WE ARE DEREK + EMILY. WE LIVE IN A TINY HOUSE AND THESE ARE OUR TRAVELS.
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We had cut short our road trip thru Northern Ireland and [Northern] Ireland by a day due to the weather on the Wild Atlantic Way. So since we had the day off of work and the rental car still, we took a trip through the Wicklow Mountains.
Our destination was the Glendalough Monastic Site, but it is always more fun to take the back roads then to drive straight to your destination. We opted for the military road that passes through Sally Gap. This will also give you a glimpse of Lough Tay.
When we arrived at Glendalough, there was a small fee to park the car. This early Christian monastic settlement was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. Most of the remains are from the 11th and 12th century. Take some time to wander the trails. We took the walk to upper lake and grabbed a coffee and a hot chocolate for the walk back.
We headed out to Bray Head after Glendalough. We took in the coast and decided to have dinner at Mt. Everest of Kathmandu. The food was absolutely delicious! After dinner we headed back to Dublin.
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This is just a portion of our overall road trip across Denmark, Norway, and Scotland, so we are going to break it down by country. Here is the lineup for Norway:
Day 1: Stavanger (arrived by ferry from Hirtshals, Denmark) Day 2: Stavanger Day 3: Bergen Day 4: Geiranger Day 5: Geiranger Day 6: Geiranger Day 7: Flåm Day 8: Trolltunga Day 9: Travel to Liverpool for the British Open What we packed: Checked bag - Camping/hiking gear Checked bag - Clothes/toiletries Carry-on bag - Camera backpack Carry-on bag - Hiking backpack
Day 1
Total drive time: 0h Route: Stavanger Accommodations: Airbnb Our road trip doesn't actually begin until we get to Bergen, Norway. Prior to arriving in Bergen, we spent 2 days in Stavanger - mainly to hike Preikestolen. We took the overnight ferry from Hirtshals, Denmark to Stavanger, Norway, and arrived in Stavanger at 6:30am. The ferry port is west of Stavanger in a town called Tanager, so you will need transportation to the city. A taxi is quite expensive - 400 NK. You can make arrangements with Fjordline for affordable bus transportation to the city, which is the best option. We dropped our bags off at our Airbnb and familiarized ourselves with our surroundings. Our Airbnb was centrally located and walking distance to many restaurants, the mall, other shops, and the ferry port. Everything can be found in this area. Around 10:00am, it is time to start heading to Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock). Before our ferry for the Preikestolen hike, we went to a delicious bakery, Kanelsnurren. We crossed the street to the grocery store to grab snacks for the hike, and then walked a block to the port. No need to buy Preikestolen tickets in advance, you can purchase the ferry and bus ride tickets at the port. The ferry was about a 35 minute ride and the bus about a 25 minute ride. And now you're at the base camp of Preikestolen! Note - they've got a pretty well organized operation here. Restrooms, snack bars, a restaurant, organized bus pickup/drop-off, etc. The hike itself is absolutely breathtaking. Plan for about 2 hours to Preikestolen, at least an hour at the top to rest and enjoy the surroundings, and two hours for the way back. This hike is of moderate difficulty with some steep "stairs" combined with long flat areas. The first of these three images shows a shallow pond with some tents in the background. If you're feeling up for some wild camping, that pond is a great spot.
We arrived back in Stavanger by 6:00pm. We ate dinner at Mogul India Restaurant - the food was absolutely delicious! After dinner, we headed back to our Airbnb to shower and sleep. This is where we stayed - Airbnb - the location was super central, you could walk to everything and anything you needed, but the conditions were extremely unsanitary. We should have read the reviews more closely :(.
Day 2 Total drive time: 0h Route: Stavanger Accommodations: Airbnb We had planned to hike to Kjeragbolten, but after the ferry and hike to Preikestolen we were just too exhausted and decided to spend the day exploring Stavanger. We hit up Kanelsnurren again for breakfast. Then we walked towards Gamle Stavanger (Old Stavanger). This is a preserved historic part of the city on the west side of Vågen, the inner harbor area of Stavanger. The houses are 19th and 20th century and all of the houses are white - you can't miss it. We went to Døgnvill Burger for lunch and then to Øst to get our hands on some craft beer - we also never leave home without our travel cribbage board!
