Start At Bergen’s ferry port or airport. Take the smaller, more exciting road via Alvik to meet the Oslo road at Eidfjord.
Route (800 miles) Michelin’s excellent European road atlases highlight especially scenic roads in green.
The 350 miles from Bergen to the outskirts of Oslo is green all the way – meaning many hours of non-stop pointing and gasping. Return along on the coast road via Kristiansand and Stavanger, and swap mountains for pretty coastal towns, rocky islands and car ferry trips.
Look out for Elk. They make a hefty dent in even the toughest 4×4. Gaze at snow-topped mountains, sparkling fjords, deep conifer woods and fairy-tale wooden buildings like stave churches at Rollag and Uvdal.
Arendal and Kristiansand are worth exploring for upmarket waterfront shops and restaurants. Norway’s southernmost point at Mandal has a cute lighthouse and chic restaurant and, towards the end of the journey, the tiny white cottages next to the sea at Skudeneshavn near Haugesund, once voted Norway’s prettiest village.
Where to stay/eat Roald Dahl spent summer holidays at the whitewashed Strand Hotel Fevik. The elegant 30s hotel stands on a private sandy beach and the seafood here is good, too.
Ends Back at Bergen. Allow time for this world heritage city, especially gabled wooden buildings on the historic waterfront and riding funiculars and cable cars up the mountains.
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