Day 23: Trollstiegen and Geiranger

Arriving at the Trollstiegen in perfect weather

The day started promisingly. Temperature around 18, partly sunny. I had about 4 hours driving time for Trollstiegen and Geiranger.

The road to the Trollstiegen plateau leads through a typical coastal landscape with mighty mountains, valleys, rivers, some forests, small villages and a few farms. With lots of tunnels and fjords. I was driving behind a van with Ljubljana license plates, in which an elderly couple was sitting. They took the ferry to Geiganger and I drove on towards Trollstiegen. We honked and greeted each other from our vehicles as I drove past.

The road began to climb and offered some biking delights with its curves and magnificent views. The Trollstigen plateau is beautifully landscaped and offers a magnificent view of the famous Trollstiegen winding road, which is unfortunately closed this year due to falling rocks. But the view is spectacular. The weather was perfect, the sky almost clear. It looked even better than in the pictures. I met a motorcyclist from Switzerland on his BMW 1600 GT and we chatted for a while. He was on a two-week tour and was already on his way home.

Stop in Geiranger

From there I drove towards Geiranger. The drive was again very fascinating, with views of the canyon-like fjords. The descent on the serpentine road to Geiranger was also very spectacular and offered a breathtaking view of the fjord and the town.

Moving on as far as possible towards Bergen

At this point, I had to decide what I wanted to do. Bergen was more than six hours away by car. The forecast for the next day was bad – it was going to rain all day. The idea of camping was soon replaced by the decision to drive on for as long as possible to get as close to Bergen as possible. I took a ferry from Geiranger to the E39 road, which leads to Bergen. This ferry ride was different. It was a private ferry company, so I had to pay for the ticket as they are not part of the FerryPay network. The price for the one-hour trip was around €50. I used the time on board to treat myself to a pølse, a Norwegian word for sausage, and something to drink. I opened up the computer and checked a few work-related things, as the ferry also had WiFi. I found a hotel in Førde, a small town about 180 km from Bergen, and booked it.

After getting off the ferry, I drove for about three hours. Then it started to rain and I stopped and put on my rain gear. I arrived at my hotel around 9pm. It was already raining incessantly. I unpacked my luggage and pulled the cover over the bike. I was tired and went to bed early. I was satisfied with what I had seen that day and grateful for the nice weather at the beginning of the day.

I had ridden 361 km today, and at the end of the day 7 797 km were on the trip counter.