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View Full Version : Cycling from Oslo to Tronheim



sarahlou
02-14-2007, 02:08 PM
I'm hoping to cycle from Oslo to Trondheim in early August. Does anyone have any tips on good routes or things to avoid? I will be camping with my small dog. Any must see places or great camp sights?

uk elephant
02-15-2007, 12:32 AM
Wow! Lucky you! It's a tough ride, but some fantastic sights along the way. Must admit I wouldn't know exact routs to take on a bike though. I've only ever done the trip in a car or on the train. Pretty much every village will have campsites and every few miles you will come across a sign saying "Hytte". These are small cabins with no amenities, but at least warm and dry when the weather turns bad. And they are cheap.

As for things to see along the way.....

Art gallery/studios at Vinstra
Dovregubben's hall at Dovre - a large cave
Reindeer meatballs at Kongsvoll are quite yummy and the farm is beautiful
Look for muskoxen around Kongsvoll as well
If you have time for a break from cycling - whitewater rafting in Sjoa river or at Oppdal.

And once you get to Trondheim....the cathedral is beautiful. And there is a very good coffee shop just next to it called Ni Muser. Picknic on the Munkholmen Island is a nice day out. There are great hikes in the woods all around town. The outdoor museum at Sverresborg is worth a visit and should be combined with traditional Norwegian dinner in Tavern, a restaurant from the 17th century. And if you have time and are not fed up with pedalling, take a detour to Hell and back. The bike ride to Hell is on cycle paths the whole way (by the side of the road, but still out of the way of traffic) and has some very nice views of the fjord.

Duck on Wheels
02-15-2007, 10:34 AM
Obvious we're from Trondheim, huh? :rolleyes:
Just to fill in some further blanks ...

There are also so-called "Folk Museums" (old farmhouses, in summertime with activities going on such as weaving, churning, etc.) in Oslo http://www.folkemuseet.no/ and Lillehammer http://www.maihaugen.no/default.aspx?id=250. Rather larger ones, in fact, than in Trondheim, though the one in Trondheim is definitely worth a day's visit too http://www.sverresborg.no/english/.

Other things to see and do in Oslo: The Viking Ship museum http://www.khm.uio.no/english/viking_ship_museum/,
the sculpture park at Frogner http://www.museumsnett.no/vigelandmuseet/eindex.htm,
the Munch museum http://www.munch.museum.no/?id=&mid=&lang=en (no dogs allowed inside, tho),
lounge about on the waterfront in the sun nibbling fresh steamed shrimp from a bag, then when the bag's empty go inside the City Hall and see the murals.

I imagine the tourist information will have a cycling map to offer. You might also find some cycle route info from tourist info sites on the Internet (found one site for you here: http://www.bike-norway.com/default.asp?lang=eng). There are two main road routes from Oslo to Trondheim -- Gudbrandsdalen and Østerdalen. Both are fairly narrow valleys with a major highway running along one side of the river. One way to get out of the traffic is to ride parallel "back side" roads. You may not be able to connect all the dots that way, but at least for significant stretches there will be roads that parallel the highway, either on the other side of the river or part way up the slope, or both.

Atop Dovre mountain you can probably bike the old highway route, which gets very little traffic now. The narrowest stretches, also winding and heavily trafficked, will be the final climb up onto and the first stretch coming down off the mountain, be that Dovre mountain (Gudbrandsdal route) or Kvikne (Østerdal route, perhaps a bit less traffic that way, and it would take you through Røros which is an international "heritage" town, very scenic!). There is a hiking trail over Dovre mountain, maintained as a pilgrimage trail to the cathedral in Trondheim http://www.visitnorway.com/templates/NTRproduct.aspx?id=173644&lang=EN. I've never hiked it, so I don't know whether it's bikable. But again, I bet you can find information about it at a tourist info office or on the Internet. If it is bikable, it would keep you out of traffic all the way over the mountain. It is also pretty spectacularly beautiful, and will have shelters for rest stops and so on. The pilgrimage route actually goes all the way from Oslo to Trondheim, partly on less trafficked roads, partly on hiking trails. At least the road bits would certainly be bikable, but if the trail over Dovre is not then you're still left with a narrow winding highway stretch. That said, though, we are accustomed to seeing cyclists along there. I think most drivers are courteous.