Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Tours
in Europe and Beyond
Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Tours
in Europe and Beyond
Summary: This is a fully guided, round-trip tour from the UK to see the fjords and mountains of Norway.
The tour highlights include visiting spectacular Norwegian fjords including Geirgangerfjord, Hardangerfjord & Sognefjordthe. We will ride thrilling roads that you have seen pictures of but this tour makes riding them possible, such as Lysebotn, Trollstigen, Ørnesvingen, Gamle Strynfjellsvegen, Sognefjellet and more.
We will also ride the famous Atlantic Road, with its bridges joining the coastal islands. Norway is one of the world’s most beautiful countries and the scenery is breath-taking & majestic. Stay in wonderful hotels from incredible Gothic-style wooden hotels to fjord-edge hotels.
We use an overnight ferry to get from the UK to Holland, then spend two days riding to Denmark where we catch another overnight ferry to Norway.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime motorcycle tour.
Please note this tour is for experienced riders only.
Tour1 is an Authorised Harley-Davidson tour operator and so our tours are intended for Harley-Davidson riders. We do allow one non-Harley-Davidson per tour, so if you wish to ride a non-Harley, please check with gary@tour1.co.uk first before booking.
Price for
2024 Prices
Two riders sharing a room, price each
£4,145
Single rider in his/her own room
£4,875
Rider and pillion sharing a room
£6,335
To get to Norway, we use an overnight ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, followed by a two-day ride through Holland, Germany and Denmark. We then use another overnight ferry from Hirtshals in Denmark to Stavanger to complete the journey to Norway.
This tour is in July, one of the warmest months in Norway. We can expect average high temperatures each day of between 15 and 20c (59 and 68f). Average rainfall records show we can expect 23 dry days in August with rain falling on 8 days in the month. We suggest you should bring layers of clothing so can can adjust to the actual temperature throughout the day.
In Norway, the average distance we ride each day is 120 miles, allowing plenty of time for stops and photographs.
In Norway, we ride in a large anti-clockwise loop, with the furthest northerly point being Karrag on the Atlantic Road on day 10.
If you want to ride wonderful and scenic roads, including mountains, fjords and lakes, with someone else making all the arrangements, then riding with Tour1 is for you. We are hugely experienced tour operators having ridden all over Europe and we know where the best roads are.
Early this evening we assemble in Harwich, UK and catch and overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland. The ferry departure is 23:00 and we have reserved inside two-berth cabins for our group.
After breakfast on board the ferry, the ship docks in Holland at 08:00. After disembarkation the ride today takes us north through Holland and into Germany, where we stop for the night near Hamburg, with dinner included at the hotel. 300 miles today.
Today, the ride takes us north into Denmark. We will stop for lunch near Kolding in Denmark. If we have time, we will stop to look around the ‘Memphis Mansion’ which is Denmark’s replica of Graceland complete with 6,000 items of Elvis memorabilia.
We ride to Hirtshals in northern Denmark and this evening we catch an overnight ferry crossing to Stavanger in Norway. Your accommodation is a 2 berth inside cabin. On board, there are a number of different restaurants to choose from.
340 miles today.
The highlight of today is riding the stunning road called Lysebotn, famous for it dramatic descent down to the end of a fjord. The road has 27 hairpin bends and a curvy narrow tunnel that runs into the mountain and back out again. If you Google ‘Lysebotn Road’ you will see pictures of this dramatic road.
Before getting to Lysebotn we will ride away from Stavanger and stop to look down upon the first major Fjord we see, Høgsfjorden. As we near the Lysebotn Road the road comes very scenic.
After we have descended Lysebotn Road, we stop in the harbour village that gives the road its name, before turning around and riding back up.
We then head east across dramatic landscapes towards our hotel for the night, a charming wooden hotel very close to a lake formed by the River Otra.
138 miles today.
The 215 miles we ride today are stunningly scenic, as we ride alongside fjords, lakes and wonderful vistas.
First we ride through the Otra valley. After lunch we ride alongside the stunning Hardangerfjord (which is the fifth longest fjord in the world) before crossing over the Hardanger Bridge, the seventeenth longest suspension bridge in the world and longer than the Golden Gate bridge in the USA!
From the bridge our journey takes us via Voss, through majestic Norwegian mountain scenery, passing through Vossvangen and we stop to see the Tvindefossen Waterfall.
We stay the night in Flam at the end of Aurlandsfjord, a branch of the vast Sognefjord.
We don’t ride our motorcycles this morning but instead go on a marvellous trip on the Flam Railway, one of the world’s steepest railway lines. During the 20km train ride you will see more of Norway’s dramatic and spectacular scenery including deep ravines, waterfalls and snow-capped mountain slopes.
After lunch, the train gets back to the staring point and we depart Flam and ride to Marifjøra . The ride will take us via the Laerdal Tunnel, the world’s longest road tunnel (24.5km). This is then followed by a short ferry crossing from Fodnes to Mannheller, with arrival at the Hotel in Marifjøra late afternoon.
We stay the night in a magnificent 4-star wooden hotel that has its roots dating back to 1639 in what was a trading center in the region. The hotel is located right by the Lustrafjorden, which stands out due its green colour water. To get there we will have ridden just 72 miles today.
Our ride today takes us through part of the Jotunheimen National Park, Norway’s highest mountains. From Gaupne, we will ride Route 55 across the Sognefjellet mountain range, the highest and most impressive mountain pass in Northern Europe (highest point 1430 meters) to Lom. This route has the the status of ‘National Tourist Route’ because of the spectacular and wild mountain scenery it passes through.
