The first time I drove in Norway, I was twenty-two, packed into a camper van with five of my best friends, and genuinely unsure if I was going to get us all killed.
A 1.5 lane road carved into a mountainside somewhere in Southern Norway. Rock wall on my right, a sheer drop off a cliff and into a fjord on my left. The speed limit said 60 km/h. I was doing maybe 30 and still felt like I was pushing it.
That trip was twelve years ago. I’ve been back to Norway three more times since then, and I’ve rented a car and driven myself every single time. It’s still terrifying at points, but seeing this beautiful country with autonomy to go wherever you’d like is more than worth it.
The College Trip
The whole thing started as most young-minded questionable travel decisions do: a groupchat, a cheap flight, and a vague plan. Six of us pooled together enough money to rent a camper van for two weeks. The idea was to drive through Southern Norway along the fjords, camp wherever we could find a spot (taking advantage of Norway’s generous camping laws), and figure out the rest as we went.
We had few solid plans, a vague itinerary, and absolutely no understanding of what exploring this magnificent country would actually entail.
We started in Oslo, and the first few hours were easy enough. Main highways, multiple lanes, beautiful rolling hills and the glimpse of mountains in the distance. But as we got closer to our first stop, Stavanger, things changed. Night approached, straight roads were replaced with narrow mountain switchbacks.
I remember gripping the steering wheel hard enough that my hands ached. Every blind curve could have had a tour bus coming the other way having to pull halfway off the road to make way. Every cliff edge always felt just a few inches away. We eventually got so scared that we camped in a random parking lot before we even reached the city.
The next day though, with daylight on our side, and ourselves fully now in the fjord region of Norway, it all changed for the better. Every few kilometers there was something worth pulling over for: a waterfall crashing directly next to the road, a tiny fishing village tucked into an inlet, a viewpoint where the fjord stretched out so far we couldn’t see the end of it. The terrifying roads and the incredible scenery weren’t separate experiences. They were one and the same.
I’m going to sound like an infrastructure nerd, but I have to tell you about the tunnels. Norway has over 900 of them apparently, and on that first trip I lost count of how many we drove through. Some were short, a few hundred meters through a ridge. Others felt endless.
The Lærdal Tunnel is the one I still think about most. At 24.5 kilometers, it’s the longest road tunnel in the world. It connects two small towns, Lærdal and Aurland, and takes about twenty minutes to drive through at the speed limit. Twenty minutes underground, inside a mountain, with nothing but your headlights and the road ahead. To keep drivers from falling asleep, engineers built three large caverns at six-kilometer intervals, lit with blue and yellow lights meant to simulate a sunrise. Then there are tunnels with full roundabouts inside them, sixty meters below sea level. The first time I came around a corner and saw a roundabout underground, I honestly thought I was seeing things.
This is what struck me most about Norwegian infrastructure: the roads are narrow and sometimes frightening, but they’re impeccably maintained. Every pothole filled, every line painted, emergency phones in tunnels every few hundred meters. The country looked at its impossible geography and just built around it. Tunnels through mountains. Bridges across fjords. Roads clinging to cliffs that probably shouldn’t support them. And somehow it all works.
In four trips, I’ve only had one incident. In Lofoten, on a narrow road winding through fishing villages, an oncoming car (another tourist) was driving too close to the center line and clipped my side mirror clean off. No crash, no injuries, just a moment of contact and then both of us pulling over to exchange information. The mirror snapped right back into place. I breathed a sigh of relief. The trip continued. It became a story rather than a disaster.
Why I Keep Driving
There are easier ways to travel through Norway. Trains run through incredible mountain passes. Cruise ships navigate the fjords. Tour buses handle the logistics while you watch from a window.
But driving gives you something those options don’t: the ability to stop whenever you want.
Norway’s best moments aren’t always at the famous viewpoints or popular destinations. They’re the unmarked waterfalls you spot from the road. The Lofoten beach you find down a gravel track. The switchback mountain pass with the most incredible view. When you’re driving, you can pull over. You can follow the side road. You can spend an hour somewhere that isn’t on any itinerary because nothing is making you leave.
The roads are narrow. The tunnels are long. The cliff edges are real. But the fear fades faster than you’d expect, and what replaces it is a kind of focused attention that makes every kilometer feel earned.
Four trips, thousands of kilometers, one lost mirror. I’ll keep driving.
If You're Planning to Drive
A few things I’ve learned:
Practical Tips for Driving in Norway
Smaller vehicles are easier. The roads are narrow and the parking spots are tight. A compact car handles better than a large camper van, though camper vans give you more flexibility with accommodation.
Summer is the best season. Longest days, best road conditions, most mountain passes open. Many high-altitude routes close entirely in winter.
Download offline maps. Cell service is generally good but disappears in remote areas and some tunnels.
Budget extra time. A route that looks like two hours on a map might take four. Narrow roads, ferry crossings, and mandatory photo stops all add up.
Trust the infrastructure. The roads look impossible but they’re engineered to work. Follow the speed limits, use the passing places, and pay attention. Norwegian roads reward careful driving.
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