Norway on a Budget

Italy - Bergen

We set off from Bergamo and arrive in Oslo-Sandefjord where we have our flight to Bergen after just two hours. We arrive in Bergen around 4:30 pm: the clouds are there, the fresh air too, but strangely it's not raining. The shuttle bus (Flybussen €24 for two) drops us off in the fish market square, in front of the tourist office. Eager to drop our suitcases at the hotel, we head toward the "Skandia Sommerpensjonat", truly very close to the port. It's a nice place, very simple but comfortable, which we found on the internet. The price for a double room is 600nok, breakfast excluded. Once we've left our luggage, we go back to the information office to change our first Euros into Nok (Norwegian kroner). It's already 6 pm, but we still see a few stalls with fresh fish on display. We approach curiously, taste whale meat and buy a small sandwich with smoked salmon for 20nok.

We soon realized that the main tourist attractions of the city are all in the area surrounding the port: the fish market, Bryggen, the cathedral... After taking a few photographs, we start our tour by strolling through the Bryggen district, stopping here and there in little shops or curious stores. Venturing in, you discover lots of pedestrian alleys and houses strictly made of wood that host shops of various kinds. Back toward the port we learn that tonight, right here in Bergen, Anastacia is singing. Indeed, a lot of people are heading toward a park and we ask for information. At 8 pm we go back to the hotel to warm up a bit. Outside it's not very cold, but there's a breeze and we're afraid of catching a cold. Around us we meet people in t-shirts or with gloves, scarves and windbreakers.

This confuses us a little, we can't figure out whether it's really cold or whether in August there's worse. The thermometer reads 11°C. Now we rest a bit and eat something, later maybe we'll go out for another walk. There's no more midnight sun, but the days are still long. This first day of travel has been "long": alarm at 5 am, journey to Bergamo, to Oslo-Sandefjord, Wideroe domestic flight to Bergen, lots of words and lots of steps... At 9:30 pm tiredness starts to set in. Luca seems to be already sleeping, we're weighing whether to go out for another hour or slip into bed. Midnight...we went out for a nighttime stroll. The temperature is practically the same as this afternoon. We decided to follow the music, we arrived at the park where Anastacia started singing.

It was nice even though we saw her from afar and only on a screen, it was enough anyway to hear "I'm outta love" and other great hits of hers. Back at the hotel we ask the guy at the reception for tomorrow's forecast: clear-changeable. We're satisfied anyway with the day we've had and that it didn't rain. Now our eyes are closing, good night...

Kinsarvik – Trondheim (250km + Kinsarvik-Kvanndal 127nok)

Wake-up at 6 to catch the 6:35 ferry from Kinsarvik to Kvanndal, we're the first ones. It starts raining and on the fjord there's only fog: we hope the day picks up. So sleepy and so cold! We take road 7 along the Hardangerfjord to Bergen. Without entering the city we head toward road 555 (direction Sotra) which winds and connects a series of small islands for about 60 km. Looking at it on the map it seemed like an interesting route and so it was. There are still a few clouds in the sky, little by little it's clearing. In the end the day will turn out very beautiful, apart from the morning rain. We even manage to see Bergen with sun. Around 1 pm we return the car to the Europcar in Bergen and with our suitcases we head back toward the center. Right away we ask at the tourist office if they have a luggage storage service: it costs 20nok per piece and we accept.

After having considerably lightened our load we complete our tour of Bergen: we redo the tour of Bryggen, but with all the little shops open, we go back to the fish market where we buy two sandwiches with raw smoked salmon that is really fabulous. On top of that we manage to see the cathedral and take a tour, more calmly, of the center. Tonight we have the Bergen-Trondheim flight at 9:20 pm and with plenty of time to spare we take the Flybussen that goes to the airport (70nok each). During the flight, from above the clouds, we manage to have the sunset around 10 pm. And the light continues... In Trondheim it's a bit cold and a bit of rain welcomes us. We take the usual Flybussen that takes us directly to the hotel. We booked for two nights at the Elgeseter Hotel at the price of 650nok each; we're really very tired and fall asleep right away.

Skibotn – Narvik – Hamaroy (km 550 + Skarberget-Bognes 103nok)

... The cabin where we slept last night wasn't exactly the best as far as cleanliness goes, but the price suited us and the fact that it was free. We pay for the overnight stay, set off again southwards and reach Narvik. The city is nothing special, there's an important commercial port dominated by the famous railway that transports iron, and other extracted products, from nearby Sweden. We were interested in finding a bank to make, hopefully, the last exchange. In the central square overlooking the port there's the usual fish market, shops and various little stalls, it seems a strange little haze hangs over the city, but the weather is clear. Probably all the iron that arrives and is processed creates a sort of dust that, we assume, isn't very good for the people who live there. But all this brings work and money, in fact Narvik gives exactly the impression of being a rich city.

We on the other hand are getting poorer and poorer, doing so many km we're always looking for a "cheap" petrol station. You find them at 9.90nok/l, but also at 12.90nok/l as in the Lofoten. On average we try to stay below 11.00nok/l to fill up. Yesterday a tour-de-force and today again, tomorrow we'll take it easier. After Narvik along the E6 we turned onto the road leading to Skutvik with the aim of sleeping in the area to be comfortable tomorrow morning to take the ferry to the Lofoten islands. We found good accommodation at the Sommersel Feriesenter in Hamaroy in a very nice and spacious little house at the price of 360nok per night. We ask if they can cook our usual two frozen pizzas since there's no oven, they accept and we go to buy them at the SPAR on the road to Skutvik. After satisfying our hunger and thanking the lady at reception we go back to the room to plan tomorrow.

