[Hi, just after Christmas we will be road tripping around the Nordics and spending a week or so in Norway.](https://imgur.com/gallery/87aUURh)

I’m hoping it’s okay to ask for some recommendations of what to see in your beautiful country in winter?

Our approximate route is arriving by car ferry in Kristiansand then following the E39 fjord route to Bergen then up to the Atlanterhavsveien then up to the Lofoten islands via ferry from Bodø. We are hoping to then continue on to Tromsø and the Nordkapp (hopefully seeing the northern lights) before heading south into Finland. My only concern is whether this is possible with a standard AWD EV with un-studded winter tyres without much experience driving in snow & ice (we don’t get much, if any, in the UK).

We came last winter but only really visited Oslo and then drove through the Lærdal tunnel up to Geiranger then round through Lillehammer back into Sweden.

Our only real objective other than the planned route is to see a traditional stave church, we’re open to any suggestions for natural beauty, traditional cultural sights and foods and drinks we must try?

by DyingInYourArms

47 comments

  1. You have barely any experience with snow and ice and want to travel through the the mountainous Norway during the winter. And you have un-studded winter tyres.

    I personally wouldn’t have risked it unless you’re just going to stay on the main roads, but sooner or later you will probably have to go through the mountain passes and such and that can be stressful and dangerous depending on the weather.

  2. Even though it’s a major road in Norway, E6 isn’t really very good north of Trøndelag. It is possible without studs, but it’s definitely a risk if you don’t have any experience of driving on snow and ice. Most people in the north use studded tires, and there’s a good reason for that.

  3. I would not do a trip like this like this unless I had like a month, especially during winter. You will spend most of your time behind the wheel, and it will not be nice driving in those conditions. Norway is much longer and the road much worse than most tourists plan for.

    Also I cannot stress enough how careful you have to be driving on some of the norwegian winter conditions, especially on stud-less tires.

    By the way, with a AWD car with stud-less tires it is super quick to get overconfident about the conditions. Because it can feel like you’ve got decent control when driving normally and cornering, but once you have to brake, absolutely nothing hapens.

  4. That’s a long trip if you don’t have experience driving in winter.

  5. AWD EV without studded styres AND little to no experience in winter conditions?

    The second golden rule of the Norwegian hiking rules is :

    “Plan your trip according to ability and conditions”

    I my opinion you’ve done the exact opposite. To take on that route during winter with little experience is reckless. Try driving Oslo-Bergen and see how that goes.

  6. Atlanterhavsveien is very short. Check out the coastal route RV17, it’s a lot nicer: https://kystriksveien.no/?lang=en

    Also: Unless you have real winter tires, with the mountain and snowflake symbol, you really have to buy them. Studded tires would be the best in northern Norway. Read up on winter driving, prepare to spend a lot longer than estimates say.

  7. You have no experience driving in snow, unstudded winter tyres and you’re driving all this in one week, through the winter terrain og vest and north Norway??? Go in summer instead, its way more beautiful and you can do much more, and add 2 weeks to your trip.

  9. I live up north, and I drive an EV with studless winter tires. I could do that trip, but I wouldn’t. Just the other day I did a tiny segment of that route. It was a three hour drive in abysmal conditions and it wore me out, despite me knowing that road.

    The conditions might be good, but that’s not a given, and even then you won’t be doing much besides driving. As a tourist you should have more time and studded tires.

    Edit: If you bring a RHD car here during the winter, please make sure your driving lights can be adapted to driving on the right, and do so, or you’ll constantly blind other drivers.

  10. Probably gonna be okey until you get to bodø. But from there and further north without studded tires is probably gonna be a nigthmare.

  11. Up north its not much too see. Its winter and dark. Do this between mid may too october and you would have a beautifull trip.

  14. Western Norway is lovely, but wet – you will be driving around in the dark. Your holiday will be in the car without views.

    More likely than not, the hours during the middle of the day, mist and clouds will obstruct the view of the mountains.

    Once you get north of Trondheim there is no daylight and poor conditions at all altitudes.

    Edit: April/May is really good. Norwegians will have come out of hibernation by then as well.

  16. Do something for the climate drive less and travel by train up to the north:)

  17. Everybody seems to think this is the worst idea ever, it isn’t.. If you drive like a nun and have a plan B Incase a road ahead is closed due to weather your golden..

  18. I would suggest not doing this in January, March-April still going to give you more than enough winter but more daylight. Avoid driving in the dark.
    Driving without studded tires in North-Norway isn’t a problem, nor is using a EV an issue.
    Take it slow, take breaks and pay attention to changing weather.
    And take other posts in this thread seriously.

  20. Do not attempt this without experience.

    You **will** die if you attempt this.

  21. non-norwegian here but judging by the reaction of norwegians, i dont think this is a great idea!

  22. There are less elaborate ways to commit vehicular suicide, just saying.

    Edit: shoutout to automod for thinking this was me calling out wanting to off myself

  23. Keep in mind that from the starting point here to point A will take you 9 hours (just a rough guesstimate) with constant driving, and stopping for charging. Going further up,, charging generally isn’t an issue but you’d want to charge a bit ahead of time (so not what the car would generally recommend) to be on the safe side, and probably stop one more time than what you have to.

