Kristiansund
If you want to experience coastal culture, you don’t need to drive all the way to Helgeland or Northern Norway. You can experience scenic islands and fishing villages as close as the Northwest of Norway.
Kristiansund is Norway’s capital of clipfish, and you can find clipfish served as bacalao in cafés and restaurants. We shopped at the charming Knut Garshol Klippfisk store on Kaibakken in central Kristiansund. The small shop is like a miniature museum, selling both clipfish and bacalao. We took the bacalao with us and heated it up in the car at the campsite. Atlanten Camping is located close to the town centre and is recommended. It takes about 20 minutes to walk to the centre, and if you feel like being more active, there is beautiful natural scenery and plenty of hiking opportunities on Gomalandet, right outside the campsite. Trails have been laid out around the peninsula, and before long, you will have the entire Atlantic Ocean stretching out before you.
If you prefer to park even more centrally, there is a small motorhome parking area at Gassverktomta down by the quay in the town centre.
Kristiansund is a pleasant little town, but don’t expect any grand architectural experiences. The town was bombed during the war and bears the marks of having been rebuilt in haste and with limited funds available.
Among the sights worth seeing are the Klippfisk Museum and Mellemværftet, a living shipyard museum. Here you will find old boats and engines, as well as an old workshop.
The most spectacular route to Kristiansund is the Atlantic Ocean Road. It winds its way across high bridges right out on the exposed coast. Admittedly, the spectacular stretch is not very long, but it is well worth experiencing.
Smøla
To get to Smøla, you need to take two ferries, the first of which departs just north of Kristiansund. Smøla is a large, flat island and cannot offer the same dramatic scenery as the islands farther north, but it has a fascinating coastal culture and plenty of Atlantic Ocean to offer. You can drive around the island or straight across it, and you should definitely make a trip out to Veiholmen, Norway’s largest fishing village south of Lofoten. The road to Veiholmen is, if anything, even more spectacular than the Atlantic Ocean Road, winding across islands, narrow bridges and causeways far out into the sea. The road is narrow, with room for only one car, so keep an eye on the road ahead and be prepared to stop at one of the passing places.
You pass a number of islands along the way where it is possible to stop for a hike, go fishing, or spend the night, as we did. On Haugøya, there is a lean-to shelter with exceptional views of the sea where you can spend the night in a sleeping bag; see the photo at the top of the article. If you are lucky, you may spot white-tailed eagles. Veiholmen is located on the outermost islet and consists of a number of small wooden houses clustered together in the tiny village. In summer, it is bustling with life, with a hotel and two restaurants. Boats and kayaks are available for hire, and there is a diving centre. Just before Veiholmen itself, within a short walk, there is a large motorhome parking area. We do not have a large motorhome, but a Land Cruiser, and we do not like these asphalted areas, so we drove a few kilometres back and found a spot to ourselves on one of the islands further inland towards the mainland.
On the way back to the mainland, we drove south along the coast, between rocky outcrops and across peat bogs. The road runs close to the sea, and we were lucky enough to find a place to spend the night right down by the shore.
Read more here: veiholmen.com
More road trips in Norway: Norway