We hope it was worth changing the itinerary and returning for another two days to the Lofoten, we liked them very much despite the rain and we hope for sun for tomorrow and the day after. This afternoon we had a moment of anger at the high cost of living here in Norway. We thought we'd spend a bit less overall, bearing in mind that we've always travelled low-cost and booked the hotels/B&Bs/campsites directly by dealing with the owners and without tour operator intermediaries. In essence the expenses we're making concern food (supermarket or fast-food), petrol, ferries, overnight stays and visits. Any transgression is absolutely forbidden if you want to stay within a certain budget...so no souvenirs. Tonight we realised that, by sleeping in wooden cabins at campsites, you can save considerably.

In two nights at a campsite, comparing with what we would have spent in a modest little hotel or B&B, we've already managed to save €91 for two. Obviously for the next two nights in the Lofoten too we'll do the same and so we'll be able to pay for the ferry crossing. Not that we'd spent excessively on the previous nights, but probably if we'd only looked for campsite accommodation we could have afforded a few restaurant dinners. Here's the advice: stay away from hotel chains and hotels of any kind, if you travel in summer it's possible to find cheaper accommodation where you can even cook; low-cost flights, sleeping at campsites and driving a rental car is, perhaps, a good way to "tour Norway spending little".

The problem, in our opinion, is that here they ask for €70-80, but even much more, and they give you a room that, honestly, isn't worth it in terms of space, cleanliness, furnishings and services. The quality/price ratio is different, here you find truly spartan accommodation (like last night in Skibotn) at €45 or rooms at €80 in not-very-nice B&Bs (see the nights in Tromso). We don't expect to sleep at rock-bottom prices in the Grand Hotel, but simply rooms that are truly worth the money they ask. We got the impression that here they make you pay, at a high price, even the fresh air you breathe. Having read a lot about Norway before leaving we were ready for prices higher than in Italy, but coming here in person and being tourists we understood the warnings of the travel accounts. We asked ourselves: how much salary does a Norwegian earn? In the coming days we'll try to find out.

Bergen – Loen (350km + Ytre Oppedal-Lavik 108nok)

This morning alarm at 7, breakfast and then straight to the Europcar office in Bergen. We booked a car online for 4 days, they give us a VW Polo 1.2. We go back to the hotel to load the luggage and set off. Today's itinerary calls for taking the E39 road from Bergen to Byrkjelo and then reaching Loen on the Nordfjord. The road isn't bad, we pass through very quiet places, small harbors in the fjord inlet, wooden houses right on the water, pastures with cows, sheep or goats in very green meadows. Every now and then we stop for a photograph, but what really struck us was a waterfall (Haugeflossen). We saw it from the road and drove closer, we even managed to get right under the jet of water. Then we took the E39 again, ferried across the Sognefjord and arrived on the Nordfjord.

Every curve a different and breathtaking panorama: there's snow up high, complete with glaciers, and the sea just a little further down. The most recurring colors are green and blue in their countless shades. The streams coming down from the glaciers look transparent, the water is so clean; when they reach the fjord the light blue turns into an intense, vivid blue in which the clear sky is reflected. Along the road we reflect on the fact that it feels like being in the mountains (snow, glaciers, winding roads, coniferous woods...), but in reality we are at sea level. For the night we chose the Loenvatn Feriesenter in Loen: a campground that has cabins that suit us perfectly. The price is 450nok per night for a little house with a bedroom, bathroom with shower, well-equipped kitchen, living room with TV, balcony overlooking the glacier.

Right now we're writing and we see snow-capped mountains, the blue lake, which becomes a stream, woods and waterfalls. As a place, not bad at all, we'll stay here only for one night. Before dinner we even went as far as the base of the Jostedal glacier, by car. To go further you need to be accompanied by a guide. Someone might ask: but don't you eat? We answer that, trying to stay within budget, we buy something in the supermarkets we find along the road, we confirm the high prices, but somehow we fill our stomachs. One thing that struck us was finding strawberries, cherries and raspberries at the market twice the size of Italian ones, they look truly inviting, in the coming days we'll try them. Since we have the oven, we decide to buy two frozen pizzas in a supermarket in Stryn. They cost us 40nok each, not even that much. Now they're in the oven, after dinner we'll give our verdict.

It's 8:30 pm and the sun is still up, we're in the middle of the mountains, but there are still lit areas. The day has been warmer, in the morning the thermometer read 10°C, but in the afternoon it got up to 20°C in the sun. The sky has always been clear with a few harmless little white clouds, the sun warmed us after the damp cold of Bergen, the proximity of snow and glaciers kept the air always a bit cool. All in all, as far as the weather goes, we're not complaining: no rain in Bergen and warm sun today. We hope it continues like this. We're going to sleep and outside there's still a lot of light, it seems impossible. The pizza wasn't bad for being in Norway, it had a slightly sweetish taste and a hint of spiciness. We'll see whether to repeat the experience. We take a look at tomorrow's itinerary, it should be a lighter day.

