lot less expensive than taking it South to North... Fewer people seem to drive up North and take the boat back than the other way around...

Sounds like a great tip. Thanks, will check it out.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Yes, cant get them Rik but if you are using campsites then they all have kitchens which you can use for free.
We took two spares for five week trip but ended up only using one, 85% wild camping.

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. Will take note.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Agree with Brian , on the campsites in Norway and Denmark we been , we used the sites facilities/kitchen to cook ,
Make sure your 907 is full before departure and have a backup 904 or even just a 901 . You will find Campingaz but probably in less shops than in France and the UK .

Thanks. Hadn't thought about the options of 904/901. Currently I have two semi used 907's (one from many years ago camping in my twenties!). Need to manage their use before renewing and setting off.

 

[Jabberwocky]

We doubt you will find any Campingaz at all... There is no use for butane in Scandinavia, generally speaking, because it stops evaporating around 4 degrees Celsius.
An alternative is to get yourself one of those refillable propane bottles the size of the 907. You can have it refilled in many places in Scandinavia. We have one of those, and it works like a charm.

Is propane's pressure and burning temperature still OK for Cali cooker? I assume yes but thought I would just check.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Here is our top tip for you:

More and more one finds tunnels in Norway, to evade having to take a mountain pass or to evade a long and narrow winding road along a fjord coast.
But the beautiful thing is: in many cases the old road still exists, sometimes not so well maintained anymore, but can still be driven! They are quite often the old gravel roads with stones along the ridge. So, whenever you are nearing a tunnel, slow down and see if shortly before the entrance you can find the beginning of the old road, and venture there. You may find the most beautiful and quite drives you have ever dreamt of...

Here is an example. You see the main tunnel road in the center, and the old mountain road climbing up over the pass on the left:

Or here, an old road along the fjord coast, now abandoned because of a tunnel:

Oh my word! We will never get home!!! Great idea and I'm guessing great for wild camping too. At the moment we plan to travel north from Kristiansand and on to Stavanger, Bergen, Alesund and Trondheim taking in a mixture of tourist attractions, unspoilt openness also with a mixture of the use of campsites and wild camping. Any particularly beautiful areas that just should not be missed?

 

[T6 CFO]

I believe that in Norway you will get billed for the tolls automatically by number recognition. In order to not get incorrectly classified I have registered for an account here:- https://www.epcplc.com

Once registered you can add your vehicle. It doesn’t go to to make etc, just Volkswagen.

I then completed the environmental differentiation selecting light vehicle <3500kg and uploaded my V5 as proof which was accepted.

Not sure if I need to do likewise for Sweden and Finland.

Evidently they track you down anyway and this just speeds up the process and categories your vehicle correctly.


Mike

 

[Amarillo]

Thanks. Hadn't thought about the options of 904/901. Currently I have two semi used 907's (one from many years ago camping in my twenties!). Need to manage their use before renewing and setting off.

Does the 909 fit in the Ocean's gas holder?

It holds 5.7 Kg of butane so should last as long as two 907s.

Unfortunately Campingaz refills are not available in a great many European countries: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Greece, Vatican City, Bulgaria and Romania. I'm uncertain about several others.

We are now carrying 2 x 907 and 1 x 909 plus an 800 watt single electric plate as backup if we run out of gas. However, we do expect the quantity of gas we are carrying to last our family of four 13 weeks in the non Campingaz refill Balkans.



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[Amarillo]

I believe that in Norway you will get billed for the tolls automatically by number recognition. In order to not get incorrectly classified I have registered for an account here:- https://www.epcplc.com

Once registered you can add your vehicle. It doesn’t go to to make etc, just Volkswagen.

I then completed the environmental differentiation selecting light vehicle <3500kg and uploaded my V5 as proof which was accepted.

Not sure if I need to do likewise for Sweden and Finland.

Evidently they track you down anyway and this just speeds up the process and categories your vehicle correctly.

I didn't register for tolls. Norway tracked me down and correctly billed me. Sweden didn't bill me for the Gothenburg toll. Bergen didn't bill me for a parking charge.

