Generally, there are group tours and self-guided tours to Norway. Self-guided tours involve taking a taxi or driving yourself. Self-driving involves two issues, one is car rental and the other is traffic rules. You can check out this guide.
Renting a car
Regarding the choice of car rental company, the seniors have already prepared their opinions, so I will not go into details. Let’s talk about some important points:
1. Notes:
Many Norwegian wooden houses are suitable for two families to share. This time we invited a friend's family to go with us. We want to rent a 7-seater car. Sharing is cheaper. As a result, a 7-seater car automatically appeared! At least not at the airport where we planned to pick up the car, 9 months in advance! So my friends and I went on a casual search, and the itinerary was modified accordingly. Occasionally, 7-seater cars disappear instantly, which shows how troublesome it is to rent an automatic car in Europe. In desperation, we had to rent two separate cars to drive. Therefore, it is important to emphasize again that when considering how far in advance to book a trip to Norway, the key point is not the price of the big ticket, but when you can book the most beautiful cabin. Automatic cars should be booked in advance. The earlier the better. good.
2. About GPS, etc.
Although I have traveled abroad several times, this is the first time I plan to drive overseas. The lessons learned are as follows:
1) Dabao was 5 years old and 10 months old at the time, and we did not choose a booster pad. In fact, it is still necessary to get a booster pad directly from home, depending on the price, whether it is for safety or for the child to have a farther and clearer vision.
2) Norway is basically a two-way single lane with clear road signs and sufficient strategies. In fact, there is no need to rent a GPS. Google Maps is an artifact~! Next time it will be much easier to mark the coordinates of your main destination in advance.
3) Norway is a paradise for self-driving. Signs of scenic spots can be seen everywhere on the 18 national scenic highways. There are scenic spots~~~ah! The domestic Chinese guide does not mention the names of all attractions, but if you have time and the weather is good, especially on the National Scenic Highway, stop when you see the signs. The scenery guarantees you won’t regret it.
4) In summary, the driving time from one place to another displayed on Google Maps is for reference only. That’s time for non-stop driving. Just kidding, it’s impossible to drive without stopping. I stayed at the camping cabin on the Atlantic Road from Geiranger. The map showed that it took more than 4 hours. We stopped and stopped all day long, and the weather was not good. The first few major points of the hike were covered by fog. In short, for family travel, it is more appropriate to control the daily self-driving route to about 200Km, especially in elite scenic spots, not too fast ~ ~
Self-driving
The biggest feeling of self-driving in Norway is that " "Three more" - many detours, many tunnels, and many speed tests. In the past in Australia and New Zealand, and this time in Iceland, I have never seen speed devices on the road so frequently. Of course, the number of speed detectors is far from that in China, and there is no difference between it and China. Here, a few hundred meters before the speed check point, there will be a sign on the roadside. The sign depicts the camera symbol and the local speed limit, making it clear at a glance.
The car I drove in Norway was a Volvo V40 manual diesel car rented from Hertz. We affectionately call it Wowo. Unexpectedly, the same car was picked up twice. This is fate. Since Norway has many mountainous roads and many twists and turns, Uncle Ben, as the only driver throughout the whole journey, firmly chose manual transmission in order to maintain "stable speed and good driving feel on curves."
The total cost of renting a car in Norway is approximately NOK 4,500 for 8 days, including insurance and taxes. Only one driver (additional drivers cost more), and the basic price (rental price only) is around NOK 250 per day.
It should be noted that the price of local car rental is the price of a driver. If you add another driver, you will have to pay more. Although there are generally no police on the road to check whether the driver is the designated driver when renting a car, but as a law-abiding citizen, I suggest you not to take risks.
1. Speed ??limit and road conditions:
Norway roadside speed limit signs. The speed limit is 80 km/h on most roads and 70 km/h in tunnels. It is required to drop below 50 km/h when entering the village.
The speed limit is 30 on a few sections or steep curves. Most roads are single lane in both directions.
Just like in Iceland
2. Toll roads:
Some roads and bridges in Norway are toll-free. Before entering the toll section, there are signs indicating the toll amounts for different types of vehicles. Most of the toll roads in Norway are paid electronically and we haven't seen a place where anyone paid manually.
Compared with the domestic ETC, Norway's electronic toll collection system is quite high-end and will not affect the toll no matter how fast the vehicle speed is. Presumably, the fee should be deducted by taking a photo of the license plate or identifying the pre-installed equipment on the car.
When renting a car in Norway, an electronic toll collection device will be affixed to the front windshield of the vehicle. After a few days after passing the toll road, the car rental company will send you a payment slip and charge it to your credit card.
Parking is free in most places outside the city. Only the parking lots at Pulpit Rock and Sherage Hill require an unlimited fee of 100 kronor. When in Bergen, we parked our car in the hotel parking lot for 200 kroner/day.
PS: Since the tolls incurred during our rental period were deducted from the credit card by Hertz a few days later, we received an email from Hertz one month after returning home, deducting parking fines that did not belong to us. Eventually, the money was recovered. Here, I would like to remind everyone that if the car rental company deducts money later, you must carefully check the name of each deduction to avoid being deducted.
3. Ferries
Norway has many fjords and mountains, and the cost of building bridges is too high, so ferries have become a cost-saving measure. When boarding a ferry, pay attention to the prompts before arriving at the ferry terminal. Some ferries will have boats going in both directions, with two different boats on the road. You must check where you want to take the ferry in advance to avoid getting on the wrong boat.
About fees: Some ferries are charged one by one by the staff after boarding the ship; some people set up cards to collect fees manually before entering the road leading to the dock. You can usually swipe your card. In rare cases, the staff does not have a POS machine, so you need to prepare some change.
The journey time of most ferries is not long, and the fare of the ferries we took is usually between 95-110 NO (total fare for five passengers).
The departure time of ferries in the off-season is not fixed, and the departure intervals of most major transportation lines in the off-season are not very long. However, when we were preparing to go to the wooden church in Urnes, the ferry from Solvorn to Urnes only ran twice a day in the morning and afternoon. The time was very inappropriate, so we had to give up.
4. Self-service refueling:
The price of diesel at Norwegian gas stations ranges from 12.95 kronor/liter to 14.85 kronor/liter. Gasoline is generally 1-2 kronor/liter more expensive than diesel. Norway is indeed the most expensive country in the world. There are abundant oil resources here, and the price of oil is ridiculously high. Most gas stations in Norway also use self-service refueling, and the credit card payment method is the same as in Iceland.
[3. Navigation software iGo
For the two self-driving tours in Iceland and Norway, I did not rent a GPS. Instead, I used GPS software and corresponding maps downloaded to my mobile phone from the Internet before departure. The software is called iGo and is available for Android and iOS.
TOMTOM, who drove abroad before, did not have maps of these two places.
[4. Notarized driver's license]
Since some information in the domestic driver's license is not in English, it is not clear whether our translation is acceptable. To be on the safe side, we went to a notary office to have our driver's license notarized. The price in Beijing is around 120 yuan.
This must be provided to the car rental company when renting a car.