Bob from the Nature Travels team marvels at the fiery colours of autumn and the spectacular mountain scenery of Jotunheimen on our Self-guided Cycling on the Milk Route experience, while also enjoying some wonderful food and local hospitality along the way!
I love the Jotunheimen region. It’s wild, beautiful and varied, but easily accessible in just a few hours by convenient public transport connections from Oslo. I hadn’t been to this particular area for a few years – the last time had been for a glorious week of hut-to-hut hiking – and I was very much looking forward to being back again, this time discovering the area on two wheels.
It was mid-September, and I was here to try out some sections of the routes on our new Self-guided Cycling on the Milk Route experience. This is a flexible selection of biking itineraries of varying duration (6-10 days) and level of challenge (easy-hard), offering something for cyclists of all ages and levels, from families or adults seeking a relaxing and easy-going tour to experienced cyclists out for a bucket-list adventure, including the option to add the famous Rallarvegen.
We’d be doing a few of the different sections of the Milk Route (Mjølkevegen in Norwegian), over the coming days, beginning with a part of the North Route, which would take us from Lemonsjø to Ruten and on to Bygdin for the boat to Eidsbugarden. From here, we’d be cheating a bit to save time, travelling by vehicle to Gomobu before having our last day of cycling on a section of the South Route from Gomobu to Kamben.
I enjoy cycling very much. I use my bike locally here around Nature Travels HQ in Dorset whenever I can as an alternative to taking the car, and from time to time head out for a morning ride over the local hills at the weekend. But I’m not a hardcore cyclist – far from it – and so with our itinerary set to be up to 63km a day and with quite a bit of climbing at times, I decided that I needed a do a bit of preparation in the weeks before the tour so I wouldn’t embarrass myself.
We would be using e-bikes on the Milk Route tour, which of course dramatically reduces the work involved (when doing the tour, you have the choice of hiring “standard” or e-bikes, or bringing your own bike if you prefer), so I wasn’t really expecting any issues. But I decided that if I worked up to doing those distances and climbs on my normal road bike, it would make everything easier and more enjoyable when I got to Norway for the real thing. Plus, it was a good excuse to get my bike serviced!
So in the weeks leading up to the trip, I was frequently to be seen pedalling through the lovely countryside around Dorchester as I gradually increased the length of my training circuits and puffed my way up the steep climb to Hardy’s Monument to admire the views over the Jurassic coastline. By the time September came around, I was feeling rather pleased with myself, and, perhaps most important of all, my bottom had got used to spending extended periods in the saddle.
This is a self-guided tour, so you will not be travelling with others (minimum two persons are required for safety reasons as a self-guided tour), but for this “try-out” trip, we were to be a small, international group.
One of the real bonuses of this tour for guests is that return coach travel is included between Oslo and the start/end points of your trip, but we would be travelling by train for the start of our tour. We gathered at Oslo airport before boarding the train to Otta, and as soon as I met the rest of the party, I was very glad indeed that I’d done some training. Pretty much everyone was clearly a much more experienced and regular cyclist than me, and a few looked like superhuman biking gods! Oh dear.
But I needn’t have worried. One reason it was planned to use e-bikes for our tour is that they are a great “leveller”, allowing cyclists of varying ability and fitness to bike together at the same speed. Extra assistance from the e-bikes is available for those who need it, while those who want extra challenge can make things harder simpler by turning down the power. The e-bikes provided are the latest models, with high-capacity batteries. If you use them on full power all the time, you might be at risk of running out of juice during the day, but for any reasonable usage, there’s plenty of power on offer. And of course, you re-charge at your accommodation each night so you have a full battery pack to start the next day.
Time for dinner!
A few hours later, after admiring the scenery from the train as we whizzed through the countryside, we arrived at Lemonsjø, where we’d be staying the night.
Like all the accommodation we would stay at and visit during the tour, Lemonsjø has plenty of local charm and atmosphere. Getting to know the local hosts at the various accommodations along the route, many of whom are families who have been running the lodges for generations and are colourful characters with wonderful stories to share, is as much a part of this experience as the cycling and the beautiful scenery.
