The Norwegian autumn

Before you go

Eleven days in October, for two people who would rather drive than fly between places. The route runs north from Bergen through the fjord country and finishes on the coast, and it is deliberately slower than it looks — short driving days, two or three nights in each place, and nothing scheduled before nine in the morning. October is the reason to come and the thing to plan around: the colour is at its best, the summer coaches have gone, and the light is low and long all day rather than for twenty minutes in the evening. Two hours are marked below as the ones the days are built toward. Yours would have the rest filled in, with Welcome Notes for every stop. The flights, the car, the ferries, and the rooms stay yours to book — I hand you the list and the order to book it in.- Richard

Day by day

BergenDays 1-3 · 3 nights

Three nights before the car, because arriving into a city and driving out of it the same day is how good trips start badly.

Day 1 · Bergen Cool and wet · 52 / 43seasonal estimate

aftLand at Bergen (BGO) and take the light rail in — it runs to the centre in half an hour and drops you near the room

eveDinner nearby and nothing else. It will probably be raining, and that is fine — it rains here roughly every other day and the town is built for it

Day 2 · Bergen Cool, showers · 52 / 43seasonal estimate

9:30aThe old wharf and the lanes behind it before the day gets going, then the fish market for lunch

2:00pThe funicular up the hill, weather permitting — and if it does not permit, the indoor half of the day swaps in

eveAn early dinner. There is a lot of driving in the second half of this trip and none of it yet

Day 3 · Bergen Cool · 53 / 44seasonal estimate

10:00aHeld open for whichever of yesterday's two halves the weather took away

4:00pCollect the car late in the day, so it is ready and you are not driving in the dark tonight

The fjord countryDays 4-6 · 3 nights

One base, three nights, and the water doing all the work — this is the quiet middle of the trip.

Frost on a forest floor in low morning light

Day 4 · The fjord country Crisp · 50 / 38seasonal estimate

9:00aNorth out of the city. Three and a half hours of driving with two ferry crossings in it, and the crossings are the good part

1:00pStop for lunch when you feel like it rather than where the map says — the whole road is the attraction here

4:00pArrive with the light still up, and go no further

Day 5 · The fjord country Crisp and clear · 49 / 36seasonal estimate

8:00aMagic hourOn the water at first light, before the wind gets up and while the fjord is still holding the reflectionThe single earliest start of the trip, and the only one I would argue for. Until about half past nine in October the surface is glass and the colour on the walls doubles in it; by eleven the wind has come down the valley and it is an ordinary grey. This is why there are three nights here and nothing booked the evening before.

12:00pBack for a long lunch, and the afternoon spent horizontal by a window

eveWherever you are staying. There is nowhere else, and that is the appeal

Day 6 · The fjord country Crisp · 50 / 37seasonal estimate

10:00aA walk with height in it — an hour up, an hour down, and the whole arm of the fjord underneath you

aftNothing at all

Geiranger and the passesDays 7-8 · 2 nights

The most dramatic driving of the route, timed for the two days you will have found your rhythm.

A road running through high frosted country

Day 7 · Geiranger and the passes Cold in the passes · 45 / 33seasonal estimate

9:30aThe mountain road north. Three hours if you drive it, five if you stop, and you should stop

2:00pDown the hairpins into the village and settle in early — this is a short day on purpose

eveDinner where you are staying; the village is small and shuts early in October

Day 8 · Geiranger and the passes Cold, bright · 46 / 34seasonal estimate

10:00aThe viewing road above the village, driven up rather than looked at from below

1:00pAn hour on the fjord itself in the afternoon, when the light is coming down the walls rather than over them

eveEarly. Tomorrow is the longest drive of the trip

Ålesund and the Atlantic RoadDays 9-11 · 2 nights

Out to the coast, where the weather stops being scenery and becomes the point.

Day 9 · Ålesund and the Atlantic Road Windy, coastal · 50 / 41seasonal estimate

9:00aWest to the coast — a pass, a ferry, and a change of landscape from vertical to horizontal

2:00pArrive, walk the harbour, and eat something that was in the water this morning

The Atlantic Road curving between islands

Day 10 · Ålesund and the Atlantic Road Windy, bright spells · 50 / 40seasonal estimate

11:00aOut along the coast road, with the whole afternoon allowed for something that takes ninety minutes to drive

4:30pMagic hourThe Atlantic Road with the sun low and sideways off the sea, driven slowly and stopped at four timesIn October the sun sits low from about four, so the road gets an hour of light that runs along it rather than down on it. The day is arranged to put you at the western end at half past four and to leave you nowhere to be afterwards. If the weather turns instead, that is not a loss — a swell coming over the parapet is the other reason people come here.

8:00pThe last dinner, back on the harbour

Day 11 · Home

mornDrop the car at Ålesund (AES) and fly. It is fifteen minutes from town, which is the reason the trip ends here rather than back where it started

Transportation

Home to Bergen (BGO)

Day 1

You book the flights. Note this is an open jaw — in at Bergen, out of Ålesund — and I tell you how to price it

FLIGHT

The car, Bergen to Ålesund

Days 3-11

Yours to book, collected day three and dropped at the airport day eleven. One-way fees apply and I flag them before you book

CAR

The fjord ferries

Days 4 and 9

Turn up and drive on — no booking needed on these crossings, and the fare goes on the car

FERRY

Ålesund (AES) to home

Day 11

Fifteen minutes from town, so a midday flight needs no early start

FLIGHT

Accommodations

Bergen

In the centre, walkable to the wharf, with somewhere to leave a wet coat

Days 1-3 · 3 nts

The fjord country

On the water, with a window worth sitting at — the point of the three nights

Days 4-6 · 3 nts

Geiranger

Above the village, facing down the fjord

Days 7-8 · 2 nts

Ålesund

In the old town by the harbour, with parking — which matters more here than it sounds

Days 9-10 · 2 nts

Packing notes

ESSENTIALS

Passport

Cards — Norway is close to cashless, so you will barely see a note

Your driving licence

LAYERS

A proper waterproof shell, hood included

Something warm under it — October in the passes is near freezing

Hat and gloves for the early morning on the water

ON YOUR FEET

Boots with grip that you do not mind getting wet

A dry second pair for the evenings

FOR THE DRIVING

Offline maps downloaded — signal drops in the fjords

Sunglasses, oddly: the low sun is straight in your eyes all afternoon

Useful links

Statens vegvesen

Live road and mountain-pass status — the passes on this route close for the season, and the date moves

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Yr

The Norwegian forecast everyone here actually uses, hour by hour

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Entur

Ferries and public transport across the whole country in one place

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