Loen – Dragsvik (400km + Lote-Anda 69nok + Hella-Dragsvik 63nok)

This morning as soon as we woke up the lake of Loen and the glacier above it were shrouded in fog. Little by little it lifted and we set off toward the Nordfjord. We arrived at Nordfjordeid by taking road 15, then we ferried from Lote to Anda to get back on the E39. At Skien we turned off toward Sogndal and it was a good idea since we got really very close to the enormous Jostedal glacier. The only downside was having to pay a full 160nok in tolls to go through two tunnels, but it was worth it. We found ourselves right beneath the glacier and managed to take some beautiful photographs. From Sogndal we drove along the Sognefjord to Hella where we ferried to Dragsvik. Our hotel is easily reachable from the ferry dock. We dropped off our bags to take a drive to Vadheim along the Sognefjord, stopping now and then for a photo.

In particular at Balestrand we went into the "Sognefjord Aquarium" (60nok each): nothing special, but the ticket included a rowboat ride on the fjord. Luca offered to row, just to take me out into the middle of the fjord, and I gladly accepted. After a hot shower, we decided to eat a dish with hamburger and mushrooms, salad and fries for 95nok, it wasn't bad. The Dragsvik Fjordhotell is really nice, we got a special price, 590nok for a double room with bathroom, breakfast included. Our "fjord view" room is really not bad. The temperature rose to 20°C in the sun, still no trace of rain, better that way. Along the road that runs beside the fjord we saw lots of raspberry plantations. Here they grow very big and very good, the climate may seem inhospitable because of the cold, but evidently it's ideal. We stopped to taste and photograph.

Tomorrow the journey continues toward the Hardangerfjord. We're going to sleep, it's 11 pm, outside there's still light.

Dragsvik – Kinsarvik (300km + Dragsvik-vangsnes 93nok + Bruravik-Brimnes 69nok)

For being Ferragosto the day starts with a thick fog on the Sognefjord. Breakfast at the hotel in a room with a fjord view and all. The first ferry of the day is from Dragsvik to Vangsnes where we take road 13 which brings us to 1000m of altitude above the fjord. The road is very beautiful, typically mountainous, the temperature drops to 8°C and it's very cold. We even find snow! We literally climbed with the car, but it was worth it. Then when the road started to descend we passed through clouds and fog until on the left there was a little shop "Spekemat" selling reindeer fur and antlers, next to it there was even a reindeer ready to be photographed by tourists. We go down toward Vinje and then toward Voss along a splendid valley with waterfalls, streams, green meadows and black rocks. Arriving in Voss we look for a bank to exchange more money.

Voss is a nice little town, there's an old stone church and an excellent panorama. We couldn't figure out whether Ferragosto is a holiday for Norwegians or not, the shops and banks are open anyway and that's enough for us. We continue along our itinerary to Bruravik where we board another ferry to Brimnes. The guidebook said the Eidfjord area was very beautiful, we head off in search of some nice waterfall. We climb again and reach the top of a mountain, near the Harangervidda plateau, where we can photograph a large waterfall. The roar of the water is remarkable, the air it displaces even prevents other smaller waterfalls from falling into the stream. Since it started raining we head toward Kinsarvik, on the Hardangerfjord, where we booked for the night.

Tonight we're sleeping in a little house at the Kinsarvik camping, they give us a "cabin" with kitchen, four beds, without bathroom and shower, for 550nok. Just the time to leave our bags and rest a little and we set off again toward Odda along the Sorfjord. The road is beautiful and scenic, if it weren't for the big clouds that have been accompanying us since this morning... Luca has renamed it the "cherry road", in fact at every lay-by the locals sell cherries on a little stand and put the money in a box. We feel like trying: we take one for 35nok and taste...they're really good and cost less than in Italy. Everywhere there are cherry and apple trees and plantations, it seems impossible that such good fruit grows at this latitude and with this kind of climate.

It's August and today we still haven't seen the sun that we complain so much about during the long sultry days of the Italian summer, here instead it's always welcome. The thing that struck us most was seeing that people can freely take the cherries and leave the money without anyone checking that everything goes properly. Here there is maximum mutual trust. Who knows what would happen to the money and the fruit in Italy? Meanwhile we enjoy the cherries we bought. Tonight, having finished the mini-tour of the great fjords, we can draw some conclusions: - Nordfjord and Innvikfjord are very beautiful, green and with varied landscapes; - Sognefjord and Hardangerfjord turned out to be less beautiful than expected, given their large size there are many km to cover and it can become a bit boring.

For the record, we report the experience of two Italian tourists we met in Dragsvik: they really liked the Geirangerfjord, narrower and with breathtaking panoramas. Tonight we had a frugal dinner in our little house and took stock of the money spent. At the moment we're doing fine, but with the prices here it's better not to go off budget on gas, ferries and food. Later we'll reassess the situation, but we don't want to ruin the trip. We take another look at tomorrow's itinerary and go to bed.

Trondheim

This morning wake-up at 9 to recover some of our tiredness, excellent and abundant breakfast at the hotel, we ask the reception for the best route to visit the city and set off. It's cold, but it's not raining. We walk to the old bridge over the Nidelva river where you can photograph the Brygge district (typical wooden houses on stilts). We continue to the Gothic-style cathedral and head toward the main square from which the most important streets depart. Here there are many people, lots of young people (maybe it's a university city), but fewer tourists compared to Bergen. We take a walk to the port where we see some fishing boats; to the side, on the left, is the fish market. Here it's not made of stalls in the square, but is a real shop that, if you want, will even cook the fish you buy. The hotel recommended we take the boat trip to the island of Munkholmen to see an old monastery.

