Go For A Drive On Norway's Achingly Beautiful Atlantic Ocean Road

"PRBot II" (prbot2)
11/18/2013 at 18:52 • Filed to: roads, norway, atlantic ocean

This road is fantastically dramatic during stormy weather. Roughly five miles of shear insanity zig-zaging over bridges and across sparsely inhabited islands. Add an Aston Martin DB9 to the mix, and this might be a truly unforgettable experience.

This is an excellent video to set on fullscreen with HD. Part of what makes it so special is that there is no obnoxious music, commentary, or desperate pleas for you to thumbs up and subscribe. It's just wind, water, and roads.

Atlantic Ocean Road

DISCUSSION (61)

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > PRBot II
11/18/2013 at 18:54

I drive there a few times each year, and it's awesome :)

PRBot II > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
11/18/2013 at 18:55

I was hoping you'd see this post.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > PRBot II
11/18/2013 at 18:59

So people here remembers me as "one of the Norwegians" now? Cool :P But yeah, any jalop that happens to end up in Norway for some reason MUST do the Atlantic Ocean Road.

PRBot II > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
11/18/2013 at 19:04

I'd say that's a fair assessment... You might be the only regular Norwegian here.

If I'm ever in Norway, this road will be on the top of my list of things to do for sure.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > PRBot II
11/18/2013 at 19:10

Hoccy is fairly regular as well, perhaps more than me at times, but he's from the "wrong side of the lake" tho' (inside joke, he's from the west side of Norways largest lake, I'm from the east side). But thanks, it's nice that people "know" who I am. I'll try to start up the OCG again as well, since Eric is nowhere to be found these days.

And yes, that road is absolutely something you shold do if you ever visit Norway, there are a ton of other stuff as well... but :P

PRBot II > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
11/18/2013 at 19:19

Names and faces are usually easier to remember than random avatars and excessively long screen names (which seem to be the most popular here). I'm in favor of more OCG... surely there have to be at least a couple more car brands out there.

Question: What are some popular alcoholic drinks in Norway?

Supreme Kiwi Zorro > PRBot II
11/18/2013 at 19:21

I visit my family in Norway every year. I need to drive on this road the next time!

PRBot II > Supreme Kiwi Zorro
11/18/2013 at 19:23

That's awesome... write about it if you do!

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > PRBot II
11/18/2013 at 19:28

Oh there are lots of brands out there... But Eric has a list, and I don't want to intrude on that.

Alcoholic drinks in Norway? Well, same as the rest of the world I'd say... BEER, but not budweiser or corona (some drink it, but it's not huge).. at my local pub thy sell a lot of Lapinkulta (Finnish beer). We also drink proper whisky. But mostly it's just beer, or drinks. Gin and Tonic, Irish Coffee and stuff like that. Oh.. and akevitt (aquavit).

Edit: Fernet and other bitters.. at least in my hometown. Fernet has become somewhat of a trademark where I live.

PRBot II > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
11/18/2013 at 19:42

Interesting. Lapinkulta might be hard to find here in the US, but I'll keep my eye out for Fernet. I'm usually up for trying new things.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > PRBot II
11/18/2013 at 19:47

Lapinkulta is a rather generic beer, so dont bother about that, tastes the same as most european generic pilnsers :) As for Fernet, it's a bitter with myrrh, rhubarb and saffron, shouldn't be to hard to find something similar.

Supreme Kiwi Zorro > PRBot II
11/19/2013 at 02:29

It'll have to wait until next year, unfortunately. We was in Norway in August.

boilerdam3 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/09/2015 at 18:02

Oh you lucky you.

Sjubbdubb > PRBot II
04/09/2015 at 18:11

Here's another Norwegian and I haven't been on this road yet. But Norway is chock full of beautiful drives. Here's another famous one, "Trollstigen", and, no, I'm not trolling:

Kinja'd!!!