I don't think that registering is necessary.



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[Richard]

We just turned up on spec for the Hirtshal ferry about 5 years ago in mid July, maybe you can save money by pre booking, but I can't remember the cost so it must have been reasonable. Alcohol is very expensive so take your own supplies. Take a lot of mozzy repellent! We travelled up Norway then across to Stockholm, and back via Copehagen. We had planned to get the ferry to Finland from Stockholm but problems at home in the UK made us cut our trip short. The Norwegians and Swedish don't see many Brits and they made us very welcome. We were lucky and had superb weather. Have a good trip!

 

[Jabberwocky]

I believe that in Norway you will get billed for the tolls automatically by number recognition. In order to not get incorrectly classified I have registered for an account here:- https://www.epcplc.com

Once registered you can add your vehicle. It doesn’t go to to make etc, just Volkswagen.

I then completed the environmental differentiation selecting light vehicle <3500kg and uploaded my V5 as proof which was accepted.

Not sure if I need to do likewise for Sweden and Finland.

Evidently they track you down anyway and this just speeds up the process and categories your vehicle correctly.


Mike

Thanks Mike. All done and ready!

 

[Jabberwocky]

Does the 909 fit in the Ocean's gas holder?

It holds 5.7 Kg of butane so should last as long as two 907s.

Unfortunately Campingaz refills are not available in a great many European countries: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Greece, Vatican City, Bulgaria and Romania. I'm uncertain about several others.

We are now carrying 2 x 907 and 1 x 909 plus an 800 watt single electric plate as backup if we run out of gas. However, we do expect the quantity of gas we are carrying to last our family of four 13 weeks in the non Campingaz refill Balkans.



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Thanks for intelligence Tom. As we are still planning our route I looked on Camping Gaz's web site. They now only offer 907 - 2.75kg's, 904 - 1.9kg's and 901 - 0.4kg's as refillable bottles. Also they claim to have Stockists in Estonia (5), Latvia (8) and Lithuania (9). Hmmm.....I think I will take your practical knowledge. The 909 holds 5kg's and is really designed for BBQ's. Certainly too tall to fit in an Ocean gas bottle holder. I think its going to be two full 907's for us. We will see.

 

[Amarillo]

Thanks for intelligence Tom. As we are still planning our route I looked on Camping Gaz's web site. They now only offer 907 - 2.75kg's, 904 - 1.9kg's and 901 - 0.4kg's as refillable bottles. Also they claim to have Stockists in Estonia (5), Latvia (8) and Lithuania (9). Hmmm.....I think I will take your practical knowledge. The 909 holds 5kg's and is really designed for BBQ's. Certainly too tall to fit in an Ocean gas bottle holder. I think its going to be two full 907's for us. We will see.

BEWARE

There are dozens of Campingaz stockists around Europe. Only a tiny subset of those stockists offer gas refills - and as far as I know, none of the Campingaz stockists in the Baltic states offer refills.


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[Jabberwocky]

Cheers Tom, I will be very aware in spite of CG's web site - see below. The more I think about this the more two full 907's will be on board!

 

[Amarillo]

Cheers Tom, I will be very aware in spite of CG's web site - see below. The more I think about this the more two full 907's will be on board!
View attachment 31248

OK - looks like I was wrong.


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[Jabberwocky]

OK - looks like I was wrong.

Not necessarily. It occurred to me that these places may sell full bottles but may not have a refill service.

 

[Hotel California]

Rik , if you need a spare bottle 907 or 904 i can bring you one to meet if intrested . Only have one 901 and keeping it for myself....

 

[Jabberwocky]

Rik , if you need a spare bottle 907 or 904 i can bring you one to meet if intrested . Only have one 901 and keeping it for myself....

Wim, great offer, very kind but I think we will manage after some digging around at home. I have found a second 907 so now have two. My issue now is to manage their use so I can have them both full for when we leave. Both are approximately half full. Thanks again. Very generous.