Motorcycle Diaries: Your motorcycle route planner

Other maps websites show you the quickest and most boring route between two points. Not so with Motorcycle Diaries. Our system is built so you can explore, discover and create the most exciting journeys, complete with fantastic photography of the roads you will ride. When you've finished, save your trip and download it as a GPX file. We've built this awesome Norwegian road trip to show exactly what our website's all about.
 

A Lap of Norway 
15 Days – 35 MD Roads – 5,024 KM
 

Kristiansand – Bergen

Head west from Kristiansand, a small city founded on shipbuilding, on the E39 to Stavanger. This scenic road would be a stunning highlight of the road trip anywhere else. And it is beautiful, following the shores of wide fjords, tunnelling through cliff faces, passing picturesque picnic spots. But in Norway, this sort of beauty and grandeur is only going to get more spectacular as you ride further north. Turn onto the tiny road to Preikestolen, or the Pulpit Rock. This huge slab of granite towers 603 metres above the Lysefjord. It's a two-hour walk from the car park, but take a tent and evening vittles and it makes a memorable spot for overnight camping. If you're up early enough, you'll be treated to the most staggeringly beautiful sunrise. Back on the road, settle into a rhythm of ferries and island hopping that keeps you moving north to Bergen.
 

Bergen – Alesund

Ride north from Bergen on the E39 and take the ferry to Lavik. Time to appreciate more Nordic beauty as you ride inland on Route 5 past one of Norway's great glaciers, the Jostedaksbreen. Pass along epic fjords on Route 53, and up into the mountains on the Tindevegen toll road. There's still a lot of snow around on the Tindevegen in springtime, so time your visit carefully. It'll also get cold up there, so take a neck warmer. Sunshine can turn to snow blizzards surprisingly quickly on these roads, even in summer! Always have a plan B in mind.
 

The mountain views of the Sognefjellet Road take you north east to Fossbergom, before heading west to the famous Geiranger Fjord. Make sure you ride to the jaw-dropping Dalsnibba mountain viewpoint – the 130 Krone (€13.50) toll charge is worth it. The landscape simply falls away from you at this lookout, with the road continuing down to the left and the Geiranger valley surrounded by an army of snowy peaks. But Norway's magnificence doesn't end there: next up are the famous switchbacks of the Trollsteigen Pass.

Alesund – Fauske

Discover the peninsulas and islands north of Alesund on small, single carriageway roads. Human interaction is sparse round here and the landscape takes on a character of its own. Coming across the odd lighthouse or village just adds to the sense that Norway's nature is bigger than human beings can conquer. Further north still, Norway becomes slimmer as the Norwegian Sea crushes the land against Sweden's border. The Atlantic Road introduces you to Trøndelag, the name of this region. It's one of Norway's most famous stretches of tarmac, beautiful on a calm summer's day, but dangerous in wind and rain. Expect to be sprayed liberally by the waves crashing against the many bridge supports. Recover by overnighting at Haholmen Havstuer, a hotel on its own tiny island, accessed from the mainland by boat.

Further into Trøndelag, ride the serene and curvaceous Route 680 to Kyrksaeterora. It's 90 kilometres of soothing motorcycle therapy. Ride it fast at your own peril, or simply sit back and enjoy the experience. Turn onto the Fv301 for a more adventurous route than the main road allows. It's a questionable surface, so this one's best for adventure bikes. Pass Trondheim, the last bastion of city life before Tromso, way up in the Arctic Circle. The roads become small, single track affairs now, sparring with a coastline nearly devoid of human habitation. The 57km Route 715 is especially lonesome, and you can ride for long stretches without passing another road user. The brilliant Route 76 takes you from Bronnoysund to probably the best stretches of the E6 and your route to Fauske.

The beautiful Lofoten Islands

Take the Bodo – Moskenes ferry to reach some of the most beautiful islands in the world. Thanks to the effect of the Gulf Stream, Lofoten is an area of relative warmth when you take into account just how far north it actually is. On these islands, the midnight sun will keep you up between May and July, and the northern lights might just make a cameo appearance between September and April.

Loop back to Fauske

Reach the northernmost point of the road trip on the island of Andoya. It's just over 300 kilometres inside the Arctic Circle. Don't mind the odd thunderous racket – it's just rockets taking off from the launch pad to the north of the island. Route 976 is a surreal experience, leading you towards what feels like the end of the world, with Andoya's jagged mountain ranges jutting out of the mostly flat landscape like an array of carnivorous teeth.

Turn back south, retrace a few steps and then take the ferry at Lodingen. Stop off at the Tranoy open air gallery. The really impressive artwork here isn't the sculpture, but rather the perfect peace and quiet you get on a calm day. Come when it's pouring with rain, and the experience will be a tad more thrilling. Keep an eye out for moose.

Back to Oslo, capital of Norway

Now on the last leg of the journey, a return through the forests of Sweden. But not before sections of the E6 are taken again, this time in the opposite direction. Riding like this reveals a completely different road experience, showing you views and challenging you in a completely different order to before. Cut into Sweden at Mo i Rana on the E12 and relax into a new way of riding. Gentle corners and wide lines keep your handlebar turning through thousands of acres of pine forest.

Sneak back into Norway on a few unpaved roads, like the border-crossing 84 / 31. This is most definitely off the beaten track, and you'll feel like you're winding back the clock one hundred years. Take the gravel one step further – this time into Rondane National Park on the Grimsdalen. From here, a final blast of pace will take you south to Oslo, with its buzzing city centre, opera house, and warm beds.

Download the GPX file for your GPS

Interested in downloading the GPX file for this route? Click here to go to the Trip page, sign in, and then download the GPX from there. You can also make your own changes to this trip from the trip page, or incorporate it into a bigger, longer, and more epic Euro trip of your own making.

Download GPX File Here 

Go further. Go to Nordkapp

Ride to Nordkapp on your own ultimate Norwegian road trip. You can edit the route here from the trip page and make it into your own personalised adventure. Look for the button marked “Create Trip Based on This One” under the trip name. Start on the Trip page here.