Guide
The best driving roads in Scandinavia and the Nordics
Nowhere rewards a patient drive like the Nordics. Norway alone stacks fjord ferries, glacier passes and the high plateau of the Hardangervidda, with Iceland’s volcanic ring road and the empty sweeps of Arctic Sweden close behind. These are the greatest drives we have mapped across Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and the Faroes, every one from real geometry.
Lake Myvatn Loop9 mi · 15 min · 25 cornersView the roadbook ›
Distance
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1
9 mi15 min
Lake Myvatn Loop
Route 848, the paved road running along the southern and eastern shore of volcanic Lake Myvatn, passing pseudo-craters, the Dimmuborgir lava fields and steaming geothermal ground, with the Ring Road closing the loop on the far side.
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2
42 mi1 h 24 minHardangervidda Tourist Route
Rv7 traverses the vast Hardangervidda plateau past Vøringsfossen waterfall and the Måbødalen canyon, linking Hardangerfjord to the high mountain interior.
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3
24 mi43 minJæren
Flat North Sea coastal road past long beaches.
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4
25 mi46 minFlatruet
Sweden’s highest public road across an exposed gravel mountain heath at 975 m.
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5
13 mi27 minOxi Pass
Route 939, the steep gravel Oxi Pass over the Oxi heath, a white-knuckle shortcut across the mountains in east Iceland.
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6
24 mi47 minEast Fjords Coast
Paved Ring Road threading three quiet eastern fjords.
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7
56 mi1 h 43 minStora Sjöfallet Ritsem Road
Paved dead-end road to the Sarek wilderness gateway.
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8
16 mi32 minFjardarheidi Pass
Route 93 over the Fjardarheidi mountain pass, switchbacking down past waterfalls into the fjord town of Seydisfjordur in east Iceland.
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9
51 mi1 h 38 minRondane
Mountain road along the Atndalen east of Rondane.
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10
14 mi27 minHöga Kusten Nordingrå Coast Road
Winding coast road through the High Coast peninsula.
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11
222 mi6 h 46 minVildmarksvagen (Wilderness Road)
Sweden’s highest paved through-route over the bare Stekenjokk plateau.
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12
28 mi54 minValdresflye
A National Tourist Route to 1389 m across an open plateau with grandstand views over the Jotunheimen peaks.
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13
103 mi3 h 36 minKjölur Highland Route
Iceland’s most celebrated highland crossing, threading the Kjölur plateau between two massive ice caps through geothermal hot springs and ancient wilderness.
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14
29 mi53 minAndøya
Island coastal road from Andenes to Bjørnskinn.
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15
35 mi1 h 7 minWestfjords Route 60 (Dynjandi)
Westfjords mountain-and-fjord drive over Dynjandisheidi past the Westfjords' grandest waterfall.
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16
5 mi11 minTrollstigen
Norway’s Troll’s Ladder of eleven dramatic hairpins.
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17
14 mi31 minGeiranger Eagle Road
Eleven hairpins above one of the world’s great fjords.
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18
42 mi1 h 38 minGaularfjellet
Mountain pass road between Sognefjord and Sunnfjord.
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19
13 mi24 minSnæfellsnes Peninsula Coast
Paved coastal loop past a glacier-capped volcano.
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20
7 mi13 minAtlantic Ocean Road
A causeway of bridges leaping between Atlantic skerries.
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21
30 mi1 h 2 minAurlandsfjellet Snow Road
A high, lunar mountain crossing past the Stegastein lookout.
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22
3 mi7 minLysevegen
A wall of numbered hairpins climbing from the head of the Lysefjord.
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23
34 mi1 h 9 minHardanger Sørfjord
Fjordside fruit-country road to Latefoss waterfall.
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24
72 mi2 h 25 minTröllaskagi Peninsula Road
A paved coastal loop through North Iceland’s dramatic Troll Peninsula, threading narrow fjords, fishing villages, and single-lane mountain tunnels.
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25
7 mi13 minRoute to Gásadalur
A 10 km road on Vágar that tunnels through a mountain to reach Gásadalur, a village of 18 people inaccessible by road until 2004, ending above the Múlafossur waterfall where a stream drops from the clifftop straight into the Atlantic.
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26
48 mi1 h 46 minSenja
Arctic coastal road around Senja’s outer edge.
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27
20 mi36 minSouth Coast at Vík
Paved Ring Road run past waterfalls to black beaches.
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28
10 mi20 minKalsoy Island Road
The only road on the slender island of Kalsoy threads four narrow unlit tunnels and hugs the fjord coast between them, linking the ferry landing at Syðradalur to the near-deserted village of Trøllanes.
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29
8 mi16 minGjáarvegur
Gjáarvegur climbs from coastal Eiði over the flanks of Slættaratindur, the Faroes' highest peak at 882 m, before a spectacular hairpin descent into Gjógv, grass-roofed houses at the head of a 200 m sea gorge.
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30
17 mi37 minGamle Strynefjellsvegen
A narrow old summer road over the Strynefjell.
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