The North Cape Tour

The 3-week tour to the North Cape of Norway should not be seen as a 3-week version of the Nordic Bike 2-week tour. It is not. The 3-week tour does not include the fjords of the West Coast, and only briefly touches the mountains that make up the Norwegian continental divide. Instead, it gives ample room to explore all the sights, smells and sounds of the Northern regions, which are totally different from what you find in the South. The sheer variety of landforms, from dense forests via alpine mountain ranges to barren Arctic desolation, combined with Midnight Sun, picturesque fishing villages, native Samii camps and charming towns, is unrivalled anywhere. And, mind you: At 71º10´21´´N, the North Cape is on the same latitude as Point Barrow, Alaska, the main difference being that you can

ride all the way up there on paved roads, and – thanks to the mild waters of the Gulf Stream – enjoy reasonable temeperatures while you do it. The one thing we cannot guarantee, however, is that you will see the Midnight Sun at the North Cape itself, for the view to the North is often shrouded by mist or fog. After all, at the North Cape, you are closer to the North Pole than to Oslo, capital city of Norway.

As for all the Nordic Bike tours, the three-week North Cape Tour starts out in the Southern city of Kristiansand. Since our focus is on the Northern regions, we waste no time in getting to Trondheim, which we consider our staging point for the long haul to the Cape. Still, it is not all transportation: We do have time to enjoy the lush valleys and gentle rolling hills of the Eastern interior, and we stay overnight in the Olympic city of Lillehammer, with its rich cultural heritage. From Trondheim, we follow the coastal route going North, and eventually find ourselves in the Lofoten archipelago. The Lofoten islands protrude into the Arctic sea, from east to west. The Northern side of the archipelago is exposed to the storms racing down from the North Pole, and here the villages are small and few and far between. The roof of one of the churches is actually tied to the ground with giant steel rods, to keep it from blowing away. The Southern side, in contrast, is well protected from the elements, and this is where most of the people live. And this is where you find the sandy beaches, the quaint fishing villages, the art galleries and the 1000-year old Viking homestead that used to belong to the local chieftain.

We spend two days in Lofoten, which isn’t really enough, but we have to press on, and after a brief stop in Tromsø – “the Paris of the North” – we reach Magerøya (literally, The Barren Island) – home of the North Cape. And then we

turn around, and ride South again. For the first couple days, we backtrack on the same roads that took us up. Then, from Narvik onwards, we follow the inland route, across the Saltfjellet. This is also where we cross the Artic Circle again, this time on land (the first time, we were on a ferry as we crossed it). In Trondheim, we enjoy a day of rest, as we didn’t really have time to explore this quite interesting city on our way North. Arguably, the main attraction is the Nidaros Cathedral, the oldest part of which dates back to AD 1050 and the times of St. Olaf. And then follows two more days of great riding, either on roads travelled before, or on some of the numerous other alternatives available, until we once again hit the Southern coast, 1500 miles from the North Cape as the crow flies…

Miles travelled: Anywhere from 5000 to 12000 km (3100 to 7500 miles).

2010 Dates

June 13 to July 3

2011 Dates

June 18 to July 9