Stockholm to the Fjords: A 2-Week Scandinavia Road Trip
Stockholm to the fjords: a 2-week Scandinavia road trip
If Europe has a perfect region for van travel, this is it: Sweden and Norway are the two countries where wild camping isn't a loophole but a codified legal right (allemansrätten in Sweden, allemannsretten in Norway). This 14-day loop starts in Stockholm, crosses the Swedish lake country of Dalarna, takes in Oslo, then climbs onto the Hardangervidda plateau and down into the big fjords — Hardangerfjord and Sognefjord — before returning over Norway's highest mountain road.
Total driving is roughly 2,200–2,500 km. Two weeks keeps the days short and leaves what this route actually needs: unscheduled evenings parked alone at a lake, which here is not just tolerated but the whole point.
The route at a glance
| Days | Stage | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Stockholm → Dalarna | Lake Siljan, falu-red villages, first lakeside wild camp |
| 3–4 | Dalarna → Oslo | Värmland forests, a city day on foot |
| 5–6 | Oslo → Hardangervidda | Norway's great high plateau, waterfalls at Vøringsfossen |
| 7–8 | Hardangerfjord | Fruit farms, fjordside villages, Trolltunga country |
| 9–10 | Bergen → Sognefjord | Bergen's wharf, then the king of fjords via Flåm |
| 11–12 | Sognefjellet & Jotunheimen | Norway's highest pass, glacier views |
| 13–14 | Return via Lillehammer → Stockholm | Gudbrandsdalen valley, easy E-road run home |
Days 1–4: Swedish lakes and into Norway
Out of Stockholm, aim for Dalarna — Lake Siljan is the postcard of inland Sweden, ringed by falu-red villages like Tällberg and Rättvik. This is where allemansrätten changes how the trip feels: pull off onto forest tracks, walk to the water, and stay the night. The right of access asks only distance from houses, no damage, no trace.
Two easy days later you're in Oslo. Norwegian city tolls bill your plate automatically (nothing to buy — register with the AutoPASS visitor service beforehand), and the vans park at the city campsites or fjordside marinas. Give it one full day on foot: the Opera roof, Vigeland Park, the harbour saunas if you're brave.
Days 5–8: the Hardangervidda and Hardangerfjord
West of Oslo the route climbs onto the Hardangervidda, northern Europe's largest high plateau — an hour of treeless, reindeer-flecked emptiness that resets your sense of scale. At its western rim, Vøringsfossen drops the plateau into the fjord country in one 180-metre plunge.
Hardangerfjord is the gentle introduction to the big fjords: orchards on the waterline (the fruit-farm stands in late summer are reason enough), villages like Ulvik and Lofthus, and the Trolltunga trailhead for those carrying boots and ten spare hours. Fjordside parking is plentiful but signed — this is one region where you use the marked bobilplasser rather than testing the right-to-roam on farmland.
Days 9–12: Bergen, Sognefjord and the high road back
Bergen deserves its day — Bryggen's wharf, the fish market, the Fløibanen funicular — and it's firmly a park-outside city for a van. Then north to the Sognefjord, Norway's longest and deepest: the Flåm valley and the Stegastein viewpoint above Aurlandsfjord are the set pieces, and the ferry hops across the fjord arms are part of the experience (they bill the plate, like the tolls).
The return east over the Sognefjellet road — Norway's highest mountain pass, open roughly late May to autumn — runs between Jotunheimen's glaciers and is the finest single drive of the trip. Descend through Lom (stave church, excellent bakery) into the long Gudbrandsdalen valley toward Lillehammer.
The practical layer: right to roam, tolls, ferries, season
- Wild camping: Both countries grant a legal right to overnight on uncultivated land — keep ~150 m from inhabited houses, stay a night or two, leave nothing. It doesn't apply to farmland, marked-no-camping fjord laybys, or obviously saturated tourist spots; there, use the ställplatser/bobilplasser.
- Tolls & ferries: Sweden has almost none. Norway's AutoPASS cameras and fjord ferries bill your plate automatically — register with the visitor payment service before the trip and budget a few hundred NOK for a loop like this.
- Costs: Norway is expensive at the till but cheap to sleep in: stock the van in Sweden before crossing, and wild camp legally where you'd pay €40 elsewhere in Europe.
- Season: Mid-June to early September. Sognefjellet and the high roads open in late May/June; July brings midnight-sun evenings; late August adds quiet roads and the first autumn colour on the plateau.
Build your own version of this route
Two weeks is one version of this trip. The planner can compress it to ten days, stretch it toward the Lofoten Islands, or rebuild it around kids, a dog, or a hiking obsession — with the ferries, tolls and legal overnight spots handled per country.
Frequently asked questions
- Is two weeks enough for a Scandinavia road trip?
- For the Stockholm–fjords loop, yes — 14 days keeps driving under three hours most days with two-night stops at the best of it. Adding Lofoten or Trondheim honestly needs three weeks; with only ten days, enter Norway directly and focus on the fjords.
- Can you really wild camp anywhere in Sweden and Norway?
- On uncultivated land, yes — it's a codified legal right in both countries. The working rules: stay ~150 m from inhabited houses, a night or two per spot, no fires in dry season, no trace. It excludes farmland and signed no-camping areas, which cluster around the famous fjord viewpoints.
- How do tolls and ferries work in Norway with a foreign campervan?
- Automatically — AutoPASS cameras and most fjord ferries read your plate and bill you afterwards. Register with the official visitor payment service before the trip to avoid handling surcharges. Sweden has almost no tolls at all.
- When is the best time to drive Stockholm to the fjords?
- Mid-June to early September. The high passes (Sognefjellet, the plateau roads) open around late May or June; July gives near-endless daylight; late August trades a little warmth for empty roads and autumn colour on the Hardangervidda.