The Troll car would be this beautiful gem:

Kinja'd!!!

ninjagin > PRBot II
04/09/2015 at 18:21

Microbrews are getting really popular. I went to the Bergen Ulfest (beer festival) a couple years ago and it was incredibly crowded and the beers were pretty good. It's no GABF, but the brewing culture is picking up steam in a big way. Alcohol is really expensive, though. You also can't buy beer at the store after about 9 pm, if I recall. They've got a real paternalistic view of alcohol, and they're very strict about drinking and driving, so if you drink, drink at the pub and don't drink and drive.

skeffles > PRBot II
04/09/2015 at 18:27

Well I know where the introductory episode on New Top Gear should be going. Start it off with a big show.

m4ximusprim3 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/09/2015 at 18:28

My local shop in san diego carries a shelf of "Haand Bryggeriet" brand beers which are always worth a spin. Some are a little hit or miss, but overall they seem to be doing interesting things and I buy the new ones every time they get them.

Wagons-Midwest > PRBot II
04/09/2015 at 18:29

I really hope this road makes it into Euro Truck Simulator 2 .

http://blog.scssoft.com/2015/02/scandi…

Tomokomo > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/09/2015 at 18:48

I was in Norway recently on holiday for a while and drove the Atlantic-Road, also because i had tickets to the Top Gear Live show in Stavanger which they ca.... you know.. the c-word.

Here is what i hated about driving in Norway: Speed Limit 80 km/h (Wtf?!) Even on empty-for-hours roads. And if you think about speeding because nobody is around, better don't. I got pulled over by hidden police cars 2 times within 1 day.

But i'm german, so every country but Germany makes me upset when i want to enjoy driving. But 80 km/h, seriously? Even driving in France is more enjoyable with their 130km/h law and police being ok if you drive 150km/h isn't rare either. I'm just glad i didn't drive there as i had previously planned with my DBS (Only has 32.000km on the clock)

I'm not sure i would have enjoyed driving my DBS with 80 km/h for hours. Might sound weird to people who are used to speed limits, but when you're used to beautiful german roads without having to check your Tacho and you go somewhere with 80km/h you are literally in pain.

But besides that, the country roads, nature and roadquality! were fantastic. Not every european country has well-maintained roads, so props for that!

Fuel_of_Satan > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/09/2015 at 18:57

The west coast is regarded a different country for those of us in other areas of Norway. Given that I'm going "abroad" for a great drive the Nürburgring isn't much further away.

Or just take the trip across the mountain for a bonus stage, try the coast road and drive back across the mountain. Perhaps even detouring through Trollstigen .

Fuel_of_Satan > Tomokomo
04/09/2015 at 19:02

You didn't experience the joy of forward facing speed cameras? Now also with average speed measurement over ridiculous distances!

To quote the famous Clarkson:

"…a Land Rover Discovery costs more than £100,000 so buy a normal two-wheel drive car…and cope. And to make sure this happens you're limited to 4mph and the roads are littered with forward-facing speed cameras that go off in a burst of blinding red light so intense it can strip all the paint off the front of your car. They don't take your licence for speeding over there. They take your sight"

Tomokomo > Fuel_of_Satan
04/09/2015 at 19:10

Luckily not because i'm used to these forward-facing speed cameras from when i drive in France, which is also plastered with these. So i got used to spotting them.

A few years ago you could speed as a EU-citizen in a different EU-country and get flashed, you'd never hear about it, so no problem. That changed last year when i was driving 170 km/h with my R8 on my favorite road between Metz, France -to-> Saarbrücken, Germany on the E50: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_…

Well, I got flashed like always, np. 4 Weeks later i got a letter from France, asking me to pay 150 Euros. Yay! But besides that, french policemen are cool. Always friendly, but just like everywhere in the world they stop you just for driving a nice car.

Fuel_of_Satan > Tomokomo
04/09/2015 at 19:25

That sucks, but those are silly fines though. Do that speed on any road here and they'd want your license and over €1000 in fines.

I'm not sure it would make much difference legally in this instance but Norway is not a member of the EU. Sweden gets a pretty decent size west-coast on Euro coins!

Kinja'd!!!

