The birth of the project
I love looking at maps and in particular at those singular locations that make you think “I just wanna go there!”. When I’m looking at a map of Europe, one location always captures my attention: the North Cape, a cliff in the Barents Sea connected to the mainland via a 7 km long tunnel, the northernmost international road. I’ve always been fascinated by polar regions and after going on a scientific expedition in Antarctica during my PhD, I thought I really needed to go in the Arctic. That was all the motivation I needed to start planning a trip to the North Cape. Things started to get more concrete when I asked a friend if he still had the project to ride to the northernmost road of Europe. This is how the project started.
You can find my Komoot collection here.
Stats📌
📏 3,560 km
🏔️ 37,000 m elevation gain
📆 23 days biking, 3 rest days
⛴️ 16 ferry crossings
🔧 2 punctures, 1 broken spoke
⛺ 18 nights camping
🛏️ 7 nights in hotels/cabins/ferry
The experience
Riding the whole length of Norway should be on the bucket list of every bikepacking enthusiast. The transition from the mountains in the south with glaciers, frozen lakes and Fjords to the Arctic Tundra is simply stunning. If you like riding the less traveled paths, the southern part of Norway offers plenty of gravel roads. Otherwise, the EuroVelo 1 is the best option if you want to meet other fellow cyclists: it’s one of the most popular itinerary in Europe during the summer.
What I particularly enjoyed riding in Norway is the combination of wilderness and “civilisation”. There are plenty of great wild camping spots, but you’re also never far from a grocery store and drinking water is nearly always available.
In terms of Landscape, the most impressive transition is when you get out of Alta: a gentle climb to a Plateau at about 400 m a.s.l. after which it’s only the Arctic Tundra as far as you can see.
The final 30 km to the North Cape are rather hilly as you climb 700 m in 3 climbs to reach the famous globe platform and the 300 m high cliff to the Barents Sea.
Final thoughts
It’s certainly not a big achievement to ride to the North Cape, but it’s definitely an unforgettable adventure accessible to pretty much anyone with a minimum fitness. It was definitely the biggest cycling adventure I’ve ever done. The only question that remained after the trip was when and how long the next one is gonna be.