Leaving behind Lofoten Islands also meant leaving behind the crowds. We took the ferry from Moskenes to Bodø and pulled into a very cloudy parking spot just above the town to rest our heads. When we woke up in the morning the clouds had disappeared and we were greeted with spectacular views, just incredible. Where we parked was a trailhead for a hike so we decided to head up and improve our vantage point even more.
Not a bad start to the next part of our journey. We didn’t have too many plans since have discovered that in Norway we can just head in a general direction and then find somewhere to pull out and sleep. Someone we met on the road further north had recommended taking route 17 from Bodø and sure enough, the route is spectacular. And bliss – no crowds – so appreciated after crowded Lofoten. We took the next few days to meander down the 17 a few hundred kilometers at a time, taking a ferry when we needed to and mostly just cooing at the fantastic scenery.
The scenery was amazing. Still in the arctic, we continued to be blessed with sunshine and clear skies. Some nights we were alone in our parking spot and on other nights we had neighbors. In fact, we had a fabulous night with some fellow Brits (we have hardly seen any up here) swapping travel stories and inspiring each other with ideas of new places to check out.
We deviated from the 17 when we needed to stop for laundry at a campground in the pretty town of Mosjean and decided to leave the coast for a little and just press on to Trondheim. There is one place to park a motorhome in Trondheim and boy was it busy. But we wanted to be central and we are just too big to stealth park anywhere. We hung around the parking area, prowling around looking for a sign someone might leave and eventually our persistence paid off and we got a spot. We were glad we did as we walked and cycled around this lovely city.
After Trondheim we continued further along this coast with a goal to reach the stretch of the Atlantic Road which you see whenever you google images of Norway. In fact, when we got there it was a bit of a nothing burger. Quite crowded with tour buses and less spectacular with your own eyes than a photo with a drone would have you believe.
Covering more spectacular coast and scenery we were really amazed by just endless views and vistas. Night after night we stayed in amazingly scenic settings. It really was a treat. We decided to drive the famous Trollstigen, a little bit adventurous in a 7.5 meter motorhome but we decided to get up super early to avoid the inevitable tour buses we would encounter in the area.
We set our alarms early and set off but as we got closer to the road we realized the weather was not going to co-operate. We drove up the umpteen hairpin bends and didn’t meet another car but alas, when we reached the top the low cloud meant the view was non-existent. We decided to head a little further down the road to an area where the cloud had cleared and hang out for a few hours for a change in the weather. We drove back to the view point a few hours later and not only had it not cleared – there were now 5 million tour bus tourists crowding the viewpoint. We turned around and decided this was one Norwegian view that we would not be seeing.
We continued on to the Geiranger Fjord one of the most famous sites in Norway. We arrived just in time to see the cruise ships leaving as we descended down into the campground for the night. The drive to this point had been truly incredible, but we were starting to feel that we were encountering more bus tours and our senses were getting dulled by the shear magnificence of it all. So as we sat eating dinner that night we decided to heed the advice someone had given us earlier in our journey. They told us that Norway is so big that it is better explored in pieces. It was then we decided that we would leave Southern Norway for another time and start making our way back towards UK and our date with our MOT/vehicle inspection. It has been amazing but rather than overload ourselves with too much Norway we’ll save the rest for a future visit. Onwards and southwards through Norway, a stop in Oslo and finally we’ll add the last piece to our Scandinavian summer, a trip to Denmark.
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Recommendations & Tips
Where we stayed: We visited during August.
102. Free parking Bodo Large gravel lot, no services. Fabulous views when it’s clear.
103. Free parking Nr Glomfjord, Just off the 17 but the road is quiet enough to not be a bother. Lovely scenery to relax in.
104. Free parking Nr Jetkvik, Beautiful setting. Rest stop is well off the road, but very little traffic anyway. Trash and picnic tables.
105. Mosjoen Camping, Busy little campsite. Great location for the town 320 kr a night.
106. Free parking Nr Gartland, Nice layby a little off the road. Picnic tables trash and restrooms (locked while we were there). Perfect for an overnight stop.
107. Camperpark, Trondheim, Very busy spot in the summer. We had to hang around and wait for someone to leave. But worth it so we could be close to Trondheim, 260 kr a night.
108. Free parking Near Hasla, Functional spot by the side of the road, but not too noisy. Nice views across the road. Used to be a go karting track here, but it seems to have closed. Fine for a night.
109. Free parking Atlantic Road, This is a busy stretch of road. Very few places to stop, but this is a better sized pull out than most and is right on the water.
110. Free parking Andalsnes, Stunning location, can’t be beaten and not too far from the town of Andalsnes. Pretty busy but it’s a big rest area so plenty of room for all.
111. Geiranger Camping, Best located of the local campgrounds. Pretty busy but we still managed to get a spot when we showed up at 7pm in the middle of summer. 280 kr a night.
The Scenic Route 
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