Is there anything in Norway that doesn't fall under the definition of "wonderful," "stunning," or "amazing"? Probably not. Or maybe we've just been lucky enough to find everything "incomparable"! Highway 17 is no exception, stretching a whopping 650 kilometers (almost as long as the distance between St. Petersburg and Moscow) from Stenkjær, the capital of Nord-Trøndelag county, to the rather large town of Bodø, just north of the Arctic Circle, from where we'll soon take a ferry to Moskenes in the Lofoten Islands. Norwegians call this highway Kystriksveien—"coastal" or "shoreline." Let's go 🙂
We covered only part of this beautiful route: from Stenkjær to Mo i Rana, in two full days, traveling from south to north. The following trend was clearly evident: at the beginning of the road in the south, there was a feeling of compactness and constriction. The mountains were closer, the straits narrower, the islands more frequent. The further north we traveled, the more open the landscape became.
Highway No. 17 is, in fact, a backup to another, much busier road E6, which connects the north and south of the country.
And, as I understand it, the main goal of the 17th road is to cover the numerous islands of the coastal area with a transport network.
Since the distances between the islands are often significant and don't always allow for the construction of a bridge or underwater tunnel, the islands are connected by a ferry system. This is one of the main attractions from a tourism perspective. The ferry often offers a different perspective on the surrounding area.
Even though ferry service is literally a "lifeline," its operation is quite unpredictable. We encountered several situations where the schedule changed "on the fly"... or rather, the ferry departed unscheduled... or didn't arrive... or didn't depart on schedule... in fact, this was the main reason we weren't able to complete the entire route, turning off toward the E6 near Mo i Rana. Cars are packed onto each ferry like sardines, and there's still quite a bit of waiting time on the shore for the next one... What it looks like from the inside, from the ferry, is in the photo below.
All the following photos were taken during the day, and the light was quite harsh. This is definitely a fail. But I tried to extract as much as possible from the photos.
It's incredibly fascinating to observe Norwegian life from the water. Everything is so neat and well-kept, even in such inhospitable conditions as here. Somehow, it seems to me that in winter it's not only cold here, but also very, very windy.
The ferry can travel from pier to pier in 10 minutes or 50 minutes. After all, no matter how beautiful the surroundings, even that can get boring…
And the passengers start doing what they can :) We've already met this guy :) The Google employee has withdrawn into himself and his smartphone :)
Some people are even sleeping...
I, on the other hand, am tirelessly running from side to side with a camera 🙂 I can never get bored of such beauty!
Soon, from behind this red cliff, the famous Seven Sisters ridge will appear. When you see it, you'll understand why it's called that.
Here they are, the Seven Sisters. The ridge has seven distinct peaks. Hence the name.
Despite the many ferry routes, some islands are still connected by bridges. Spiral bridges, like this one.
It reminds me a bit of the Atlantic Road, doesn't it?
Another ferry... which one this day? Third or fourth... I can't remember 🙂 Right by the "black rocks," fishermen are enjoying the fresh wind and, no doubt, a good bite.
The midday heat is behind us and the sun begins to give off a beautiful warm hue, flooding everything around.
Summer cottages? 🙂
In the middle of the strait between the islands there stands a pillar… and on it sits a proud seagull 🙂
And the dachas, it seems, are at the foot of an ancient volcano... I think the characteristic lines of the lava flows are very clearly visible. I can't say for sure. By the way, were there volcanoes in Norway?
The traffic is heavy and we are constantly passing someone on the opposite side of the road.
After this ferry, we turned towards Mo i Rana, as it was getting late, and the next morning we had a pre-booked ferry to the Lofoten Islands from Bodø. So, as sad as it was to admit, we avoided the most beautiful part of Highway 17 by taking the E6, so as not to end up anywhere overnight before the ferry stopped. That's how it is...
Below are some images from Google Earth. I've marked the extreme points of Rv17 to give an idea of the extent and scale of Kystriksveien.
Here you can see the track from Stenkjær to Bodø, taking into account that we turned onto the E6 at Mo i Rana. It's noticeable that we had to bypass the most interesting part of the route, the snowy and glacial one.
And here is a daytime trek from Brønneysund to Mo i Rana.
Source: travel.ru