It costs 50nok and there's a boat that leaves every hour from the port of Trondheim. We skipped it partly because of the cold and the wind, partly because it didn't particularly interest us. We walk some more through the streets of the center, going into a shop now and then, to take a look and warm up a bit. We go back to the hotel to rest and pay for the room, we eat something for dinner and set off again for the evening stroll. The city empties out, the bars and shops close very early, the restaurants, pubs and fast-food places stay open. Right now we're writing right at a table in McDonald's, it's a great place not so much to eat as to be able to sit for a while, in the warm and with access to the facilities. At the moment it's raining, it's 9 pm and obviously there's still a lot of light. The main square is filling up with young people of all ages ready for the evening.

The city at night is very quiet, we believe you can walk around in complete safety. In a little while we'll head to our hotel, tomorrow morning the alarm is at 6:30 because we have to take the Flybussen, at 9:35 we have the flight to Bodo.

Trondheim – Henningsvaer (270km + Skutvik-Svolvaer 300nok)

Wake-up 6:30, quick breakfast at the hotel and straight to the airport using the Flybussen that stops right near us. At 9:35 we leave, already at the airport we discover that our flight will make two stops, Mosjøen and Mo i Rana, before arriving in Bodo. We practically lose the morning, three takeoffs and three landings in 2h30'...the price at least was reasonable. We cross the Arctic Circle without noticing and arrive in Bodo around 12:00. At 1:00 pm we take the usual bus to the center, plus another to get to the Europcar office. It's a bit outside the city, but it's not hard to find. They give us the car, a brand-new Honda Accord SW, nice and spacious. We set off right away in the direction of Fauske on road 80 until we meet the famous E6 highway and head north. We drive for about 3 hours and arrive in Skutvik where we take the ferry to Svolvaer.

The area is very beautiful, all around us there are woods and very green meadows, waterfalls and streams, lakes and fjords. Everything is dominated by snow and glaciers, by mountains of a particular shape and the rock is black in color. There are a few tunnels and every time you finish one a scenario appears that is always new and different from the previous one. The day is cloudy, but every now and then the sun peeks through and creates truly wonderful plays of light. At times the landscape makes you think of the movie "The Lord of the Rings", says Luca. It's 7:00 pm and the ferry departs, it will take about two hours. On arrival in Svolvaer there's pouring rain and the sky is gray. We head right away to Henningsvaer where we booked a room in a fish processing factory that, in summer, rents the fishermen's rooms to tourists.

Here in the Lofoten it's very easy to find rooms or little houses-rorbu-sohjus for rent, in summer and when it's not fishing season, tourism is the main activity. It keeps raining, but we easily find our Sohjus H. Giaever. The room costs us 600nok per night, with bathroom but without breakfast. The environment is clean and homely, the "captain" welcomes us, a very kind guy with the look of a true seaman. He hands us the room keys and we go to sleep.

Lofoten Islands (km 340)

We woke up at 8:30, had breakfast 50m from our Sohjus at the Finnholmen Brygge, consisting of smoked salmon and every "blessing of God" for 70nok per person. It's raining and it won't stop for the whole day, it will simply vary in intensity: drizzle or downpour, but the result doesn't change. From Henningsvaer to A there are about 100km and we drive them all, stopping in the bays where we're interested in taking some photographs. In particular, on the "captain's" advice, we saw Eggum, Unstad, Reine, Hamnoy, Sabrisby, Kabelvag and Svolvaer. The Lofoten, honestly, are wonderful islands but with the sky always overcast, with "Po Valley"-style fog, with incessant rain and with wind that blows you away, they become an endless sadness. We decided to stay a full day and two nights to be able to see them all properly and the rain ruined the day.

Obviously no interplay of light and reflections on the sea, the vivid colours of the postcards nothing but a mirage and little desire on our part to get out of the car to take photographs. Despite everything we stuck to our schedule and got back to the room around 19:00 dry. At the place next to ours we know they cook whale meat and we decide to try it. They prepare a dish with 180g of grilled whale, served with a cheese cream and wild berries, a baked potato, with a very good little sauce, and some vegetables. All for 175nok, truly delicious. Out of greed we also get dessert: creme caramel pudding with whipped cream and melon, warm crepe with wild raspberries and vanilla ice cream (70nok). Now, after this feast, which we're no longer used to, we've become really sleepy.

We look at tomorrow's itinerary, which includes the Vesteralen islands and the night in Harstad, and to our regret we see a splendid sunset. Tonight it stopped raining and the sky is a colour never seen before...what a shame about all that rain! Our only problem is that the "captain" hasn't been seen since this morning and at reception a note says he's away for the weekend. We still have to pay for the two nights and tomorrow we want to leave early...we'll see what to do.

Henningsvaer – Harstad (km 400 + Fiskebol-Melbu 96nok + Flesnes-Revsnes 87nok)

We leave at 8:30 from Henningsvaer heading for the E10-Fiskebol to take the ferry to Melbu. We arrive directly in the Vesteralen, they say they are the "little sisters" of the Lofoten, simply less known and touristy. Well, it breaks our heart to leave the Lofoten given the decent day that seems to be in the offing. Anyway we drive along the E10 as far as Sortland where we turn onto the 82 towards Andenes, this is called "the whale route". Our main goal is precisely to go all the way to the top of the island of Andoya to do the whale safari. We arrive in Andenes around 13:00 and head straight for the imposing red lighthouse that was once used to spot whales and even fish them at night. Then we look for the information office with the ticket office attached to book the boat.

