When most Europeans take a trip in the continent, they’ll usually look towards Switzerland, Austria, or Italy. Back in 2024, the BMW Performance Car Club (PCC) was keen to venture somewhere different.
What about the Arctic Circle? We could visit the Trollstigen, the Atlantic Road, the Arctic Circle Visitor Centre, take ferries across the fjords, and experience the country’s crazy tunnels. It was agreed that Norway would make a great road trip destination for our Higher Ground Tour ’24 (HGT’24).
The first stage of the HGT’24 trip to Norway started on Sunday morning with a 4.45am departure, and was pretty uneventful (as you’d expect for 900 miles of motorway driving) until the Monday afternoon ferry from Denmark to Norway. Living in the UK, I’m used to ferry crossings, but this one was quite possibly the worst I’ve ever experienced. Whilst the ferry crossing started calmly and smoothly, it soon became rough. Then, the rough became ridiculously rough; passengers were being thrown across the seating areas, children were falling over, the staff couldn’t distribute sick bags fast enough, and medics were rushed off their feet providing medical attention to whoever needed it. It was at this point that I regretted the alcohol-free beer I had consumed whilst waiting to board. One small bit of good news from the ferry crossing came from Marek @MDrives – he had been recognised by a fan from his YouTube channel. It certainly wasn’t what he expected from his crossing, and it wouldn’t be the last time he was recognised on this trip.
Roughly 40 hours after leaving home, we finally arrived in Norway. Our first hotel in the country wasn’t far from the ferry port, and the short drive gave us our first glimpse of the stunning Norwegian scenery that lay ahead on our trip. Our first night in Norway also gave us a chance to experience local beer prices. £11.67 a pint… yikes!
Now that we were actually in Norway, we could start to appreciate its breathtaking landscape and roads. From the cars, it was just one spectacular scene after another after another. It wasn’t long before we were driving to Laerdal over the mountain pass. Here, local BMW PCC member Gaute had arranged a surprise for the group – a personal tour of a private car collection. We spent an hour listening to details about every car: where they came from, their history, plans for them, and more.
The Laerdal Tunnel is so long that it has three laybys lit up with a variety of colours – great places to stop for a group photo.
Day 5 consisted of a 207-mile drive to our next hotel, via the Dalsnibba Pass. As we headed out, the weather took a turn for the worse with thick fog and torrential rain. We all arrived safely, however, and wasted little time taking the Romsdalsgondolen cable car to the summit of Nesaksla mountain. At 728 metres, you’re treated to a spectacular 360-degree view of Andalsnes below.
The next day, we drove on what is perhaps Norway’s most famous road – the Atlantic Road, which featured in the 2021 James Bond movie, No Time To Die.
By this point, we were not far from the Arctic Circle, and we started the next day with a fantastic hotel breakfast, probably the best of the entire trip. And as another bonus, the sun was shining. With the bad weather gone, Norway’s stunning scenery was on full display as we made the short 90-minute drive from Mo i Rana to the Arctic Circle Centre.
The landscape was barren, with just the odd scattering of trees on the horizon, making the lone building stand out like a sore thumb. There’s only a small parking area, but it’s a constant stream of vehicles coming and going. At the Arctic Circle Centre, you can have your passport stamped, purchase a certificate to prove you’ve been here, eat a reindeer burger for lunch, buy souvenirs, and send postcards stamped with the Arctic Circle postmark.
After nearly nine days and almost 2,400 miles of driving, it was time to turn around and head back home. Having this destination for HGT’24, the road trip felt somewhat complete, even though we were technically only halfway through it.
The BMW Performance Car Club has two road trips planned for 2026, one in the UK and one covering Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia, so look out for future write-ups. If you’re a BMW M owner who would like to participate this year, head over to the BMW PCC website and click the ‘Join Now’ button.