From Lom we head north west to Geiranger where we spend the next two nights.
Today we will have ridden 128 miles.
Today is a rest day, with only a short ride planned. You can spend the day in Geiranger, a small village with occasional visit from huge cruise-liners!
Should you wish to (and most will!) we could ride the short distance to the Dalsnibba viewpoint. This is 1,500m above sea level, with fantastic views of Geirangerfjord and the surrounding mountains. It is just 12 miles from the hotel to the viewpoint, so a 24 mile round trip.
Today is another highlight day of the tour as we ride the ‘Trollstigen National Tourist Route’ where you’ll experience the fabulous Trollstigen Mountain Road, one of Norway’s most dramatic and most visited attractions. The Trollstigen Route is a 106 km stretch of road between Lake Langvatnet on Strynefjell and the Sogge Bridge in Romsdal. It has six panoramic view and rest areas and we will stop at the best of these.
To make the most of the views and to spend plenty of time riding the road, we ride just 88 miles today.
Then we ride to the edge of Midfjorden where we stay the night in a dramatic 4-star hotel, where we will be for two nights.
We ride another famous Norwegian location today, the Atlantic Ocean Road, also known as ‘The Road in the Ocean’. This has seven bridges connecting the small islands in the sea. We will ride them all, including the often photographed Storseisundet Bridge.
The Atlantic Ocean Road connects the island of Averøy with the mainland, via a series of small islands and islets spanned by a total of eight bridges over 8,274 metres. The road was opened in 1989.
Today we ride a large loop of about 80 miles that includes the Atlantic Ocean Road.
We return to the edge of Midfjorden late afternoon and stay at the same hotel as last night.
We start heading south today.
This morning we catch a 30-minute ferry across Midfjorden followed by a scenic ride to Forde.
We then ride the Old (1881) Strynefjell Mountain Road, now a National Tourist Route. This is a fabulous road for riding motorcycles and in parts it hugs fjords and lakes, all set in stunning scenery.
We arrive in our hotel located at the end of a fabulous lake and to get there, we will have ridden 162 very exciting miles. It will be a fabulous days’ riding on our Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
We depart the hotel in Skei for the last day’s riding in Norway, as we ride to the west coast city of Bergen.
We first go to see the viewpoint for a glacier (short walk needed) before riding alongside Jolstravatnet, a very scenic lake, and then riding along the banks of the magnificent fjord called Sognefjorden. We continue our journey south and reach Bergen mid-afternoon, having ridden about 160 miles to get there..
We stay in a 4-star hotel in the city tonight.
The morning and early afternoon are free time in Bergen, before boarding a mid-afternoon ferry for the overnight sailing back to Hirtshals in Denmark.
All of the ship’s facilities are at your disposal during the sailing and accommodation is a 2 berth inside cabin.
The ferry docks in the early morning in Hirtshals in Denmark and we now start the two-day ride back to Holland through Denmark and Germany.
Tonight we stay in the same hotel as we did at the end of day two.
336 miles today.
We have 310 miles to ride back to the Hook of Holland today, where we catch an overnight ferry back to Harwich. Accommodation on board is a two-berth inside cabin.
The ferry docks in Harwich at 07:00 on the Sunday morning where the tour officially ends. You start your own journey home from Harwich.
Our group sizes normally range from 10 to 14 motorcycles.
Each day, we normally start riding at 8.30am sharp and cover in the region of 150 to 200 miles. We try to avoid motorways wherever possible and only use these when there is no real alternative. We take mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks and of course find somewhere for lunch. Our plan is to normally arrive at that evening’s hotel by around 6pm.
We use good quality hotels – not super luxury and not bottom end, but mid-range – normally 3 and 4-star.
We ride at a pace to suit all of the riders. We stick to all speed limits in towns, but in rural areas we ride at, let’s call them ‘more appropriate’ speeds. We generally ride in staggered convoy on straighter roads.
As we have pre-booked hotels and a schedule to stick to, we ride in all weathers. During any exceptionally inclement weather, we will pull over for short periods. We could experience a range of different types of weather, so bring waterproofs, just in case.
We like these tours to be about having a real adventure, riding on great roads with like-minded people. For that reason, we do not use a support van, but we always have a back-marker.
*Ride Difficulty Rating
Each of our tours has a difficulty rating and this tour is rated as ‘challenging’. That means this tour is for experienced riders only, with say, a minimum of three years of riding large motorcycles. You must have ridden on the right-hand side of the road before on many occasions and you must be comfortable with travelling in a group of riders and be able to keep a good pace within that group. We do not ride very fast, but at the same time, it is better if riders do not go too slowly.
The route will include many twisty roads, plus many high mountain roads with many tight hairpin bends / switchbacks. There will be some sections of road with steep drop-offs at the side and no guardrail. If you or your pillion are at all uncomfortable at riding at height, then this tour is not for you. If you are from the USA, please note some of the roads you will be riding are significantly narrower and have tighter bends than in the USA. All roads are fully paved. While there is not much motorway riding on the tour, as a guide, the group will be riding at speeds of 75mph+ on motorways. You must be confident of riding in rain and on wet roads.
Each day’s riding will be around 9 hours, with breaks. You must be able to ride all day. If you are at all unsure if your riding ability is good enough for this tour, then you must contact us by telephone to discuss.
If there is one thing in life that you need to do it is to go on a Tour 1 trip with Gary. I have been on 3 of his trips and each time have experienced something so wonderful that you will remember it for the rest of your life. Peter Killian, London, UK.