#881 > PRBot II
04/09/2015 at 19:58

I want to go to there!

cornerslide > PRBot II
04/09/2015 at 20:03

Fantastic. A shame a post can only be recommended once.

cuts_off_prius > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/09/2015 at 22:23

Is Norway jalop friendly? I hear it is insanely expensive to purchase a new car.

prairieseadog > PRBot II
04/10/2015 at 00:25

"The sea was angry that day, my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli."

ocbrad1 used to be iamhoff but is now just wandering around > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 01:52

Hoping to go to Norway next summer...will add this to the itinerary.

Happy Panda > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 02:34

I'm living in Oslo, coming from the Netherlands I cannot get used to driving for more than 2 hours to get somewhere though, so I've never been on the coast by car, I just take the plane.

Hookem21 > PRBot II
04/10/2015 at 04:06

Top Gear should do an episode driving that. Oh wait.

biturboism, the cult > PRBot II
04/10/2015 at 04:29

Kinja'd!!!

My old phone Wallpaper. I'd swipe to the left/right screens just to look at the road and the wave...

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Happy Panda
04/10/2015 at 06:48

You should take the trip from Oslo to Atlanterhavsveien mate, it's a gorgeous nature all the way, and it'd not THAT far.. eight hours or so.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > cuts_off_prius
04/10/2015 at 06:49

All cars are very expensive here, but we're used to it.

BTW, how come so many suddenly reply to an almost two year old post?

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Fuel_of_Satan
04/10/2015 at 06:51

Was that reply meant for someone else? I live in Norway, born here you see :)

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > m4ximusprim3
04/10/2015 at 06:53

Haand bryggeriet does have nice beers indeed, so does Nøgne Ø.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > ninjagin
04/10/2015 at 06:58

After 8pm ;) And if I catch you driving under influence I'll beat the everliving crap out of you ;)

CharlieKellyKingofTheRats > PRBot II
04/10/2015 at 07:14

Looks legit! Was he driving a Fjord?

Rx_37 > Tomokomo
04/10/2015 at 08:30

The 80 km/h thing does suck. So they don't have 100 km/h at all in Norway? Here in Finland we do have 100 on all "slightly bigger" roads but 80 for the smaller, tho paved roads.

100 is okay which obviously means a steady 110 but 80 km/h really is a drag....

cuts_off_prius > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 08:33

Must have been under the popular stories section or suggested after an article, don't remember as I was on mobile.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > cuts_off_prius
04/10/2015 at 08:38

Yeah, It's under popular stories it seems.

Fuel_of_Satan > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 08:51

No, it was meant for you. And if you're on the west coast, that's not Norway. That's abroad! The west coast, particularly the Bergen-area, is referred to as "utlandet", essentially a foreign country, by those of us in other parts of the country.

The "joke" doesn't translate well, I just assumed you had heard of it.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Fuel_of_Satan
04/10/2015 at 08:55

Oh I know the joke man, I AM Norwegian :P Born and raised in Hamar.

It just didn't click that you were telling it as a joke, I thought you tried to explain the joke to someone foreign :) (no not foreign as in Berrrrgenserrr) ;)

rudyH > PRBot II
04/10/2015 at 09:25

Beautiful place! It needs a Starbucks on that point at the end of the video. Looks cold there! Just kidding, but it wouldn't surprise me if it happened.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 11:17

They should host a time trial.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/10/2015 at 11:22

Just over the Atlantic ocean road? Or say from Oslo to Averøy? :P

Just from Vevang to Averøy (atlantic ocean road) is about 8 minutes (legal speed), it's about 9km.

I bet it could be done in less than half.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 11:26

Is the rest of it as awesome? I was just thinking the Atlantic Road, but if the rest of it is cool, why not?

B.Peasant > Fuel_of_Satan
04/10/2015 at 11:29

Bergen is slightly weird, even to us westerners.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/10/2015 at 11:40

Nah, the rest of it is just generic Norwegian roads, but some might find that cool as well I guess.. Lots of mountains and gorgeous nature.

You know what, there is a Norwegian movie that'll show you how Norway looks like at high speeds though.. it's called Børning (Burning, as in burning rubber). Not sure if it's available outside Scandinavia though, but here's a trailer and a behind the scenes clip.

ninjagin > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 11:44

Yeah, it's pretty strict up there. Still, it's a great place to visit. I have some cousins that live near the Swedish border, in the Hedmark, and I hope to go back at some point.

