Norway - Dovrefjell and Jotunheimen

The way South lead us through a high plateau in central Norway. There, the road climbs up to a thousand meters a.s.l. and crosses the Dovrefjell National Park. It’s a vast space with low bushy vegetation, with hiking paths that stretch for tens of kilometers. It’s a very special place - one of the few in the world where it’s possible to see the musk oxen. Of course we were not lucky enough to see any during this short time we were there, but the park itself is beautiful.

on a side road

in the kingdom of the musk ox - a warning not to approach this big pile of fur as it may attack in self-defense

the vastness

Of course, such an endlessly open space fosters strong winds. At some point, we even got embraced by a little snow blizzard, though it didn’t last long. After the wind calmed, the falling snow perfected the ambience of the sunset.

the blizzard calms down

Antoine is happy to have survived the blizzard

summer houses in the snow

Antoine tries to spot a musk ox

the only musk ox we saw in the park

sunset mood with a snowfall

After crossing Dovrefjell, we descended into a valley that curls between three national parks. We decided to visit Jotunheimen National Park, which is one of the most popular parks in Norway (however, in the area that we visited there was nobody except for a group of Norwegians walking their dogs). Its name is related to the mythical land of giants, due to the monumental landscape. The highest peaks in Norway are found in this area. We had just one day to explore the region, and some parts of it were not accessible due to snow storms and consequent road closures.

the road to Jotunheimen

beginning of the Sognefjellet National Scenic Route. We were considering following it as it's said to be the most beautiful of the scenic routes, but the road turned out to be very icy.

We chose to follow a long valley Leirdalen and to make it more interesting, we hopped on bikes. The valley is surrounded by 2300+ high peaks. The winter was already settled in the Norwegian mountains - the temperature was -10 degrees. There was no wind and the valley was very quiet and peaceful.

the entrance to Leirdalen

the snow on the road thickens

winter road closure

on the way to Oslo

And that’s it for our Norvegian trip! From Jotunheimen, we reached Oslo in around 4 hours, where we boarded an overnight ferry that took us to Copenhagen. To sum up, we absolutely loved Norway! In 7 weeks, we followed the fjords, crossed the mountain passes, took countless ferries, went above the Artic Circle, explored Lofoten and experienced the beginning of winter. Our route is visible on the map below:

The nature is stunning, and the people are very friendly. We will definitely be back - we still have the whole Finnmark to see!

last looks from the ferry