The surprise is that one has just left and the next would be at 17:00, but before that the guided visit to the Polar Museum was included: all for 750nok per person. Price aside, these times would have thrown off our transfer times to Harstad for the evening. We were really sorry to give up the whale safari, but it would have ended around 22:00 (who knows how cold it would be out on the open sea on that boat...) and the ferry to Harstad wouldn't have waited for us. Reluctantly and a bit angry at the inconvenience of the times, we set off again passing through the fishing villages of Bleik and Stave. We get back on the E10 and turn onto road 83, just a short ferry and about 35km separated us from our hotel. Here at the Rainbow Hotel in Harstad we stay for one night at the price of 750nok with breakfast included, it's a nice hotel right in front of the port and our room is sea-view.

We arrive around 19:00, eat a sandwich in the room and go down for a walk. There aren't many people in the city, bars and shops close very early, few tourists and they're a bit chilly. We opt for a cup of hot tea in the bar attached to the hotel. We take the opportunity, the warmth and a little table to lean on, to plan tomorrow's day by analysing the tourist material we have.

Before closing the account of today's day we want to tell you about a strange, but very pleasant, encounter with a fox cub. We were driving towards Harstad when on the edge of the road a graceful specimen of "fox" pops out, it stays still staring at us instead of running away frightened and we stop too. It seems impossible but we spent almost half an hour observing it and taking photographs, it even started eating our biscuits. More than frightened it seemed curious about the two of us, it just needed to let itself be petted! Well, now let's go to sleep.

Harstad – Tromso (km 540)

After breakfast we set off again. We drive along road 83 until it joins the E6 and head north, towards Kirkenes. We decide to stop near Bardu to visit the "Polar Zoo" recommended to us the previous evening. The cost is 150nok per person to be able to see brown bear, lynx, wolf, fox, deer, reindeer, raccoon, goats and other farm animals. In the absence of other things to visit today we decide to take a tour. It's not bad, the animals have plenty of space to move around, you see few of them and there isn't much variety of species. We finish our tour around 13:00 and get back on the E6 as far as Andselv, where we turn onto road 86 towards Finnsnes-Senja Island. This island is really very pretty, we manage to get as far as Gryllefjord where the road ends.

The scenery is truly wonderful, a small town with the port enclosed between mountains plunging into the sea, the colours of the sky and the sea are very intense and the reflections fabulous. This made us understand that, to see the most beautiful and wild places, you need to move quite far away from the main tourist roads. This obviously means a loss of time and money on petrol, but today we believe it was worth it. We get back on the E6 towards Tromso. In about two hours we get there, the E8 main road is very convenient and you travel well. We have booked for two nights at the Ami Hotel at the price of 650nok without breakfast. The location is excellent for the view and for reaching the centre, there's a small room on the ground floor with TV and free Internet, there's also a kitchen available to guests. The room isn't exactly the best, but the price and location suited us.

We take the suitcases to the room and go back downstairs to download-send e-mails and to browse Italian websites to stay in touch with our country. Meanwhile two guys are cooking salmon... We also ask about doing a whale safari, here from Tromso boats depart but the cost is really high: 850nok per person for 5-6 hours of boat. We'd love to, but we have to reckon with our wallet which is getting emptier and emptier. We'll see tomorrow what to do. We're tired, today we did a lot of km and we're going to sleep.

Tromso (km 160)

Our programme today included a visit to the city of Tromso, but in reality we devoted only the morning to it. After a quick tour of the centre we went to visit "Polaria", an aquarium with the presentation of a beautiful video about the Svalbard islands in which you could see all the majesty, the flora and fauna of those lands. We got the urge to go right there, but checking some prices on the internet we changed our minds. Inside "Polaria" there are also six nice seals with long whiskers that every day, when it's feeding time, put on a pretty good little show. We managed to get into "Polaria" for 110nok for two, simply by saying we were students. They don't ask for documents. After a quick tour around the Arctic Cathedral (nothing special), we went to the Artic Voyager office to ask about the whale safari.

A boat would leave in the afternoon at 16:00 from Tromso to go to Sommaroy and then head out to sea in search of whales. We decide to go directly to Sommaroy, also to have a look around the island, and from there we take the boat at 17:15 at the price of 1390nok for two (student discount and shorter trip). The boat went quite far out and away from the coast we managed to spot some whales. It was very cold and a strong wind was blowing, after all it's called the North Sea... On the way back towards the coast we saw, from a distance, a group of seals on a rock. The boat staff then offered a sandwich each and tea or coffee to warm up a bit. In Sommaroy we picked up our car and got back to Tromso around 22:00 after 55km of road. Still a bit chilly and tired we went back to the hotel to take a hot shower.

Before closing the day we want to point out how the Norwegian people, in particular the police, are strict and fiscal in enforcing the rules... Well yes, we got a fine for parking in a no-parking zone in the car park, apparently free, right next to the hotel. We then discovered that in the whole city there are no free car parks until 17:00, but by now we have to pay 300nok. At this point we're ready to receive other fines at home in Italy, maybe speed cameras, because here if you go even just 5km/h over the limit it's a good 500nok fine. We hope we haven't got too many. P.S. We recommend a bakery "Bakeriet" with excellent focaccia right on the square, where there's the statue of the little girl on roller skates with the ice cream.

