Saturday — Arrival in Tromsø
The trip started with — what else — the flight to Tromsø. It was super early in the morning, so we were rather happy that we’d already sent our luggage the day before. We had to arrive at the airport around 5:20 in the morning, so we took a taxi, which was quite nice. Early and still kind of tired, we went through security without any hiccups. Now almost a tradition, we went to NZZ Cafe in Zurich Airport, which doesn’t have the best coffee but definitely the best location. And, as we would learn later on, the coffee was many times better than most coffee in Norway.1
Breakfast on the plane — rather tasty.
The plane was already at ZRH overnight, so boarding was easy, and we departed even a bit early on our Edelweiss flight. We chose Edelweiss because they fly to Tromsø (no surprises there) but also because it’s very convenient to travel with bikes with them. In fact, the bike isn’t part of your allotted luggage, and you can bring it for free, which is quite a nice touch for an airline in 2026. Also, a bit of a surprise: we even received some breakfast. Not too bad.
Some shots outside the plane window — more and more snow appearing as we got closer to Tromsø.
Arriving in Tromsø was reasonably easy, since there’s only one luggage belt and the airport is really small. We took our luggage and waited for the bikes to arrive in oversize luggage. This all worked perfectly. But then we asked someone working at the airport if there was a way to transport the bike cartons or where we could build the bikes, and the person was very unfriendly and entirely unhelpful. As we would later learn, unfriendly wasn’t necessarily a bad thing — that’s just how Norwegians sometimes are — but the unhelpfulness was a bit surprising.2
We tried to take a bus and bring our luggage (including our bikes in the boxes) on it, but the bus driver told us no — again in a very unfriendly way. Look, that’s fine, but I don’t really understand why we couldn’t bring our — admittedly rather large — luggage on a bus that was entirely empty. Anyway, we decided to build the bikes at the airport and transport the luggage (no bikes) by bus. That somehow worked, and we just stored the boxes in the car garage at the airport (shh! don’t tell anyone).3
Now we were mobile. We stored our extra luggage at the place we were going to stay when we came back and set off.
The bikes ready and packed for one week. Important to bring enough, but not too much.
We went for a nice coffee at riso caffe, where we also had our first kanelsnurr — a cinnamon roll — which would become a bit of a food staple during our travels. The coffee was good, even if they only had a neutral smiley for their food hygiene rating. Well, sometimes you have to take some calculated risks. (We didn’t notice anything.)4
Our next order of business was boarding the Hurtigruten that would take us up north. We reserved some non-cabin tickets in advance, which was fairly easy. Unfortunately, there is barely any signage showing where you should board the Hurtigruten — apparently you’re just supposed to know. The ships are rather large, so we knew the approximate place, but we were still a bit confused about how to get there. We had to walk through a building, down some stairs while carrying our bikes, and then climb over a fence so we could board with the cars in the belly of the ship. Confusing, but we managed.5
The view leaving Tromsø.
We’d bought a bit of dinner to bring with us on the boat, so we ate on deck, which was very nice. And by that I mean the view and our spot on the ship — the food was, as is most food in Norway, not spectacular. But we did try the cheese in a tube that we bought, and let’s just say it tastes how you’d expect something like that to taste, which is not very good.6
In the evening on the boat, while hanging around the top-floor cafeteria, two exciting things happened. We crossed another Hurtigruten boat, which we greeted and then sang some sea shanties with the crew. The singing was fun, but the other guests — all considerably older — didn’t really participate much.
Waving flags for our sister ship — a bit of fun on deck. I seemed to enjoy it the most, but there was loud music and some cheering.
Since we didn’t have a cabin, we decided to sleep on the sofas in the cafeteria, which were luckily long enough for us (and really anyone — they were close to three metres). For journeys under 23 hours, you don’t have to book a cabin, and the cabins are rather expensive. We wanted to focus a bit more on the biking part, so we went without cabins. This was fine, and I’d probably do it again. We slept quite well, with earplugs and a sleeping mask. I woke up a couple of times because the cleaning crew was working and because I was a bit cold. In hindsight, bringing a bit more clothing would have been good for sleeping, but in hindsight you’re always smarter.7
Midnight sun from the ship — a really strange experience.
Sunday — Hurtigruten to Honningsvåg & Nordkapp
Arrived in Honningsvåg by Hurtigruten ferry. Cycled the E69 to the North Cape — steep climbs, fog, and an unforgettable view — then back to Honningsvåg.
Monday — Honningsvåg to Oldersfjord
Cycled 90+ km along the Porsangerfjord, passing through three tunnels, including the Nordkapp Tunnel, to reach Olderfjord.8
Tuesday — Oldersfjord to Hammerfest
Climbed steeply out of Olderfjord, descended to Skaidi, then rode along the sea via Repparfjord to Hammerfest, crossing the Kvalsund Bridge.
Wednesday — Rest Day in Hammerfest and a Ferry to Alta
Explored Hammerfest: visited the Struve Meridianbogen monument and hiked in the surrounding hills.9
Thursday — From Alta to Alteidet
Took a high-speed ferry to Alta in the afternoon, then cycled via Kåfjord toward Alteidet, navigating around tunnels and a landslide area — just made it before the rain.
Friday — Alteidet to Sørkjosen
Big day: 1,310 metres of climbing over a mountain pass near Burfjord, bypassing the Kvænangsfjellet Tunnel, then down to Sørkjosen.
Saturday — Sørkjosen to Nordfjordbotn
Rode along the Lyngenfjord, took a ferry from Olderdalen to Lyngseidet, then cycled to Svensby.
Yes, we kept trying. No, it didn’t really improve. ↩︎
Direct, not rude — and often very kind once you get talking. ↩︎
The multi-storey next to arrivals — not exactly official, but sheltered and handy. ↩︎
The smiley system is Norway’s public food hygiene grading and is visible on all restaurants and coffee places. ↩︎
Pro tip: follow the car check-in signs; pedestrians with bikes board via the vehicle ramp at some ports. ↩︎
Yes, that one — the spreadable one. Novelty value: 10/10. Flavour: 3/10. ↩︎
For the second Hurtigruten, we brought our sleeping bags, which worked like a charm. ↩︎
Often written “Olderfjord” locally; both forms appear on maps. ↩︎
Part of the Struve Geodetic Arc, a UNESCO World Heritage chain of survey points stretching from Hammerfest to the Black Sea. ↩︎