Short visit to Trondheim. Continuing to Sandnessjøen. Kystriksveien Coastal Route with little views due to the weather, lots of waiting for ferries and crossing the Arctic Circle.

Travelogue Norway 2021
Trondheim, Kystriksveien Coastal Route

Bay between Halsa and Henna, Norway — We continue towards Trondheim. Lake or Fjord? Quick answer? Three, two, one… a fjord or at least a bay between Halsa and Henna. Salt water, anyway.

storehouses in Trondheim, Norway — Trondheim is Norway’s third largest city with just 190,000 inhabitants and one of the most photogenic according to travel guides.

street in Trondheim, Norway — Also otherwise a lot of nice corners and little streets.

Nidarosdomen, Trondheim, Norway — Nidarosdomen from the outside

After three hours including breakfast we have seen enough and we continue our journey. We plan to do some distance and get further north.

river Namsen, Norway — We follow the river Namsen upstream for some time.

Majavatnet, Norway — Unfortunately, photos can hardly capture the incredible atmosphere of seeing a strip of sunlight reflected in the waters of Lake Majavatnet.

Our next destination is the Kystriksveien Coastal Route, which is described in superlatives in the guidebook. We spend the night in Sandnessjøen, then we’re on our way. Unfortunately the weather does not play along and we do not see very much.

I had already addressed the issue of ferries several times. The overall good experiences of the last weeks had made me believe that I would get through the next day well without the knowledge of exact timetables. At first I had done some research on the internet to see if I could find them, but then gave up. ERROR! Do your research properly and in case of need ask your accommodation if they can help you. If possible, book your ride in advance, even if it’s only an hour before departure. If you have booked in advance, you can simply drive past the queue of waiting cars onto the ship. At least I think so.

More on our experience with ferries on this route below.

Helgelandsbrua, Sandnessjøen, Norway — Directly behind Sandnessjøen the journey starts with the particularly beautifully curved Helgelandsbrua.

We miss the first ferry Levang-Nesna by a few minutes and here the ferry does not run at least twice an hour, as is often the case further south. We wait one and a half hours in the rain in the car in a not very attractive bay.

view shortly after Stokkvågen, Norway — view shortly after Stokkvågen

At the ferry Jektvik-Kilboghamn we are at the ferry port with plenty of time before departure. But there are already many cars waiting in front of us. When the ferry is loaded, there is still one car in front of us, then a tanker truck, which arrived much later, gets priority and drives onto the ferry. The car in front of us also still fits on board. However, we are signaled: Back, take the next ship … Whoa, waiting again…

But then a call from the ship, “One more!”

cargo bay of the ferry Jektvik-Kilboghamn, Norway — Somehow diagonally, in front, sideways, behind just twenty centimeters of air our car gets on board. The green one there is the tanker truck that got priority. What luck!

On this ferry we cross the polar circle! We are obviously a few weeks late for midnight sun, but still!

polar circle, ferry Jektvik-Kilboghamn, Norway — See that little white sculpture on the shore? This is the Artic Circle Monument on the island of Vikingen. It is at a northern latitude of 66.55°. However, when we get there in 2021, the Arctic Circle is at 66.57° (it’s moving!), which is almost two kilometers further north.

Only a few kilometres further on the road, then a third, this time only short ferry ride on this day from Ågskardet to Forøy. Our destination for the day is to allow us a trip to a glacier after all.

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Travelogue Norway 2021Trondheim, ­Kystriksveien ­Coastal Route

Travelogue Norway 2021
Trondheim, Kystriksveien Coastal Route