Tromso – Alta (km 450)

This morning we would have liked to pop into yesterday's bakery, but it opens at 9 and we have a lot of km to do. Tonight we're sleeping in Alta at the Alta River Camping in a spacious double room with bathroom and shower that we booked on the internet at 500nok per night. Alta is our last stop before reaching North Cape, in fact tomorrow we'll be sleeping right on the island of Mageroya. As for the temperature we're amazed at how "warm" or "not very cold" it is. At 18:30 the car showed 19° and today, with the rain, it dropped to a maximum of 14°. Honestly we expected worse and we brought suitable clothing, at the moment the windbreaker has only been needed for the whale safari. Coming back to the km done today, really many, we can't recommend an interesting place to stop. Our goal was to arrive early in Alta, so we travelled determinedly.

After putting our luggage in our little house and paying, we went to the Alta Museum (easily found thanks to the numerous signs, it's right on the sea). We say we're students and pay 140nok for two, they even give us a little guide booklet in Italian. After a short stop at the exhibition next to the ticket office we start the route which is about 3km and can be done in 1h30' stopping at every point. It's very beautiful, surrounded by greenery and with a view of Altafjord; we try to join a group of Italians to listen to their guide, but they're finishing the tour. The rock carvings are really numerous, well preserved despite being in the open air. Having finished the route at the Alta Museum we decide to eat pizza for dinner and, since we have an oven, we go to buy frozen ones at the COOP.

Meanwhile we take the opportunity to fill up with petrol, the price is lower than in other places (10.80nok/l). Before returning to the campsite for dinner, we read in our guide that just 7km further on there's a very important Huskey farm in the area. We decide to go and see and, thanks to the very kind owners, we even manage to enter the enclosure with the dogs. It's time for the evening run and the dogs are let loose and harnessed up to pull the sled. In total there must have been 40 dogs, including two cages with puppies of various sizes, and they were really beautiful. After the owners set off with the dog team at full speed, we stayed a little longer with the puppies. We waited for the owners to thank them for their availability and we arrived at the campsite.

From the window of our little house you can see very well, in the evening at dusk, the fishermen looking for salmon, in fact it overlooks the Altaelva river. The pizzas were good and made us feel closer to Italian cooking. Here people eat lots of sandwiches (hamburgers, hot-dogs), sweet and savoury snacks, sweets and soft drinks. The space dedicated to fruit and vegetables in supermarkets is pitiful. We met two guys from Rimini on the home stretch for North Cape, we compared notes on our respective adventures in Norway up to today. We'll probably meet them tomorrow too...

Alta – Nordkapp – Skibotn (km 800)

We have finally arrived at the Strandbu Camping in Skibotn, the day ends at 00:20 after 800km travelled from Alta to Nordkapp and then down along the E6 to Skibotn. Today's stage was supposed to be Alta-Nordkapp, a visit to the North Cape cliff and the night in Honningsvag at the Hotel Arran. But it didn't go that way... We arrived at the "toll booth" for North Cape around 14:30, after driving through the convenient undersea tunnel that connects Norway to the island of Mageroya where North Cape is located. Around us only fog and a wind that literally blew you away, every now and then it even started raining. The toll collector tells us that North Cape is just 200m further on, but we have to take his word for it because absolutely nothing can be seen. On top of that (bad surprise) he tells us we have to pay 380nok for car and two people, about €45.

We were assailed by a thousand doubts: go, pay and see the same fog or turn the car around and forget about North Cape? We practically took half an hour to decide, in the end we opted for the second solution choosing not to give too much importance to the geographical point of North Cape. We did get there, but because of the awful weather we gave up taking the final step. Meanwhile two Italian guys from the Turin area reached the destination, having come all the way up there by bicycle and, with them, we had a little chat and took the photo under the road sign saying "Nordkapp". We were about to start the descent when two Polish hitchhikers asked us for a lift: we took them as far as Honningsvag and we continued south. We went back through the tunnel, at the modest cost of 186nok per trip, and got back on the E6.

Meanwhile we decided, map in hand, to slightly modify our travel programme for the days we have left. Rather than sleeping in places where there's nothing to see or visit, but simply stops along the E6, we chose to go straight back to Alta to assess, by consulting the Internet (free at the tourist office), the weather forecasts for the next few days and maybe return to the Lofoten. No sooner said than done: the 26th and 27th are forecast to be good weather, tomorrow rain but it would have been a transfer day. It was 19:45 in Alta and we set off for Skibotn, almost 300km. We arrived here by 23:30, tired but satisfied with the km we'd clocked up. Besides, in the evening you can travel at higher speeds than usual, even the Norwegians do it and there are fewer cars. Honestly we feared we wouldn't find anyone left to welcome us at the campsites, but once again the Norwegian people amazed us.

On the reception door there was a sheet indicating the number of the free cabin and the price, further down it said the keys were in the door and "you pay later". Practically free to choose, we headed for the cheapest accommodation at 350nok and in 10 minutes we had a bed to sleep in. Really incredible how much the Norwegians trust each other! Our little house anyway has 5 beds, fridge and electric stove, there's also a kitchen available, but we arrived late and skipped dinner. Now let's go to sleep, tomorrow will be long again.