After Øst, we stopped the grocery store to pick up something for dinner (and a few beers). After dinner, we went to Øvre Holmegate, which is also known as "the colorful street." We went into Bøker og Børst and decided to split a flight of craft beers. There was an awesome patio in the back where we met some locals and played Cards Against Humanity.
Day 3 Total ferry time: 5h 30m Route: Stavanger - Bergen Accommodations: Airbnb We woke up early to catch the Fjordline bus from the train station in Stavanger to go back to the Fjordline port at which we arrived. We took the same ferry to Bergen (7:00am-12:30pm). After arriving in Bergen, we walked to our Airbnb to drop off our bags. We then headed into the city and went straight for the Torget Fish Market to eat a late lunch. We had some awesome fish and chips and also the prettiest cup of fruit.
After the fish market, we wandered over to Bryggen - a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the Vågen harbor. This is the old wharf of Bergen. It has a unique collection of shops behind the face of these buildings, which reminded us of a village from Lord of the Rings or something. Bryggen is on the UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage Sites.
Just behind Bryggen is St. Mary's Church - which is a beautiful church from the 12th century.
We then wandered the streets to get to the Fløibanen, which is a funicular that connects the city center with the mountain of Fløyen, At the top, you get a great view of the city. There are snacks and souvenirs, along with a walking trail.
We grabbed a frozen pizza on our way back to our Airbnb. We ate and rested. The Airbnb was nice and central - we would definitely stay again!
Day 4 Total drive time: 5h Route: Bergen - Geiranger Accommodations: Geirangerfjorden Feriesenter - Cabins & Camping In the morning, we walked to pick up our rental car, and what a start to the day because we lucked out with a free UPGRADE to an automatic black AUDI wagon!. The drive to Geiranger was the most beautiful thing we have ever done. We lost track of how many times we stopped to pull over and take pictures. Every turn was more breathtaking than the last. The drive was filled with tunnels, mountains, fjords, waterfalls. You will not be disappointed by this drive!
When we arrived into Geiranger, we found the perfect spot to pitch a tent - at the Geirangerfjorden Feriesenter - Cabins & Camping. We took a quick drive into town for dinner at Restaurant Olebuda. After dinner, we went back to our campsite to hang and enjoy the views.
Day 5
Total drive time: 0h Route: Geiranger Accommodations: Geirangerfjorden Feriesenter - Cabins & Camping For breakfast, we hit the Geiranger Bakeri - it is on the main street into town, you can't miss it. We planned to kayak today, but it was too cold and rainy. So we waited for the sky to clear up a bit and went on a short hike, Vesteråsfjellet. We drove to the Westerås Restaurant, and the hike begins just beyond that. The hike was quick, about 25 min, but there was an awesome overlook of the fjord. We were basically walking in the clouds, which was really cool. There always seems to be a random animal somewhere.
After our hike, we went to the grocery store to grab a few snacks and drinks. Alcohol is expensive in Norway and hard to find outside of a restaurant. Aside from Stavanger, we don't recall seeing any actual bars again. We played card games in the tent while enjoying the rain and watching the cruise ships pass through. We went back into town for dinner at Friaren Bistro. The food was so-so in Geiranger. We really wanted to eat at Brasserie Posten, but reservations are required.
Day 6 Total drive time: 6h Route: Geiranger - Flåm Accommodations: Flåm Camping In the morning, we made PBJs for breakfast (we always tried to keep a loaf of bread and peanut butter with us!). We then rented a kayak for three hours, the rental was right near our campsite. We kayaked to the base of Skageflå, which is a historic mountain farm. It took us about 45 min to reach the base by kayak. We had a small map with us, so we had an idea of where the base would be. We then got out of the water and pulled our kayak out. We then had to hike straight up the side of a cliff for 30 minutes (250 meters). The hike was very challenging and there were many parts were the footing was sketchy. At the top you can see the Seven Sisters Waterfall. There were a few old buildings at the top as well. It was an awesome view. The farm had been there since the middle ages, but has not been used since 1918. We then hiked back down, which was much quicker, and kayaked back.
