I hiked and bikepacked Norway for many weeks summers of 2018 and 2022.
Norway IS expen$ive. The best way to lower your holiday costs is to sleep FREE in your tent.
A longstanding law called allemannsretten (loosely translated as ‘the right to roam’) allows everyone to wild camp virtually anywhere in open country, for free.
Langøyene island, a 15-minute ferry ride away from Oslo, has grassy glades to pitch up in, right next to the fjord. Sognsvann lake, north of Oslo, is another good spot. …
However — it’s a small percentage of Norway that is both flat enough and dry enough to pitch a tent. I was happy I carried a foam sleeping pad as well as my air mattress. I put it UNDER the tent to keep everything a little drier.
If you can’t find a good free spot, it’s easy to locate one of the 1,000 or so paid campsites.
Protection from the wind is another problem. I did hear of wind breaking tent poles. It’s often gusty.
A hiker had recommended this free spot in Sommarøy. Ideal. Wooden tent pad with protection from the ocean wind.
I like having a picnic table to organize gear and sit down for meals.
This was the closest free site I could find near Svolvær. No picnic table.
Here are a few more typical sites.
Last night tenting, I found my MSR Hubba™ NX Easton Syclone tentpole had broken … somehow. It’s the most unreliable part of MSR tents, along with their lightweight zippers.
My favourite campsite was Uttakleiv Beach, Lofoten. But this cost $20 / night. It’s the trailhead for the Veggen and the more popular Mannen climbs.
655 metres elevation gain on switchback trails — easy in the summer, but potential slippery and dangerous with snow and ice.
Once you reach the Sulphur Mountain Gondola top station, the best is yet to come. A network of trails along the ridge, and viewing decks at the gondola station, provide stunning views of Banff, the Bow Valley, and 360-degree views in every direction.
The highest point is the historic Cosmic Ray Station.
On return to the bottom, consider the short walk over to Banff Upper Hot Springs. Let’s call it recovery.
Click PLAY or see the Gondola and the Above Banff interpretive centre on YouTube.
Winn and her husband Moth, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness, became homeless after a bad investment and decided to walk the 630-mile (1,010 km) South West Coast Path. …
In September 2019 it was the number one bestselling book in UK independent bookstores.
An excellent read.
The couple had not hiked for decades. Pretty much everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
And they survived on an income of about £40 a week.