Hamaroy – Kabelvag (km140 + Skutvik-Svolvaer 301nok)

This morning we decided to take it easy, we came down at 9 and went to visit the Tranoy lighthouse which, we discovered a bit late, also offered accommodation. We don't know the prices, but it would have been a nice experience. We have the ferry at Skutvik at 11:30, we arrive at the boarding with the usual hour's advance. We have a wander round the nearby supermarket and at the entrance a gentleman greets us with a bag full of little paper tickets, you just take one to win a cake made at home by the women of the village. Because of space and storage problems we don't take part in the game, but this makes us feel a bit like we're at home. Yes...at home... In these last few days we've often invoked it, partly because of cooked and quality food, partly because of the high prices here in Norway, but also because of this damned rain that's making us go mouldy.

We've come to the conclusion that two weeks would have been more than enough to visit the fjords and Bergen, the Lofoten, the North and Oslo. Now we find ourselves, albeit in a wonderful place like the Lofoten, forced to stay in Norway and to pass the time, returning to a place we've already seen, by virtue of two low-cost flights booked months ago that it's now impossible to change. Today we arrived in Svolvaer around 13:30, we immediately went to the public library to be able to see tomorrow's forecast free on the internet and look for a place to sleep tonight. Obviously it was raining and it's still raining now that it's 22:00, so no breathtaking sunset and a day that seems thrown away. We managed to find a cabin at the Sandvika Camping here in Kabelvag at the price of 400nok with bathroom and kitchen, but without shower.

With an eye always on the wallet we accepted and went to the COOP to get something for dinner. Meanwhile outside it continues to pour, in the distance we see the red-orange colour of the sunset, but the clouds and fog ruin everything. We'd be tempted to say "red sky at night, shepherd's delight", but with the Norwegian climate no proverb holds. The only certainty is that there's no completely clear day without rain and that if it starts raining it goes on for hours, maybe the whole day. At the tourist office in Svolvaer we got the timetable of the Moskenes-Bodo ferry for 28/8, two people and a car will cost us 636nok, an exaggeration for three hours of sailing, but for us it's the best solution. At this point we just have to call on the Saints in Heaven to get a bit of sun and enjoy our last day in the Lofoten. We'll try this solution too...

Kaberlvag – Moskenes (km 200)

This morning we didn't come out of our little white house with the sloping roof until around 10:30, before that it was cold, raining and windy. We preferred to sleep. The day, from the weather point of view, was certainly better than yesterday, today the sun made an appearance, even if every now and then it disappeared behind some big grey cloud. Along the E10 we stopped in fishing villages, in particular we recommend Vikten and Sund. To take some photographs we had to wait for the sun to oblige, but we also managed to go walking on the Lofoten beach and write our names there. Our goal today was to get to Moskenes to check the timetable of tomorrow morning's ferry to Bodo. The first is at 6 and we'll take it. To sleep, along the road, we found, not far from the ferry dock, the sign for a rorbu on the sea. We ask for information and they take us directly to see it.

The little house is in a hamlet of Moskenes, it's very spacious. There's a very large room with two bunk beds, sofa with armchairs, TV and radio, fridge, table and chairs, kitchen with oven excellently equipped, bathroom with shower, a room with three beds and a balcony. Honestly for us it's very big, in high season they rent it to families and by the week, but it seems the tourists have now gone home and they let us have it for 400nok. We try to ask for a further discount, but here they don't haggle. We accept it and pay immediately. At this point we decide to go to the COOP in Reine to buy something for dinner. It's not very well stocked, but we make do. After dinner we go out for about half an hour looking for a sunset worth photographing given the place we're in. We position ourselves in a lay-by along the E10 and wait...

The sky is cloudy and there's no sign of a breathtaking sunset. Better to go to sleep, tomorrow we have an early start.

Moskenes – Bodo (km 390 + Svolvaer-Skutvik 301nok)

The day started early, you can't say at dawn because around here the sun rises at 4 in the morning, but we set the alarm for 5:15 to catch the 6 o'clock ferry. Here's what our programme was supposed to be: direct ferry Moskenes-Bodo, dropping off the car at Europcar in Bodo, a tour of the centre in the afternoon and the night at the airport before tomorrow morning's flight to Oslo. Here's what happened: the 6 o'clock ferry non-existent, despite the fact that the evening before they'd confirmed it for us, moreover it was Sunday and the first available would have been at 14:00, arriving in Bodo at 17:15. Our problem was managing to return the car by 13:00 as per the contract. Around 5:45 a guy from Bergen approaches our car and tells us about the timetable change, together we try to find the best solution for us.

It was a question of waiting for the 14:00 ferry or driving to Svolvaer, getting on the ferry to Skutvik and doing a good 300km to Bodo. After the first reaction of anger, we head for Svolvaer and, in about 1h30', we do the 130km of all curves of the E10, but, believe us, we didn't meet a living soul except a few particularly early-rising Norwegians. We arrive at the boarding for Skutvik just in time for the 9 o'clock ferry, we board on the fly and finally we can relax. For the third time in ten days we cover that sea crossing, but today it's particularly rough. The captain announces: "The weather today isn't good, but I'll try to do my best...". For us it only mattered to have managed to get on a ferry, the rough sea didn't bother us too much. Arriving in Skutvik at 11 the problem was the car's tank practically empty.