After kayaking, we decided to drive to Flåm. We found dinner in Øvre Årdal, The long drive was again spectacular, the route we took ended up taking us on Sognetjellet. Route 55 across the Sognefjell mountain area between Luster and Lom is the highest and most impressive mountain pass in Northern Europe (highest point 1434 meters), and it has been awarded the status of National Tourist Route because of the spectacular and wild mountain scenery it passes through in the Jotunheimen National Park. The route also took us through Lærdalstunnelen, which is the world's longest tunnel at 24.51 km - yikes! There was a cute place to grab a pastry and a coffee somewhere along the Sognetjellet. We found camp in Flåm and went to bed.
Day 7
Total drive time: 3h 15m Route: Flåm - Trolltunga Accommodations: Trolltunga Parking Lot Our plan for the day was to do our own version of the Norway in a Nutshell tour, but honestly it was not worth it. After our two long scenic drives, I am afraid nothing will ever compare to it! We went down to the Flåm train station and here is what we booked -
The greatest thing about the tour, was the train from Flåm to Myrdal. Here are some pictures from the ferry.
Back in Flåm, there are so many cute shops, we ended up getting a lot of gifts here to take home to friends and family. That night, we drove to the Trolltunga Parking Lot, so that we would be able to get started on our hike early in the morning. We literally set camp in the parking lot in front of our car. Drive to Tyssedal (6 km from Odda) on route 13. Follow signs to Skjeggedal and Trolltunga. After about 7 km you reach the parking lot in Skjeggedal. Parking in Skjeggedal (NOK 300/day).
Day 8 Total drive time: 3h 15m Route: Trolltunga - Bergen Accommodations: Midttun Motell & Camping We picked up hiking supplies in Flåm - 6 ham and cheese sandwhiches, nuts, protein bars, fruit. The hike is 27.5 km in total and takes anywhere from 10-12 hours. We started at 7:30am, it took us 4.5 hours to Trolltunga, 1.5 hours for views and pictures, 4 hours back to parking lot. The hike can be broken down like this -
We advise that you bring a couple pairs of extra socks and clothing for all 4-seasons. Also it doesn't hurt to bring plenty of food. There are numerous places to fill water up along the way, so don't worry about that. This hike was the hike of a lifetime for us. I would do it again and again. You will not be disappointed.
After our long hike, we drive to a seedy little motel/campsite outside of Bergen. We really just wanted a cheap place to shower and rest our heads for our flight in the morning.
Day 9 Total drive time: 30 min Route: Bergen - Bergen Airport Flight: Bergen - London We woke up early to head to the airport, return our car and prepare for the last leg of our trip! Stay tuned for our next blog post of the British Open and our Scotland road trip!
This is just a portion of our overall road trip across Denmark, Norway, and Scotland, so we are going to break it down by country. Here is the lineup for Denmark:
Day 1: Copenhagen Day 2: Copenhagen Day 3: Møns Klint (via Roskilde) Day 4: Fåborg (via Funen) Day 5: Ribe Day 6: Aarhus Day 7: Skagen (overnight cruise from Hirtshals to Stavanger, Norway) What we packed: Checked bag - Camping/hiking gear Checked bag - Clothes/toiletries Carry-on bag - Camera backpack Carry-on bag - Hiking backpack
Day 1 & Day 2 - Copenhagen
See our previous post here - Copenhagen: A 2-day Itinerary! Day 3 Total drive time: 2h 14m Route: Copenhagen - Roskilde - Møns Klint Accommodations: Camping Møns Klint We walked from our Airbnb to pick up our rental car in downtown Copenhagen. Just a small manual vehicle with a hatchback works great. We stopped back by our Airbnb to pick up our bags and the grocery store to pick up a few snacks and started towards Roskilde. When we arrived in Roskilde, we parked near the cathedral and started to walk the streets. It was a calm, quiet area. There was even a small market going on in the town's square.
After Roskilde, we drove to set up camp at Camping Møns Klint. After setting up our tent, we started off on our hike to Møns Klint, which is just a walk across the street to get to trails and the beach.
Here is the map we used to plan our hike - Møns Klint Hiking Map. We started out at Camping Møns Klint - took route 2 to the beach - hiked the beach to route 4 - took route 4 stairs up and worked our way back to Camping Møns Klint. This took one and a half to two hours, and beware of the stairs! There is a wooden staircase to get to and from the beach, and it consists of roughly 500 stairs. The white cliffs at Møns Klint are a must-see, as well as the view of the Baltic Sea. We ate dinner at the campground - which had a casual setting with wine, pizza, and a variety of other food options.