    Also I would prefer studded tires but if that’s not an option I guess I’d see if it was possible to get some “kjettjng” just in case – not sure if that is something people do with EVs though …

  24. That’s a loooong drive!!
    I don’t understand why you want to do this in winter. It’s gonna be dark all the time and you won’t see any of that nice scenery you will be passing.

    I live in the middle of Norway and even here it’s only good light for 6 hours a day now. Lofoten barely has any light this time of year.

    I’ve taken most of the roads you’ve planned to go, and most of them are worth the drive. But I would be destroyed if went the whole route in one go. I think this is a 14 day road trip- minimum!

    Good luck if you decide to go, but you really should wait until spring/summer and have a beautiful drive in nice conditions 🙂

  25. Sounds like a recipe for misery if you ask me. How many kms is that? You should probably calculate an average speed of 50-60kmh.

    That’s a lot of time in the car and not much else.

  26. Don’t do it. At least not without receriving training for driving in Norway’s winter conditions. The roads can be both narrow and icy, the weather can be bad, and it is **dark**. And without studded tyres? That’s like asking for a car accident.

    I highly recommend finding a route you can do with public transport

  27. Get a different vehicle. If you wanna go on a winter roadtrip over the mountain passes of Norway, get a fossile fuel car with 4 wheel drive, good ground clearance, studded tyres and big threads. Bring supplies in case of emergency, food warm cloothing, blankets,emergency heating.This trip is extremely ill adviced this time of the year. And that trip won’t take 1 week. With the high chance of mountain passes being closed for days, and terrible conditions over the mountains, this is at least a 3 week trip. An electric vehicle won’t do you much good either, as you will be driving over long distances without a charger.

  28. You’ve fallen in the classic trap of planning to spend all of your time driving. Don’t do it. Pick a region and stay there.

  29. Bro.. you’re gonna put yourself and others in danger doing that.

  30. I used to drive in the northern parts of Norway, using studless tires. Most days during the winter it was not a problem.
    If all you want to do is drive and sleep, this route is maybe something you could do. You will most likely meet driving conditions that slow you down, so you have to adapt. You will also more tired than you expect.
    Check weather forecasts, expect roads to be closed, bring warm clothing and something to drink and eat if you get stuck. In some parts of your route it could be -40C.
    Driving north of Bodø, I usually check weather forecasts for Sweden and Finland, and choose the route according to the forecasts.
    I will not recommend this trip, but if you go, change your plans when needed.

  31. Go for it and keep us updated in this thread. Her are som phonenumbers you can save on your phone before you attempt this. NAF 08505. Viking 06000 Redgo 9870222. They will come and help you when you get in trouble.

  32. Late november, i got in a front collision with a brit that lost control over his car in a curve. He had expensive “all year tyres” without studs. The towing company and police agreed those tyres weren’t fit for the conditions and he got a fine.

    So I would recommend tyres with studs, especially since you’re thinking of coming to Finnmark😅

  34. As som1 who has travelled to and from oslo to the north and livs above arctic, i cant stress this enough how naive this plan is. Specially in winter without studided tyres.
    I have a new SUV allwheeldrive with new studed tyres and still the tyres slipped several times in the last few months on slippery bits of roads.

  37. One week to drive all of norway seems very little. It took me 5 days to explore only west norway in the summer, and that was with 5-10 hours of driving each day

  38. As others have mentioned, it’s probably too ambitious. I’d say there’s a 5 % chance you’ll get your dream road trip as drawn on the map. Most likely you’ll get wind, fog, blizzard, really icy roads and road closures, all of them during a day or even at the same time. And it will be dark up north.
    If you’re doing this, pay close attention to the weather forecasts, try to talk to locals before each leg and always have a plan b, c or even d. You might find yourself on the wrong side of a closed mountain pass, or in driving conditions that will limit your range to way less than you thought. Keep warm clothes, a showel and enough food with you inside the car, not in the bagage compartment. If you get stuck it may take hours to get rescued and you cannot rely on the heating system.
    But the weather and conditions can change really fast, and the next day it could just as well be calm and nice. Then again, roads up north are sometimes closed for several days, which could make it impossible to reach your wanted destination.
    I’m not trying to scare you or put you off doing this, I love driving and it’s mostly about being cautious and careful enough. Good luck, I hope you get a nice winter adventure!

  42. B to C – Ålesund to Bodø?

    That’s way to long for a day’s worth of driving. Wouldn’t do that in summer even.

  44. I once spent 10 hours waiting for “kolonnekjøring” over one of our mountains. This winter currently seems to be filled with more weather than the last couple, but that might just me believing.

    Going on a road trip in Norway is without a doubt best done in the summer. Both for the sake of your lives and for the memories. The road you’ve chosen is filled with absolutely gorgeous views, which will definitely be more rare to be able to witness during the winter, and it will more than likely be very white, so a lot more stale.

    If you’re absolutely set on doing this, get an SUV with AWD and studded tyres. Drive (alot) slower than the speed limit and don’t ever try to get cocky in traffic.

  45. What care do you drive ? Because I’ll watch the. Wes for your car sliding offroad. Just today it’s been menace with the. Ew snowfall here.

  47. As someone who have droven almost this route just whit a bike. Its gonna take at least 5 days

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