• Meals: Dinner

Well-served by air and rail connections, Bergen, Norway’s second largest city and so-called Capital of the Fjords, is the ideal entry point for our tour. The city’s beautiful setting, quaint streets, vibrant urban centre and many cultural attractions are well worth exploring and although our itinerary doesn’t allow us to spend an evening here, many travellers choose to arrive here a day or two before hitting the road in order to soak up the unique atmosphere.

The transfer to Voss, where we spend the first evening of the tour, takes approximately 90 minutes by road. We will arrive in good time meet the team, build bikes and enjoy an introductory meal together.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,500 Metres Approx.

Leaving our hotel, we find ourselves, almost immediately, in the heart of Norway’s pristine and tranquil countryside. Voss prides itself as the country’s adventure capital and as we leave the village, surrounded by towering snow-capped peaks, plunging valleys and white water rivers, it is easy to understand why people from around the world have been flocking here for years to get their fixes.

The quiet road leads us past a series of beautiful lakes, occasional roadside waterfalls and through a number of small traditional Norwegian villages. After around 30km of rising gently, we encounter our first real challenge at the ski resort town of Myrkdalen. The town is the gateway to Vikafjellet mountain, and it is here that the gradient begins to increase noticeably for the first time and we start to gain altitude much more rapidly.

The whole climb is approximately 15km and features a dramatic section of hairpins which deliver us ultimately to our first 1000m summit. A steep and technical descent follows which leads us all the way back down to sea level and the shores of beautiful and world-famous Sognefjord which, upon reaching the village of Vangsnes, we must cross by ferry.

We end the day riding a few final, easy kilometres as we follow the coastal road to our lovely waterside hotel in the idylic village of Balestrand.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,600 Metres Approx.

As difficult as it may be to drag ourselves away from the comfort and beauty of the hotel, we really will not be disappointed once we are back on the road, because, what lies in store today is even more dramatic than yesterday.

We begin with a gentle warm up along the coast of Esefjord, an extension of Sognefjord which branches off to the north. We need to make the most of these first 25 or so gentle kilometres because things will take a significant turn when we begin our assault on Gaularfjellet, a challenging but spectacular multi-switchback climb which never disappoints!

We’ll take some time to catch our breath and admire the sensational views from the ultramodern viewing platform which has been constructed at the summit. Once recovered and with obligatory photos in the can, we will press on via the mountaintop lake of Nystølvtanet and take the narrow road, plunging 20kms, into a magnificent green valley surrounded by more mountains, waterfalls and densely forested valley walls.

More thrills and more challenges await us and having enjoyed lunch in the valley, we are greeted, just beyond the village of Vik, by Rørvikfjellet, our second significant climb of the day. Another epic descent follows before we end the day rolling on gentler roads to the town of Førde and our modern hotel which will be our home for the evening.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,300 Metres Approx.

As is now becoming a custom, we begin our day gently as we leave Førde via the fjord’s shoreline road. As we turn inland after approximately 12kms, we leave the main road to divert from the entrance of the Naustdal tunnel. To avoid the 6km of underground unpleasantness beneath the Ramsdalsheia mountains we take the old road which, unsurprisingly leads us up into, and over, the same mountains.

We ascend sharply for 5 kilometres before descending, again sharply, for the same distance, on a narrow road that is thankfully free of the traffic which, these days, heads almost entirely through the tunnel.

The rest of the stage, as we make our way to Gloppen, is spent on a scenic, minor road surrounded by a typical Norwegian landscape of mountains, lakes and rivers. The latter part of the route, whilst never flat, is somewhat less challenging than what we have experienced so far and offers some welcome respite and an opportunity to really take in the natural beauty of our surroundings.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,250 Metres Approx.

We begin the day with a brief transfer, in order to avoid riding through a lengthy tunnel, to the town of Nordfjordeid where we will unload the bikes and begin our ride. It’s going to be a different kind of day, having temporarily left the mountains in favour of the oceanic landscape of Norway’s western coastline. The mountains may be behind us now but what lies ahead is by no means uninteresting, and with plenty of challenges awaiting us, it’s most certainly not a flat stage!

We ride, initially along the Norfjord, before turning after approximately 30kms and heading north through a very different terrain towards the pretty coastal village of Fiskåbygd. Pushing on towards our second ferry crossing of the day at Koparnset in order to cross the fjord and to arrive a few minutes later in Årvika.