Day 4
Total drive time: 3h 22m Route: Møns Klint - Funen - Fåborg Accommodations: Nab Strand Camping We headed out early in the morning to get to Egeskov Castle. This place is magical - it truly is a fairy tale castle. This was the coolest castle we saw in Denmark. The gardens are the most magical piece, with over 15 gardens you will need at least a couple hours to fully wander. You can also explore the old stables, which now consist of museums with old farm equipment, cars, and small airplanes. This is certainly worthwhile, and you can spend the day here.
After Egeskov, take the short drive to the seaside town of Fåborg. This is a great place to just wander the streets. We had dinner at Spisehuset.
We set up camp for the night at Nab Strand Camping.
The original plan for the day was to take the ferry from Fåborg to Ærø and camp on the island. We changed our minds due to the cost of the ferry and the amount of time left in the day. So we opted to camp near Fåborg.
Day 5 Total drive time: 1h 58m Route: Fåborg - Ribe Accommodations: Ribe Camping In the morning, we headed off to Ribe. We went straight to the city center and found a place to park. We saw Ribe Domkirke, did a mini self guided walking tour of the old streets (Old Town Walk), and ended the day at the Museet Ribes Vikinger. Ribe is one of Scandinavia's oldest towns. The cobblestone streets date back to 869 AD! Walking these streets reminded us of Lord of the Rings and we really enjoyed it here.
After walking in Ribe, we headed out to Mandø, which is one of the Danish Wadden Sea Islands. This island is not always accessible due to the tide, so be sure to check the tide schedule out before you go!
On the way back from Mandø, we saw this house, which reminded me of Snow White, so I had to grab a picture!
We set up camp at Ribe Camping for the night.
Day 6 Total drive time: 1h 45m Route: Ribe - Aarhus Accommodations: Airbnb - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18985495 In the morning, we set off for Aarhus. We didn't really have a plan for the day. We knew we couldn't check into our room until the afternoon, and it started to rain, so we thought we would check out the ARoS Art Museum. We really enjoyed it - there are ten floors, each with a different theme. The top floor gives you a colored panoramic view of the city.
After the museum, we checked out Mollenstien Street - which is perhaps the prettiest street in Denmark.
We had dinner at the Aarhus Central Food Market and Aarhus Street Food (another market a few blocks away). Food was amazing! Lots of places to choose from, you will not be disappointed!
We wanted to get a drink at St. Pau'ls Apothek - http://stpaulsapothek.dk/ - but it was closed when we showed up :(. 
After dinner, we returned to our Airbnb and for the night.
Day 7 Total drive time: 3h 6m Route: Aarhus - Skagen - Hirtshals Accommodations: Overnight ferry to Stavanger In Skagen, we went to Grenen - Denmark's northernmost point. Here, you can walk out on a narrow sand patch where two seas meet. Parking was limited and it is a bit of a walk along the beach. If it is a nice day, it is worth going for a few hours. Next we went to check out Old Skagen, known for its yellow houses, and then had lunch down by the harbor.
On our way out of town, we stopped at Den Tilsandede Kirke, also known as the 'sand-covered church'. This church was built during the 14th century, but after a terrible sand drift, the congregation moved out. All that is left of the church is the tower.
We returned the rental car in Hirtshals. It was a bit of a hike to the ferry port (we walked it and it took us about 45 min., but we recommend taking a taxi). We took an overnight ferry to Stavanger, Norway.
