Atlantic Road at Midsummer

Today was our first experience of the Norwegian Scenic Routes.

These are 18 designated roads, chosen for their panoramic views of the various oceans, mountains or fjords that Norway has to offer. We have planned our route to drive as many of these as possible, the first being the Atlantic Road.

We drove out of Trondheim past the cruise terminal, mainly to give Lou the experience of driving around a roundabout in a tunnel! Back home, when we’re driving, we play a game of ‘car friend’, which we say every time we see another Ioniq 5. This started off as quite a novelty three years ago when we first got our car, however in Norway, where 98% of all cars bought last year were electric, this is a much easier game, as they are everywhere! Coupled with listening to NRK Super on the radio, this helped to keep H entertained during the journey.

Our route consisted of a lot of tunnels, some short and others kilometres long. Norwegian tunnels are seriously impressive, with some gradients of 8-10%! Great for the recharge on the EV battery!

We were headed for Halsa, where we would pick up a short car ferry to Kanestraum. James and H popped out to the toilet while Lou waited in the queue for the ferry, although it started loading quicker than expected and Lou had to drive on and leave the others to walk on - luckily they were allowed!

The ferry was bigger than we were expecting and H was very excited to discover there was a shop onboard which sold ice cream, which we enjoyed after our packed lunch. The ferry took about 20 mins and provided a nice break from driving.

The beginning of the drive from Trondheim had been quite wet but it started to clear up the further along we went. From Kanestraum, the land becomes more fragmented and we were treated to some lovely views of the sea and the various islands up towards Kristiansund. The Atlantic Road starts just west of Kårvåg, with the most spectacular part ending at Vevang. Unfortunately just as we reached Kårvåg, it started raining again. Not to be deterred, we drove over the first of seven bridges connecting the various islets. Halfway along there is a rest stop, Eldhusøyan, which included a lovely little cafe, some good toilets and a metal walkway around the island. This gave great views of the main attraction, Storseisundbrua, an impressive feat of engineering that bridges two islets.

We got back in the car and drove over Storseisundbrua, and it really is as steep as it looks! Once we reached Vevang, we decided to continue along the road to Bud, to complete the whole length of the scenic route. As it was raining, we didn’t bother to stop at any of the viewpoints on this stretch, and as such it wasn’t that spectacular, however it did mean that by the time we arrived at our campsite, Skogely Camping, for the night, the rain had stopped and we could pitch in the dry.

It was clear that it had been very wet recently as the ground was quite boggy. The campsite owner, though, was very friendly and helped us decide where best to pitch. H made friends with his daughter while we put the tent up, however just as we finished pitching, the rain started again and the wind was picking up. One camper walking past asked if we were camping in a tent and when we said yes, they called us heroes! We weren’t sure if that was a good thing or not!

We decided to stop setting up camp and make dinner instead. There was a little kitchen area on site, which was being used by a group of Slovenian people. They were just finishing up their dinner but had apparently made too much so asked if we wanted to finish their leftover spicy ravioli. As it was quite late by this point, and we were pretty hungry, we happily obliged. They even offered us some wine as well! Lou was so touched by their generosity and kindness, she offered them all one of her fancy chocolates to say thank you!

After waiting another hour or so for the rain to stop, and realising this wasn’t going to happen, we finished getting our sleeping bags and mattresses out of the car and hunkered down for a rather wet and windy night!

The next morning the weather had improved so we thought we’d try our luck back at the Atlantic Road to see it in the sunshine. We were very happy we did as the sun was out and the views were great! After driving back to Kårvåg to charge the car and do a quick food shop, we drove back to the Eldhusøyan rest stop and walked around the walkway again. We didn’t have long and it was much busier today than yesterday so we dashed round, took some pictures and then headed back towards our campsite to our day’s activity, Bergtatt Opplevelser.

Bergtatt is a working marble mine. It is a family run business started by a local farmer in 1934. Interestingly, the marble isn’t used to make sculptures but instead to make glossy paper for magazines such as the National Geographic. The mine was operating at its peak in the 1990s but understandably, demand for glossy paper has declined in more recent years as things move more online.

We were booked onto a tour, so jumped into a couple of minibuses with our fellow visitors and drove up a very steep and bumpy dirt track to the entrance of the mine. Once we walked in, we were asked to put on hard hats and life jackets and get on board two wooden rafts. Unfortunately H’s hard hat was a bit too big and kept falling off every time she looked up.

As the rafts drifted through the caves, music started playing over the sound system. It turned out to be a saxophonist playing on the shore of our landing spot and it was just magical.

We were told a little about the mine and given a glass of water to drink, which was collected directly from the rock and contained lots of healthy minerals. We then got back on the rafts and were serenaded out to ‘Moon River’ - it was wonderful.