Once we’ve disembarked at Larsnes, we end the day with around 30 spikey kilometres to arrive at our destination. Ulsteinvik is the capital of the country’s offshore industry where deep sea fishing and shipbuilding are a way of life. In the winter months the Havlandet or “Sealand” region is notorious for high winds and rough seas which can hinder the progress of even the largest of vessels.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,250 Metres Approx.

A short ride from our hotel takes us to the ferry terminal at Hareid where we will board and set sail to Ålesund, a town famous for its concentration of Art Nouveau architecture and considered by many to be the most beautiful in Norway. We will have time only to get a brief flavour of Ålesund today as we still have many kilometres ahead of us, but we will return later in our journey for an opportunity to really appreciate its many charms.

We’ll spend most of the day exploring the low-lying coastlines of the Romsdalfjord and the beautiful Midfjorden. With altitudes rarely reaching even 100m above sea level this will likely be the least strenuous stage of our journey – no bad thing considering what awaits tomorrow!

On arrival in Vestnes we will load the bikes onto the vehicle and transfer approximately 45 minutes to Andalsnes, our destination town, situated on the banks of the Rauma river and surrounded by majestic mountains, one of which we will get to know intimately in the morning.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,950 Metres Approx.

Whilst the statistics are definitely not unimpressive, with more than 12kms averaging 7%, 11 hairpin bends and an altitude gain of almost 850m, Trollstigen Pass (The Trolls Ladder) is no giant when compared to some of its alpine cousins. When it comes to dramatics and scenic beauty however, this little mountain is absolutely outstanding.

Our stage begins gently as we ride away from Andalsnes, but with so many mountain peaks looking over us as we warm our legs during those first few kilometres, the challenge ahead is never far from our minds. As soon as we reach the first rungs of the ladder and start rising out of the valley it becomes clear why Trollstigen has earned its reputation as Norway’s number one cyclist’s climb. The beauty is breath-taking all the way to the summit where, on arrival, we can take it in all over again from one of the strategically-placed viewing platforms.

The views are not our only reward as we have over 30kms of superb descending through similarly beautiful scenery to look forward to. The narrow, sweeping road delivers us to Valldal, a fertile region renowned for cultivation of berries and nicknamed The Strawberry Valley.

After lunch we’ll cycle a few more kms then hop onto a ferry for a short crossing to Eisdal from where we will embark on our second challenge of the day. The 25km climb that leads us to Ørnesvingen (The Eagle’s Wing) is not as steep as Trollstigen but the scenery is equally fantastic, especially from the summit where we are able to look down towards Geiranger and the perfectly engineered switchback road that we must navigate to reach it.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,300 Metres Approx.

Alas we have reached the final leg of our epic journey, happily it is a stage packed with so much natural beauty that it will likely stick in our minds for years to come.

An early start to the day as we’ll need to catch the 8am departure to Hellesylt. This one hour journey takes us through the awesome beauty of Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Norway’s primary attractions and is an absolute classic.

Even though we are not on our bikes, the journey by ferry is an unmissable highlight of our tour and a great opportunity to just kickback and soak up some of the most magnificent natural and cultural landscape that Norway has to offer. As we sail, we will be looking out onto precipitous mountainside walls peppered with ancient farming hamlets that cling precariously to their tiny green patches of land. We will also observe a series of huge waterfalls cascading into the fjord far below.

The rest of the day, after reaching Hellesylt, will be spent on the bikes and we begin by riding through the valley of Norangsdalen, one of the narrowest in the country. Over the years this incredibly beautiful valley has attracted the rich and famous from far and wide, many of whom, historically, would enjoy the spectacle from the relative comfort of a pony and trap. Spectacular enough to impress royalty, Norangsdalen was designated Dronningruta status (The Queen’s Route) after the Royal Family visited in 1992 as part of national silver wedding anniversary celebrations of Queen Sonja and King Harald.

We end the day, surrounded by towering mountains, lush green forests and tiny villages as we explore more beautiful valleys and the coastal roads of Hjørundfjorden. One final ferry hop takes us from Festøya to Solavågen from where we’ve just 20 rolling kms left before we reach Ålesund and our waterside hotel. It’s here where we spend our final evening together, relaxing, reflecting and celebrating the conclusion of our fantastic adventure through one of the world’s most beautiful places!

• Meals: Breakfast

Airport transfers will be arranged in accordance with scheduled flight departures.