Tips:
8/28/2017 0 Comments Copenhagen: A 2-Day Itinerary Our Scandinavian adventure starts here! We eventually went on a 7-day road trip to check out all of Denmark (overall a 4 week roadtrip), which will be laid out in the upcoming posts. But to start off, we stayed at an Airbnb for 2 nights in Copenhagen. Copenhagen was a great place to visit. It appears everyone in the city owns a bicycle, and uses it as their primary transportation. Our favorite thing about Copenhagen was the social atmosphere. We left Minneapolis at 7:30pm with IcelandAir and arrived in Copenhagen at 12:45pm with a short layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. Once we arrived, we went through passport control and were on our way to grab our luggage. We ended up checking two bags – one for our camping gear, one for our clothes. Unfortunately, only our camping gear showed up (we would pick up our clothes in two days ☹). It was the start of our trip, so we were not going to let a misplaced bag slow us down! We took the train from the Airport to Central Station and then Central Station to Dybbølsbro and walked to our Airbnb. We stayed in the Versterbro borough near the Fisketorvet shopping mall, which ended up being a prime location; close to any shopping necessities you may need at the mall or grocery store, and walking distance to local sites, or the train station.  Since the first half of our day in Copenhagen consisted of travel, here is a 1.5-day itinerary for the city. Day 1  After settling into our Airbnb, we took the train back to Central Station and caught a bus to Freetown Christiania. This is a famous utopian commune in the borough of Christianshavn. In the 70s, the Social Democratic government gave Christiania the official temporary status of “social experiment”. Old barracks have been transformed into practical spaces such as houses, kindergartens, workshops, cafes, and the streets are completely void of cars. The community also has its own social services and likes to do things its own way. Drugs seem to be the norm here – on Pusher Street, there are stalls lined up selling all types of Cannabis. It was a fun and unique area to explore. We strolled back towards Christianshavn and grabbed a pizza to go along with a 6 pack from the nearby corner store. We ate and drank on the edge of the canal and watched the boats stroll through. We decided to walk the canal back to our Airbnb and saw many bars/restaurants along the Kobenhaven Havn (a main water channel through Copenhagen). There was also a Jazz Festival taking place outside that drew a lot of attention. It was very relaxing to walk along the canal, drink in hand, sunset on its' way. It had been a long day of traveling, so we went to bed early to make the most of our final day in Copenhagen.  Day 2 We started the morning bright and early with a walk to breakfast at Mad & Kaffe. The menu is laid out so you can choose 3, 5 or 7 items to create your own breakfast. We thought it had great variety, but was slightly expensive (we would rather spend our money on dinner). The food was fantastic though.  We stopped at the mall on our way back (while we were on the phone trying to sort out our luggage situation). We found a grocery store there – Lidl – which quickly became our best friend. Breakfast options are much cheaper here. We stocked up on a few snacks for the day, and also some wine. After getting our luggage sorted out, we took the train to Østerport to start our walking tour of the city. Our route for the day – Kastellet – The Little Mermaid – Amalienborg – Nyhavn. Kastellet is one of the best-preserved star fortresses in Northern Europe.  The Little Mermaid isn’t very interesting – there are a lot of tourists and overpriced street merchants selling coffee and ice cream. It was worth the 2 second view, but we kept walking. We walked past Saint Ansgars Church which was lovely.  Next we saw Amalienborg Palace – which is the home of the Danish royal family. It is guarded day and night by Royal Life Guards and at noon they execute the changing of the guard (which we happened to see!).  We walked a block further and were able to see the Copenhagen Opera House – which appears to be made entirely of glass. Then we arrived at Nyhavn – a 17th century waterfront, canal and entertainment district. The harbour is lined by brightly colored 17th century townhouses, bars, cafes and restaurants. The canal harbours many historical wooden ships.  For lunch, we made the short walk to Torvenhallerne (you will pass Rosenborg Castle – definitely worth a picture) – a food market that has over 60 stands selling everything from fresh fish and meat to gourmet chocolate and exotic spices. There are also restaurants serving up paninis and other quick items with all those fresh ingredients. There is plenty of outdoor seating. We picked up some fresh fruit for the next day’s breakfast.  We walked back through Strøgert (shopping street) to window shop and went to our Airbnb. We waited here for a few hours (drinking wine and playing cribbage) hoping our bag would show up (it did not). When we got tired of waiting, we went out to Island’s Brygge to watch the Jazz Festival. There are so many places to eat/drink/listen to music on Island’s Brygge – worth a walk down (or two!). After the Jazz finished up, we grabbed a bottle of wine from a corner store (they actually hand you plastic glasses because they know you are going to drink on the street) and walked to a bar called the Fermentoren. This was a great spot with many local tap beers in a good setting. We would definitely recommend it. After a drink, we hopped over to Mikkeller Bar – also a great setting with a great beer selection.
We then walked back to our Airbnb – tomorrow we are picking up our rental car and starting our Denmark road trip (and getting our lost luggage☺)! |
