Believe the Hype! Norway's Ultimate Bikepacking Route

So what makes a great bikepacking route? Obviously quiet roads, hard packed gravel, perhaps some single track for adventure, wild open vistas, epic climbs with stunning views, great wild camping spots, traditional mountain lodges, easy access for transport and food supplies. Not all routes offer this, in fact there are not many out there that can tick all these boxes very easily and this my friends is why I'm going to introduce you to Norway's greatest bikepacking route. So this journey begins in Norway's capital Oslo, it's early Saturday morning in late August, the whole country has been blessed with sunshine for the weekend. I'm looking for a weekend route that is easy logistically with little planning, pre-booking or organization. Mjølkeveien is like the equivalent of plug and play, click and collect, out of the box ready. You basically just jump on a train and go, you don't need to organize anything else. So this is the plan of action, we jump on the Oslo to Bergen train and get off halfway at the town of Gull, where the journey begins. Day one we cycle 130 kilometers to the only town on the route, Byterstulen, where we'll camp for the night. Day two is a comfortable 100 kilometers to the end point at Vinstra and then from there it's a simple task of jumping on the Trondheim to Oslo train and three hours later we're back home. A total of 230 kilometers of cycling, 4,400 meters of elevation gain with over 85 percent on perfect gravel roads. So it's the last weekend of summer, perfect weather, first train heading to the mountains on a Saturday, you'd think it'd be full of bikepackers but no, just this guy here and this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. That's it, so do you have any shoe covers? So like a couple of nerds we're sat in the food carriage comparing and talking about our bikepacking setups, boring the hell out of everybody around us. We were like kindred spirits, we were doing the exact same thing. Eric was going a little bit further on and doing a different route but same idea, great weather, power out of route, get back to Oslo on Sunday. What better way to spend your weekend? The great thing about the Oslo to Bergen line is there's usually a full carriage for bikes. The reason for this is because of the famous Rollervijn or Rallervijn cycling route which basically all these people are heading to. It's kind of the only route that most people know about. I should mention that this is in 2021 and this is what the new cycling carriage looks like. Still plenty of space but you should always book your bike on board in advance. So it's 9 30, it's 9 30 and we are in Roel and the sun is shining, we've got blue sky which is fantastic but it is not warm here. There's a really really cold breeze so I'm glad I brought some extra clothing honestly. Nothing is guaranteed in Norway, that is for sure. You should always bring extra clothing. All right guys, this is what it's all about. Get up early on a Saturday morning, jump on the train and now I'm here. Straight away you've got an 800 meter climb which will bring you up onto the top of rolling alpine plains. From there it flattens out with spectacular views for the next 200 and so kilometers. The gravel is in excellent condition and the traffic very light. Once in a while a car or tractor may pass you but in general these are cycling roads. What I love about this route is in the winter it's very popular for cross-country skiing. So every 40 or 50 kilometers you're going to come across a small cafe, maybe with a kiosk. It's so easy to keep yourself resupplied without having to carry too much food but just make sure you check the opening times as sometimes they close early. And what about water? Yeah, you're not going to have a problem filling them bottles up. Nice open plains, there's trees dotted about. Although this section is very very flat you get beautiful views of Hemsedal mountain range and then on day two you have Jotterheimen national park as your backdrop. Two spectacular mountain ranges always on view. After a quick stop in Vasset I decided to go off-route a little bit and try out a bit more of a rough road. You see there are so many gravel roads in this area you don't have to stick to the route. You can experiment if you want but be warned the road may disappear. The path is turned onto basically a single track for hikers. 