Bodø Transportation

I had the idea to drive all the way from Vienna to Nordkapp and even to Kirkenes in my motorhome in August 2009 but then I unfortunately had a problem with the engine in Trondheim, so I had to give these travel-plans up.
This is my conclusion after driving
a motorhome ca. 6.000km through Norway:
You need a lot of time and patience in order to really enjoy the norwegian landacape that way. The roads are quite narrow and not always in perfect condition, your average speed will be between 60 and 80km/h, petrol&Diesel are more expensive than in the rest of Europe, restaurants with a good service are quite pricey and they are hard to find and self-service restaurants will have mostly just sausages and french fries, that gets quite boring already after a few days.
You will find lots of parking-spaces along the way, many of them with grilling-facilities, free of charge, that was great, but "wild" overnight-camping at these place in your motorhome is mostly forbidden.
Then they have this stupid automatic toll-system for cars : your licenceplate will be scanned while passing by and as a tourist you have 3 possibilities to pay:
1)register online in an internetcafe with your creditcard and licenceplate-number
Thats a dangerous way in my opinion and lots of people keep saying: Never give your CC-details in an internetcafe ! - so I gave up this idea !
2)pay at some gas-station in the area, it will be Shell in the area around Oslo and BP maybe around Tronheim etc. , BUT when paying there YOU have to know the amount you owe them, then you pay in that money, thats all. So have your calculator handy and calculate each time that you pass one of the many toll-plazas, some with an amount of 20 NOK , some with 65 NOK etc.
3)an invoice will be sent to your homeadress and that might take between 2 weeks and 6 months and maybe they will send the invoice not at all, like in my case.
BUT of course you never know, maybe they send around an invoice for my use of toll-roads to a wrong adress and there might be high extra-fees for me some day. It leaves a very bad feeling for me, and that is why I call this system STUPID !
WHY cant you have a system of a prepaid sticker according to a tourist's drivingtime through Norway, afterall the amount I owe them is not much more than maybe 25 euros on the total.
June and July is a good time to drive through Norway !
August & September are too late for many museums
and its also getting dark quite early already !

The best way to get here is by flight from Oslo. Both Norwegian and SAS fly here several times a day. There are also direct flights from Trondheim (Norwegian), Tromsø (Norwegian and SAS) as well as smaller cities (Wideroe). Ferry/Boat is slow but can be ok from Lofoten. You can take the bus from Narvik northwards or from Skellefteå. There are also trains arriving from Trondheim.

If you intend to journey from Narvik to Bodo, take the
"720 Nord-Norgeekspressen Bod0-Fauske-Narvik " bus
your journey will take exactly 6 hours, 25 minutes. The bloody elusive bus station at Narvik is at the basement of the central shopping centre. Your ticket will cost around 467Nok but you'll get a hefty discount if you hold a Scanrail pass like me. If I'm not mistaken, I paid only 20-30% of the actual price. Well, things might have changed since then so click on the weblink for more details.

Personal Note:You're extremely lucky to get a website to tell you all the details. Back in 2002, I had to beg some Nordic stranger via email for the bus schedule!

The Ferry Terminal is just a two or three minute walk from the train station. From here you can take the auto ferry to Lofoten (Moskenes) - which is what I did. A little further on is the terminal for the coastal steamer - the Hurtigruten - which will take you either northward or southward along and through the spectacular coastal fjords.

One of the old generation of Coastal steamers visiting Bodø on a summer day. "Nordstjernen" is one representant of the old, faithful ships touring the coast for several decades in all kind of weather.
Today only new modern ships are doing this coastal cruise.

Hurtigruten is the name of the route of ships which daily connect all the smaller and larger places along the Norwegian shore., from Bergen in South to Kirkenes in North.
Nowadays the ships are bigger and more luxurious than ever, and the cruise along the coast of Norway is called "The world's most beautiful voyage"
But besides being a comfortable and touristy way to travel, hurtigruten still plays an important role as transportation for local people and goods, thus connecting the entire coastal line of Norway.
Hurtigruten - on its way North - arrives in Bodø at 1 p.m. every day, and departs for Lofoten at 3 in the afternoon.
Southwards -arrival in Bodø at 1.30 in the night and departure at 4am.

the ferry ride from bodo to moskenes is free if you walk on. it's a gorgeous ride across to the fjords if you can manage to avoid the throngs of german seniors going crazy with their various assortment of cameras and camcorders.
it's super easy to hitchhike around lofoten in the summer as there are heaps of tourists in rental cars everywhere more than willing to pick people up. i don't think i ever waited more than five minutes for a ride anytime i was there.

The flight from Oslo takes 90 minutes and there are
around 8 direct flights a day.Bodo Lufthavn,one of the
most modern airports in Norway,is situated just 2km
from the centre.Bodo is also communication hub in the
maritime context; both the northbound & southbound
Coastal Express (Hurtigrute) vessels visit Bodo daily.
The coastal express service as well-established and
the popular Lofoten ferry makes the journey between
Bodo and Lofoten much easier. As the northernmost terminal in the norwegian rail network,Bodo has arrivals/departures from/to Trondhiem/Oslo every morning and night. There are also daily bus services
to the North Cape and Northern Sweden. Bodo is also
the last stop on Kystriksveien (The Coast Road),one
of the most scenic routes in Norway .
By Ferrie - By Bus - By Car ...