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Driving from London to Oslo, Norway

(edited 9 years ago)

Don't you have a car? You can take them on the tunnel.
And you need to go though Germany because Denmark's only land boarder is with Germany. Other then that cant help

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Reply 2

Miss Posh

Original post by Hydroxy

I know that.

I'd need to hire a car - no I do not own one.

Me and my boyfriend drove from London to Italy. Petrol costs are ridiculous.

Reply 3

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Why do you want to do this? That part of Europe is very boring, grey and industrial. Top Gear did this once, if you haven't already, watch it and see how depressing the journey looks.

Reply 4

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Hydroxy

I got the idea from Top Gear years ago.

I've been to Scandinavia loads of times and it's my kind of place. I can understand it wouldn't be most peoples.

Oh, no I totally understand why you want to go to Scandinavia. I will be doing a degree in Scandinavian Studies so I know it is an awesome place. I just don't think driving through industrial (and most likely overcast) northern Germany is not going to be fun.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 5

Miss Posh

Original post by Hydroxy

Where in Italy and how much did it cost you ?

Milan. Cost around £800 in fuel.

Reply 6

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by Hydroxy

Also any general tips would be grand.

Miserable time of year to go - there's no guarantee the weather will be good and it'll be dark for 17 hours in 24 - much better done in the summer.

Reply 7

Huskaris

Original post by Miss Posh

Milan. Cost around £800 in fuel.

Were you driving a tank?

I have driven a 3 series 2.0 litre from London to South France (595 miles to your 798) and it cost about 110 euros each way, driving between 80-90mph the whole way.

Reply 8

Huskaris

Original post by Hydroxy

Yeah I did think that was quite a lot for London - Milan.

I'd say London - Oslo and back for £800 is the maximum and that's an extra 350 miles each way.

The journey London-Oslo is 1100 miles and I'd imagine Nordic petrol prices are some of the most expensive in Europe.

Lets say a good modern average diesel vehicle will get you 350 miles minimum on a full tank of good/motorway driving. Say the worst full tank fill up imaginable is £70 and then add 2 additonal tanks for spares.

There and back that would come to about £740 maximum.

I reckon you would be looking at more like £500 if you are driving a diesel. Just make sure you aren't driving a panzer tank like Miss Posh was.

Reply 9

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by Hydroxy

In my opinion those countries are best done in the winter.

If I waited until summer, I'd go somewhere like Italy. If I'm driving through Scandinavia - I want it to be cold.

You want to drive along boring motorways in the dark?

Reply 10

Alfissti

Original post by Hydroxy

So I've got a couple of weeks off at Christmas and this is something I've always wanted to do. Just wondering if anyone has done anything similar ?

Besides the Channel Tunnel I want to do it strictly by road, therefore I'd make my way to Denmark either through The Netherlands and/or Germany to Copenhagen before crossing the Oresund Bridge into Malmo in Sweden and then heading North towards Norway.

I've got savings but I'd need to hire a car for the journey. Can anyone provide information on hire companies that do one-way travel through Europe ?

Also any general tips would be grand.

Thanks.

I sent 2 vans from our office in Bergen to London for a trade show. The journey there was Bergen - Hirtshals(DK) by ferry then it was driving onwards till Calais. Took 19 hours of total driving time. Return journey was through Copenhagen, Malmö, Goteborg, Oslo and then Bergen. Took 38 hours of driving time.

There are a few problems with your plans. The first one is if you rent a car from UK most don't allow you to take it out of the country. You might be better off renting the car in France or Germany instead. This would be a good thing too as the car would be LHD. You might want to check whether the tyres these cars are equipped with would be legal for usage in Norway as during that time your car will need either winter or all season tyres and you must also have tyre chains. I won't recommend you drive a car in Norway during that time of the year unless it has studded winter tyres, this is especially the case if you don't have much winter driving experiences on hilly or mountain type terrains.

Lots of places will be closed for the winter and many places don't open from the 24/12 to the 2/1 so it will be one boring trip. The other thing to take into account is most hotels will charge you an arm and a leg to stay there if they are open. Will also be dark and wet almost the entire time.

Rentals, both Europcar and Hertz are good ones but its going to cost you a lot of money to do a one way. My guess is if you pick up a car in Paris and drop it off in Oslo a week later it will cost you upwards of £1500 and fuel my guess is if you rent a small car it would be around £150 or so.

Reply 11

rockrunride

December is a great time to see Oslo in its wintry glory, but I very much doubt driving up there is the best option. Driving on the Hamburg by-pass at 9am with the sun still yet to rise isn't on the list of many ideal breaks.

Much better imo (and cheaper) to fly up to Oslo, hire a car and drive around for a bit with all the necessary equipment already in tow, than to incur additional expense for much diminished returns.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 12

rockrunride

Original post by Hydroxy

Thanks both for the info.

I'm starting to change my mind about the idea of driving after all the info I've been presented with - it seems like it would be right a bit of a struggle. Think I had a slightly rosy view of the trip as a whole.

Think I'll just go to Oslo for a visit in the Winter and do a driving trip next summer.

Great idea - I imagine it'll be serene and beautiful by the Stortinget on a crisp winter morning. I'd like to go myself but will wait for a pay rise! Two good restaurants I've heard about are Dovrehallen and Sosialen.

Reply 13

RobGillespie

if you are looking to save on fuel costs, what about hiring a hybrid or electric car? I hired a Mitsubishi Outlander recently and it was fantastic, I wouldn't use a PHEV for such a distance though, but full electric like a nissan or tesla could save a fortune