We find a Shell petrol station, working only with credit or debit card, after about 30km of curves and anxiety...finally we can fill up. It was really empty, 600nok worth! This too was resolved well, but now we still have many km of E6 to Bodo. By now certain we won't reach Europcar by 13:00 we make our peace with it, the hope is that, since it's Sunday and the office is closed, no one until tomorrow morning will see the car keys deposited in the special grey box. In fact we arrive in Bodo at 14:30, a bit late, but we don't see cameras or other types of detectors around. We finally set the keys down after checking every part of the car: no damage, just a bit of mud and a lot of rain. A bit by chance we discover that on Sundays buses in Bodo don't run, so we're on foot and with our suitcases completely out of town without knowing what to do.

The deafening roar of a plane landing solves the problem for us... We realise we're very close to the airport, behind us is the runway. We ask in a gym (crowded despite it being Sunday) and understand it's about 2km along road 80. We set off with our trolleys for an unusual walk. At 15:15 we enter the airport and we'll only leave it the next day with the 7:05 flight to Oslo. We decided to forget the booking for the Bodo hotel since we would have had to be at check-in around 5, early start and skipped breakfast included. Now, after only 5 of the 16 hours we'll spend at the airport, we're thinking of going to a hotel to have a real sleep, but we're holding out. The main motivation is the 630nok we manage to save, then, all things considered, it's not bad as airports go, small, clean and quite busy even late in the evening. Scoop! They're preparing the red carpet...

We don't even have time to ask when we see coming out of "arrivals" Princess Mette-Marit, wife of Prince Hakon, heir to the throne, and mother of little Ingrid-Alexandra, future queen. The Norwegians look at her with pleasure, she's a beautiful woman, young and classy. Speaking of encounters... no sooner had we arrived at 15:15 than who do we find sitting at the bar table with his family? The guy from Bergen who this morning in Moskenes warned us about the timetable change. We told him our misadventures and thanked him. The world is really small... The princess has passed, at the bar they're now doing the cleaning, there are few people around and the last flight of the evening is at 22:00. We hope they dim the lights a bit and don't send us away, we're so tired we'd sleep anywhere. All this to save the night in Bodo, tomorrow we'll see if it was a good idea...

Bodo – Oslo (Gardermoen Apt-Sentralstatjon 150nok)

Bodo airport isn't bad for sleeping a night, there wasn't a living soul from midnight until 5, we set the alarm to give ourselves a wash and to check in our luggage. We felt a bit like the protagonists of the film "Terminal" wandering the airport with toothbrush and toothpaste, charging the phone battery and waiting for the bar to open for breakfast. Time to leave for Oslo, we can't believe it after all those hours "spent passing the time". Outside it's cloudy but not raining, the flight is on time and we land at Oslo-Gardermoen at 8:40. It's really big and modern, it's built of steel, glass and wood. Having collected our luggage we ask about the train direct to the city. The cheapest option takes 25 minutes and costs 150nok for two.

With amazement we notice the cleanliness of the trains, the punctuality and the efficiency of the service, the ticket inspector asks everyone for the ticket and carefully checks who gets on and off. We stay near the exit because it's all full, in a corner there's even the recycling. Arriving at Oslo Central Station (stop Oslo S) we head straight for the information office to understand where our hotel is, to know where to take the Ryanair bus tomorrow morning and what to do in Oslo today. Both the Ryanair bus and the hotel are near the station, but bad luck would have it that today (Monday) the National Gallery is closed as well as the Munch Museum (for works). We really cared about seeing these two museums. What a pain! We head for the hotel with our suitcases.

We have booked for one night at the Comfort Hotel Borsparken right two blocks from the Sentralstation, but in a quiet area, at the price of 700nok with breakfast included. It's a very nice hotel compared to the average standard of the usual accommodations, it was an offer found on the internet and it seemed a good price to us. Having left the suitcases, before we get sleepy, we decide to do a tour of the centre settling for seeing some Munch drawings in the lobby of the Continental Hotel right on the main street. There are quite a lot of people around, especially tourists. We immediately stop to photograph the cathedral, then resume the itinerary towards the Parliament Building and the Royal Palace that dominates the city. It's very beautiful and the royal flag is raised.

Going back down towards the Sentralstation we change direction towards the port where, now in the distance, we recognise the training ship of the Italian Navy, the fantastic Amerigo Vespucci which had just set off to return to Italy. In the port there are several vintage ships, but dominating them all is a gigantic cruise ship. Having taken the ritual photos, including the town hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, we go back to the hotel for a invigorating shower and to catch up on some sleep. Around 17:00 we go back to the main street, which in the meantime has become crowded, for a walk and around 19:00 we start looking for a restaurant, obviously not too "expensive", to have dinner. At the hotel they recommended the EGON Restaurant which is right next to the Sentralstation.

We look at the menu, also in Italian, and choose two "Pizza buffet": pizza and salad as much as you like at 99nok per person. It seemed a good solution to us and then we were starving... Back at the hotel we sorted the suitcases trying to stay within the 15kg each that Ryanair imposes...tomorrow we'll see.

Oslo – Italy

The last day in Norway... After breakfast at the hotel we take the Ryanair bus at 130nok per person which takes us to Oslo-Sandefjord Airport where we take the flight to Bergamo. We even arrive in Italy 20 minutes early, the impact with the heat is notable: little by little we undress and acclimatise. We collect our luggage next to tourists just arrived from Sharm el Sheik, undressed and tanned, while we're covered up and pale.