Built in 1958, Lemonsjø has been run by the Furuset family since 1978. Our first evening passed with warmth and laughter, as we enjoyed a lovely home-cooked meal prepared from local ingredients, before retiring to our cabins to rest before the first day’s cycling tomorrow.
Lemonsjø to Ruten
It was going to be wet today. Really wet! But never mind, nothing could dampen our spirits as we made the most of the breakfast buffet at Lemonsjø, including preparing our packed lunch for the day. As part of your tour pack, you will receive an eco-friendly beeswax wrapper, perfect for keep your lunch items in order until it’s time for a picnic on the trail.
Then we collected our bikes from the rental shop next to the lodge and, after some circuits of the car park to test and adjust everything, set off for our first day of biking. Today’s ride would take see us cover about 58km, climbing about 970m overall.
It was an easy start, swooping down through the woods on gravel tracks and along the river, ending with a bit more climbing along a quiet road in the later part of the day as we took a detour to visit one of the local villages. We took some time during the day to stop and admire the views and learn a little about the cultural heritage of the area, but it wasn’t the kind of weather to hang about too long for our picnic lunch!
By the time we reached Ruten in the afternoon, where we’d be staying tonight, we were pretty wet, but despite the weather not putting on its best show for us today, we’d had a great day out. The scenery had been attractive and varied, with forested paths, rushing rivers, and serene lakes.
But we also enjoyed the chance to get out of our wet clothes, take a shower and relax a bit. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours soaking up the traditional atmosphere of the old lodge, drinking tea, eating too much cake and trying out some of the extensive board and card game collection, and before we knew it, it was time for dinner.
Ruten to Bygdin
We awoke to blue skies – what a contrast from yesterday – and with one of the most scenic rides of our trip to look forward to.
Today we’d be climbing on gravel tracks through the tree line onto the plateau, where hopefully the beautiful Jotunheimen mountains would be spread out before us, before dropping down towards Bygdin, where we’d catch the boat along the lake. Our ride would be about 63km, climbing about 870m or so along the way.
The sun was on us as we climbed, and we all needed to stop to take off some layers as we’d been in “yesterday” mode when we’d dressed this morning. As we reached the top and the gravel road flattened out, the scenery was simply wonderful and we took our time to enjoy it, with frequent photo stops.
We would have been more than content to enjoy the spectacular views as we made our way along, but there was an extra surprise in store. We’d thought we’d probably see a few reindeer today grazing up here on the plateau, but we hadn’t expected to catch sight of a large herd. They came running in a long line through the brush, and it was truly beautiful to watch them moving through the landscape.
We stopped to let them pass, both to make the most of this beautiful sight and also to leave plenty of space for the whole herd to cross the road undisturbed and continue on their way. As you might hear Glenn mention on the video below, sometimes reindeer can be distracted by bikes or vehicles and start walking along the road rather than crossing over as intended, and we wanted to make sure we weren’t interfering with their travel plans!
We’d taken a good amount of time to enjoy our surroundings so far, and looking at the watch realised that we should get a move on if we were going to be in time to catch for the boat from Bygdin! We continued on our way, with an exhilarating descent off the plateau (the more intrepid members of the group flying along with abandon, others being more cautious at the back, me somewhere in the middle!) to reach the shore of Lake Vinstra. We followed the lake for the last part of the ride to reach the beautiful old lodge at Bygdin.
I’d been here before, but only in wintertime, and it was fascinating to see the contrast in autumn, with the setting free of ice and snow and the mountains alive with autumn colours. We had time to enjoy some of the lodge’s famous waffles in the historic lounge area, before, right on time, the MS Bithorn pulled up to the jetty and it was time to leave. This wonderful old boat has been running services on Lake Bygdin since 1912, and the trip is one of the highest boat rides in Europe, at 1060m above sea level.
Normally for the tour, guests would keep their bikes and take them on the boat, continuing the ride from Eidsburgarden at the other end of the lake, but for our itinerary, we left our bikes in Bygdin, as we’d be taking a vehicle transfer at the other end to save time and getting different bikes later for our final leg tomorrow.