I swear, it's the only country, other than maybe France, that I would ever want to live in... clean, friendly, little crime, solid civic institutions, decent schools, good health care infrastructure, decent roads, lovely forests and good environmental consciousness.

It's very hard to find a job out there, though... at least a job in my field, insofar that I've seen. I'd probably have to teach English or something... and learn Norwegian, of course!

My biggest pet peeves about Norway are the super-strict speed limits (3 mph over? Gotcha!) and how costly everything is. A speeding ticket can be a VERY costly affair, disproportionately so, but at least the police (in my experience, anyway) don't seem to ask for bribes. I'll take steep fines over bribes any day.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > ninjagin
04/10/2015 at 11:49

Hey.. wait... You've got family in Hedmark? I've lived almost my whole life in Hedmark. :)

We've got super strict this and that indeed, but we're used to it though, not that big of a deal for us :) And I LOVE the fresh air and the nature.

ninjagin > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 12:04

Yep. They're in Elverum. Lovely place. It's a cute little town, as you probably know. One set of cousins lives in town, and the others are up in the forest, south-east of town. Very charming. Lovely people in the area. Had a nice time in Hamar, too. I don't speak but maybe a few words of Norwegian, but I got a lot of help getting around, and shared a lot of laughs.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > ninjagin
04/10/2015 at 12:12

Well, since I live in Hamar I won't say anything bad about my town :P And Elverum has got THE BEST HAMBURGERS in the area (at The Grill).

As for Norwegian, you don't really need to speak Norwegian in Norway if you speak English, but I guess you already know that :P

ninjagin > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 12:50

It's a matter of courtesy to at least try to speak the local language as much as you can.

Everyone says that not knowing Norwegian isn't a problem, and in general it's true, especially if you're trying to communicate with anyone younger than 50, a cop (don't ask), or you're in the middle of Oslo or Bergen, but older folks are a totally different story. Still, it's one of the easiest places for English speakers to visit, hands down.

Funny observation: Norway does a great job at teaching English with the American accent, but the vowel sounds come out sounding a little Canadian. I can't tell you how many people I thought were from Toronto, but had never left the country. It was nice. I'll be back, I'm sure.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > ninjagin
04/10/2015 at 12:55

Hehe, most people here on Oppo that have heard me speak say that I sound somewhat like someone Australian or Irish that's lived in Northern USA for some time :P

And I agree that you should always try to learn at least SOME words in the local language, but come on, there's like 5 million people in the world that speak Norwegian.

Fuel_of_Satan > B.Peasant
04/10/2015 at 14:39

Yeah, that's why I felt like I needed to specify that area. Because even compared to the rest of the west-coast it's still a different place entirely, abroad.

Fuel_of_Satan > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
04/10/2015 at 14:41

I kind of was, if it was just for you it could've been said much simpler! But I digress, it's not like anyone is going to care.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Fuel_of_Satan
04/10/2015 at 14:42

Null stress mann :)

Fuel_of_Satan > ninjagin
04/10/2015 at 14:47

My teacher made some brave attempts at teaching us Oxford English pronunciation, but hilariously she could only speak like Petter Solberg so it failed miserably and we learned our English from watching the A-Team with subtitles.

ninjagin > Fuel_of_Satan
04/10/2015 at 15:06

You'd be surprised at how many times I've heard stories very much like yours. The American accent is pervasive for exactly this reason... our television programs and movies.

Fuel_of_Satan > ninjagin
04/10/2015 at 15:12

Yeah, Hollywood has dominated international entertainment ever since televisions became commonplace in Europe. Only the last 10 years or so has British entertainment started to gain popularity outside their own borders. My much younger sister has less of an American accent than I do for instance (Though we both sound like Petter Solberg, it's an affliction most of us Norwegians suffer from).

The Chalz > Supreme Kiwi Zorro
05/11/2016 at 09:51

Do it! And bring a camera.