Back at the entrance to the mine, we were shown a video about the history of the mine, how they extract the marble and what it’s used for, before jumping back in the minibuses and having a slightly hair-raising drive back down to our car.

We were heading to Ålesund as the next stop on our trip, so drove for about half an hour to Molde to get another car ferry to Vestnes. We arrived with two minutes to spare before the ferry left! Again, the ferry had a cafe so we ate our lunch and had an ice cream during the half an hour crossing.

It was another hour drive to Ålesund, where we were a bit anxious as there was only one campsite that took tents, Volsdalen Camping, and it wasn’t possible to book ahead. We turned up about 4pm to find a sign on the reception window saying they were full. Our hearts sank a little but not to be deterred, we went into reception to ask if they had a space for a tent and luckily they did!

The weather in Ålesund was gloriously sunny, which was much welcomed after a few days of rain. We pitched the tent and H and Lou went for an explore while James cooked dinner. While there wasn’t a playground on site, there was a beach down by the sea where H enjoyed throwing stones into the water. It was a beautiful view.

After a tasty dinner of roasted veg and potatoes, we spoke to a fellow camper who asked if we were going to see the bonfire that evening. Unbeknown to us, on the closest Saturday to midsummer, one of the world’s biggest bonfires is lit at Slinningsbålet, across the water from Ålesund. While it gets quite busy near to the bonfire, the beach next to our campsite had a perfect view of it.

The bonfire is built by a group of teenagers each year, without tools or machinery. Every evening from 1st May, they work together to build the tower and in 2016, they achieved the Guinness World Record for the tallest man-made bonfire, standing at 47.4 metres. The bonfire is lit at 9pm and hundreds of boats flock to the water around it to watch it burn. Once it collapses, they all sound their horns.

We took our camping chairs down to the beach at 8pm as we were told some festivities started then, although there was nothing obvious going on from where we were. However we enjoyed watching all the different boats zooming across the water towards the bonfire site and H had fun climbing on rocks and throwing stones into the sea. As 9pm approached, we waited eagerly for the bonfire to start, only to find that they light it from the top and wait for it to cascade down through the pallets. By 9.30, not much had happened, and at one point we thought it might even have gone out!

What was entertaining was that two cruise ships were trying to enter and leave the cruise terminal at about 10pm. It was amusing to watch the massive cruise ship trying to clear a channel through tonnes of very small boats, who didn’t want their view obscured by the ship!

We were a little worried that our view would also be ruined by the cruise ships, however by 10.30, although the fire had spread a bit more, we decided to give up and go to bed! We finally heard the horns at about 11.15 so were glad we didn’t keep H up as late as that, even though it was midsummer and so really light the whole time.

The next morning, after an inspired breakfast of cheese on toast in the air fryer as we didn’t have access to a fridge to keep the cheese cold, we again went our separate ways. James wanted to try out a via ferrata climbing route at the Storhaugen park and Lou took H to the aquarium at the Atlanterhavsparken.

The aquarium had a wide range of exhibits, including a massive tank with huge fish in, and an area where you could touch many things such as starfish, crabs, sea cucumbers and sea anemones. There were also outside areas with sea otters, seals and penguins.

Throughout the day there were various feeding times, where the staff told you more about the animals. A highlight was watching a scuba diver in the giant fish tank get absolutely mobbed by fish - not a job I’d be keen to have!

We met up with James in the aquarium car park and drove back to the campsite for a chilled afternoon, playing Monopoly Deal and blogging. We’d booked to have dinner at a restaurant called Anno in the centre of Ålesund, so headed in a bit early to wander around the quaint streets and harbour.

As we arrived a bit early at the restaurant, we were luckily enough to get a table by the window and enjoyed a really tasty meal of fish soup, poke bowl, pizza, cheesecake and ice cream. Our waitress was Australian and it turns out her boyfriend is from Maidstone so she’d actually heard of Kent when she asked where we were from. Given how expensive Norway is for food and drink, we were pleasantly surprised to find the bill only came to £100, which included a beer for James too.

After dinner, Lou and H decided to climb the 418 steps up to the top of Storhaugen park. Given James had done this climb twice on the via ferrata earlier in the day, he elected to drive to the top to meet us. The views as we climbed were stunning, especially given the sun breaking through the cloud as well. Ålesund is normally overrun with cruise ship tourists so it was nice to do this iconic climb later in the day when it was quieter.

The next morning, we packed up our tent and headed south towards the main reason for our trip to Norway, the fjords.

We had been in two minds about whether to come to Ålesund or not, but a chance chat with some fellow campers convinced us to go and we’re really glad we did. It had a lovely feel to it, was really pretty and it was nice to see some sun again. A really worthwhile stop.