1.4 kilometers to the normal road. 1.4. After that little stop at the cabin I took the wrong road out. Don't ask, don't ask. And ended up in a bit of a mess but it was a little bit of an adventure and all roads will lead to Vinster eventually so we found our way. Don't you dare act in front of me, don't you dare. Oh bloody hell where did you come from? What a view, what a view. Too shabby. Now that is a cabin. Nearly, nearly. We're going this way unfortunately. I'd like to go this way but this way it is. The mighty Slettefjella, often described as the sky road, climbing to over 1,300 meters above sea level. It looks like a little hill from a distance but you soon realize this is no ordinary mountain. If you take the northern route from Gaul this is one of Norway's toughest gravel climbs. An average gradient of over 10% will make you suffer every meter up. I can't describe to you how hard this climb is. It's just non-stop up, up, up. Like there's no switchbacks to ease the gradient. Just one long straight road with this crazy gradient at the top guys. On reaching the top you are rewarded with one of the best gravel road views in Norway. Camera and drone does not give this place justice. You need to be here. The edge of Jotterheimen National Park lies in front of you for the first time. It's like a scene out of Lord of the Rings. The route is now entering a new stage. Some reindeers over there but they're a little bit too far away. You can just about see them can't you? Now what I should be doing is pitching my tent here but I brought a bivy to save weight and it's freezing cold and there are mosquitoes about. So I head down to the town of Beiterstulen where I find out the Beatles are playing. I should have been doing this but I had this instead. What a school boy error. Don't bring a bivy. If you have a tent it's worth the extra weight. Well good morning from the road. It's nine o'clock. It's a beautiful day again but we are 1000 meters above sea level and I tell you when I got out of my uh bivy this morning oh my god it was so cold. It was just that kind of mountain cold. So I slept at about about 850 meters above sea level which is kind of like the lowest point in this whole area. This is road 51. It's quite a famous road because it goes kind of through Jotterheimen or to the side of Jotterheimen which is like the probably the most famous national park all the really high mountains are in Norway. The ones over 2000 meters so it's gonna be pretty epic. 13 kilometers from Beiterstulen and you reach another beautiful mountain lodge. This one is one of my favorites. I've actually done a video on this which you can watch here where I interview the owner and give you a guided tour. Yeah okay welcome to Bygdyn Høyfells Hotel. Bygdyn is a very old hotel in the mountains of Norway. It was actually established in 1897 by a guy called... It's beautiful inside but outside's even better. The paved scenic route Valderesflere continues north but we're going to say goodbye to the cars and jump on a beautiful gravel road heading east. Jotterheimenvergen is probably the most famous gravel road in Norway. 45 kilometers of wide open alpine mountain terrain that ticks every cyclist's gravel adventure box. Just make sure you remember to stop and turn around once in a while. The views are something else. So this road is definitely everything that it's made out to be. It's absolutely stunning the landscape. It's just so raw and we've got a lot of trees down here. Other side it's just kind of sweeping mountain landscape and you can just see so far all around you. You can see for absolutely miles. Stunning, absolutely stunning. The road's pretty damn good condition. Lots of ups and downs as you'd expect but my goodness this is one hell of a gravel road. I don't think you'll find many better gravel roads in Europe to answer. Wild, wild, wild, wild. Look at this. Can you move? Left or right? Doesn't matter. You want to play chicken? We'll play chicken. Mjölkveien in English translates to the milk way or the milk route and that's basically because all the cows here in the summer can run freely around and apparently legend has it this produces the world's greatest milk. So after around 40 kilometers we drop down a few hundred meters to the tree line and we reach basically a beautiful forest area and this will characterize most of the region now as we head to Winstra. This would have been the perfect place to camp last night. 600 meters above sea level so it's So what are your thoughts on this route? The weather up here is usually not this good. Cold, wet and windy conditions are not uncommon but having cycled this route in all types of conditions I don't regret any opportunity to explore this terrain. As you've seen logistically it's easy to do and to make it even easier on cyclenorry.com I have created a full detailed page explaining everything about this route and all the alternatives, add-ons, detours, extended options for every type of adventure. Join the free membership and get access. And lastly what about that other bikepacker I met on the train on the way to Goul? Yeah I think he had a good time too and the year after we actually met up and did a few routes together. You can watch them here, some of them are really good. Check this one out. No I agreed with it as well, both are stupid ideas.