Cycling Norway, Faroes & Iceland

With my new touring bike, the trip I’d most like to take would include Norway, Faroe Islands, and Iceland.

Gorgeous. Expen$ive — unless you are camping most nights.

Ultimate plan is flying to Oslo July 2022. Connecting flight to Tromsø. Have my bike assembled there by a recommended bike shop.

Cycle about 3000km south to Langesund. In about 30 days. That includes close to 300km by ferry.

This route is the recommendation of a consultant I’ve hired. His name … Matthew Norway.

Matthew put together a map for me in the Komoot app. (If anything goes wrong, I’d cycle to the nearest train station. 😀 )

I’d cycle to the Island of Senja first. Then the Lofoten Islands. Those two destinations are my highest priorities.

That route includes about 30 ferries. Most of those free.

UPDATE: The closer I get to starting, the more unrealistic 3000km is looking to me. I’m anticipating cutting out at some point — and taking the train south so I have time for the Faroe Islands. Another high priority.

Cycling there looks something like this.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

If I cut away from the coast, I MIGHT do some famous rides in the south as I work my way to Oslo. Most interesting is Rena to Lillehammer, the Berkebeinerrittet route. It hosts the largest mountain bike race in the world. Or something even more challenging.

Click PLAY or watch some Norway cycling and hiking on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Weather is the BIG problem. I’m trying to put together a system that could handle the worst possible conditions. Matthew recommends the Yr.no app for making decisions based on weather.

Finally, I’d take the ferry from Langesund near Oslo to Hirtshals on Denmark’s Jutland peninsula. (5hrs)

I’d book the ferry from Hirtshals in Denmark to the Faroe Islands (30 hours). It runs twice a week during the summer.

Once I get to those remote islands, I’ll mainly focus on the most famous hikes. Many of them cost $30 or more as they are all on private land.

It’s another 18 hours by ferry to Iceland. I’m still deciding what to do there.

I’d arrive in Seyðisfjørður on the east coast. Depending on my time and enthusiasm, I MIGHT do one of the routes crossing inland.

Easier would be to find transportation to the most interesting cycling areas:

Westfjords
Highlands (example)

Click PLAY or watch some Iceland cycling and hiking on YouTube. #inspiration

Iceland is lowest priority of the three destinations as I’ve traveled and hiked there in the past.

An alternative to cycling through Iceland’s interior would be to do CHRIS BURKARD’s 900km route around the remote Westfjords – the Westfjord Way. Lael was on that trip — so I downloaded her map to Komoot.