The boat ride is quite an event – beautiful mountains, a lovely old boat, and a real character for a captain! The rain had returned, but as they say in Norway, “There’s no bad weather, only bad clothes”, so it didn’t stop me spending most of the trip on deck to make sure I didn’t miss the passing scenery. An hour and a half later, the village of Eidsbugarden came into view and it was time to disembark.
As our trip was showcasing some of the different landscapes to be enjoyed along the Milk Route, we’d now be using a vehicle to skip part of the normal route, and our last day would be on a part of the South Route section. We drove down the scenic track to Filefjell, stopping off there for a look at the lovely Filefjellstuene lodge, which is also one of the overnights on the North Route, before continuing to Gomobu for the night.
Gomobu features on the South Route (for two nights, Day 2 and Day 4) tour and for one night on the Full Route tour, and is another wonderful location, with comfortable hotel-standard rooms and a strong focus on food. The lodge has been serving visitors to the area since 1970, with current hosts Bjørn and Astrid at the helm since 1991.
Gomobu to Kamben
Another wonderful breakfast (I wasn’t going to be dropping any kilos on this trip, it seemed!) and then it was time to collect our new bikes for the final day. Today would be a short trip, around 26km or so with 330m of height gain, though we planned to extend the basic distance a little with some detours along the way.
The e-bikes we’d be using today were a little different – more like hybrid/city bikes, ideal for the type of tracks and small roads we’d be cycling on with more of an upright seating position. It was interesting to feel the contrast between these and the more “sporty” e-bikes we’d had for the previous days. Both were great – the “sporty” bikes were certainly a lighter (and cooler-looking!), while these bikes looked a little more old-fashioned but were very comfortable and easy to handle.
We’d experienced forests and rivers on Day 1, mountains and lakes on Day 2. Today we would be exploring some of the summer farm landscape that is so typical of this area. Many of these old summer farms are still in active use today, with cows, sheep and goats brought up to the mountains sometime between early May and mid-June to graze on the rich pastures which appear as the snow melts. The animals spend the summer in the mountains and are taken back down to the valleys in September.
The summer farms are central to both the cultural and natural heritage of the region, with the grazing animals playing an essential role in shaping the landscape and ecology of the area. They’re also very attractive! We passed a number of beautiful summer farms during the day, with the animals grazing quietly in the fields. It was all very bucolic! Quite different from the dramatic mountain scenery of yesterday, but no less lovely.
The last part of our ride was a short climb towards Kamben, located just outside the small resort village of Storefjell. We enjoyed some waffles at Storefjell Hotel before dropping down to the atmospheric lodge at Kamben. Again, meeting the local hosts here was a real highlight of the trip – so friendly, welcoming, and enthusiastic to meet guests and to share their stories of life running this traditional mountain lodge. Originally a farm dating from 1836, Kamben has been serving visitors to the area since 1920. In 1936, the hotel was bought by Dorthea and Martin Brekke, and today is run by their grandson. Family tradition is strong in this part of Norway!
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the sauna, enjoying a beer or two and watching some deer grazing on the fields below, and by the time dinnertime came around, we were feeling very relaxed indeed! Apart from the beautiful setting and atmosphere of the lodge, dinnertime here is a main event. A five-course affair, showcasing the culinary traditions of the area with a strong focus on local produce, all overseen with love and care by Martin.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable end to our trip, and we retired to bed very full and very content.
Time to go home
It was time to go. Well stocked up with breakfast and our picnic lunch, and feeling rather reluctant to leave, we drove to Fagernes for the bus to Oslo. Our three days of cycling on the Milk Route had been a great overview of what these tours have to offer – we’d experienced some of the varied landscapes to be encountered on the different routes, met some real local characters, and eaten (too much!) wonderful food. I was already wondering when I could get back in the saddle to explore more…
Best regards
Bob from the Nature Travels Team
Self-guided Cycling on the Milk Route offers a choice of four itineraries of duration 6-10 days, exploring different sections of Mjølkevegen. The level of challenge varies from easy to hard, with some options also ideal for families. There is also an option to extend the trip to include the famous Rallarvegen route, ending in Flåm on the Sognejfjord. Tour dates are flexible by arrangement between June and September.