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.
Trollstigen32 mi · 1 h 15 min · 16 hairpinsView the roadbook ›
Distance
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1
32 mi1 h 15 min
Trollstigen
Norway’s Troll’s Ladder of eleven dramatic hairpins.
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2
14 mi31 minGeiranger Eagle Road
Eleven hairpins above one of the world’s great fjords.
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3
7 mi13 minAtlantic Ocean Road
A causeway of bridges leaping between Atlantic skerries.
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4
3 mi7 minLysevegen
A wall of hairpins climbing from the head of the Lysefjord.
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5
20 mi36 minSouth Coast at Vík
Paved Ring Road run past waterfalls to black beaches.
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6
66 mi2 h 13 minSognefjellet
The highest mountain-pass road in Northern Europe.
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7
9 mi15 minLake Mývatn Loop
Scandinavia’s most concentrated hit of volcanic strangeness. Route 848 follows the southern and eastern shore of Lake Mývatn in north Iceland, past the pseudo-craters at Skútustaðir, the weird lava towers of Dimmuborgir and steaming geothermal ground, with the Ring Road closing the loop on the far side. It is an easy, short drive, but there is more raw earth-science per mile here than almost anywhere in the Nordics: bubbling mud, warm springs, craters within craters. This is Iceland at its most legibly volcanic, a place where the landscape is visibly still being made. Take the full loop, stop at the Grjótagjá cave and the Hverir mud pots, and give the whole day to it.
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8
42 mi1 h 24 minHardangervidda Tourist Route
The great plateau crossing, and one of Norway’s defining drives. Rv7 leaves Eidfjord at sea level, climbs the dramatic Måbødalen canyon past the long free-fall of Vøringsfossen, and emerges onto the Hardangervidda, the largest mountain plateau in northern Europe, a vast treeless expanse of rock, lake and reindeer. The contrast is the whole point: fjord and waterfall drama at the bottom, austere high emptiness on top. It is a National Tourist Route for good reason. Drive it in summer when the plateau section is open and the light runs for hours, mind the sudden weather up high, and stop at the new Vøringsfossen viewing platforms on the way up.
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9
24 mi43 minJæren
The gentle one, and a study in Nordic restraint. County road 44, the Nordsjøvegen, runs flat along the North Sea coast of southwestern Norway between Ogna and Bore, past long sandy beaches, drystone-walled farmland and the Kvassheim lighthouse. There are no hairpins and no mountains here, just big skies, open horizons and the constant presence of the sea, a National Tourist Route that trades drama for atmosphere. It is the antidote to the fjord roads, a place to slow right down and watch the light move over the water. Mind the strong coastal crosswinds, and time it for a stormy day when the North Sea really performs.
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10
25 mi46 minFlatruet
Sweden’s highest public road, and its most quietly wild. Flatruetvägen climbs to around 975 m between Funäsdalen and Ljungdalen, and its summit section crosses a bare, tundra-like heath of hard-packed gravel grazed by reindeer, with long open views toward the Norwegian mountains. This is not a road of corners but of altitude and emptiness, the sensation of driving across the roof of a country that hides its high country well. Sweden’s mountains are subtle where Norway’s are showy, and Flåtruet is the best way to feel them. Drive it in summer when the gravel is dry and the reindeer are out, and carry what you need for a remote crossing.
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11
13 mi27 minOxi Pass
A white-knuckle shortcut, and east Iceland’s wildest paved-adjacent drive. Route 939, the Öxi, is a narrow unpaved mountain road that slices across the highlands between Berufjörður and the Skriðdalur valley, halving the coastal Ring Road distance at the price of a steep gravel climb to around 530 m with gradients that command real respect. It is a genuine adventure, a dramatic shortcut that rewards the committed and punishes the careless. This is Iceland driving stripped back to its essentials: loose surface, big drops, no barriers, huge scenery. Drive it in summer only, in the dry, in a capable car, and enjoy one of the best shortcuts in the Nordics.
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12
24 mi47 minEast Fjords Coast
Iceland’s quiet corner, and the Ring Road at its most peaceful. This stretch of Route 1 winds along the East Fjords from Reyðarfjörður through Fáskrúðsfjörður to Stöðvarfjörður, hugging the shoreline below steep basalt mountains and slipping through a six-kilometre tunnel. The East Fjords are the part of Iceland most visitors skip, which is precisely their charm: sleepy fishing villages, calm water, French street signs in Fáskrúðsfjörður left over from the fishermen who worked here. Now fully paved, it is easy, scenic touring with barely any traffic. Take it slowly, detour into a village or two, and enjoy the Ring Road stretch that the tour buses forget.
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13
56 mi1 h 43 minStora Sjöfallet Ritsem Road
A road to the edge of the wilderness. Road 827 branches off the E45 and runs paved all the way to Ritsem, ending at the gateway to Sarek and Stora Sjöfallet national parks in the Laponia World Heritage area, deep in Swedish Lapland. It follows the dammed Lule river through old-growth forest with peaks rising toward the Norwegian border, a dead-end drive whose whole purpose is to deliver you to genuine roadless wilderness. This is northern Sweden at its most remote and most beautiful, a place where the road simply runs out and the true north begins. Drive it in the endless summer light and stay to watch the sun refuse to set.
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14
16 mi32 minFjardarheidi Pass
The descent is the reward. Route 93 is the only road into Seyðisfjörður, climbing east out of Egilsstaðir over the Fjarðarheiði plateau at around 620 m before tumbling down a series of switchbacks into the fjord, sweeping past the Gufufoss waterfall with the colourful town and its ferry harbour laid out below. That drop into Seyðisfjörður, one of Iceland’s prettiest towns and its link to Europe by sea, is among the great arrivals in the Nordics. The plateau up top can be bleak and snowy well into summer, so mind the weather, then enjoy the run down. Time it for a clear evening when the fjord lights up.
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15
51 mi1 h 38 minRondane
Framing Norway’s oldest national park. County road 27 runs through the Atndalen valley between Folldal and Enden, a National Tourist Route that frames the Rondane massif, passing Lake Atnsjøen and the sculptural Sohlbergplassen viewpoint, built to stand exactly where the painter Harald Sohlberg composed his famous Winter Night in the Mountains. The high point near Muen reaches about 1,054 m. This is gentler, more contemplative driving than the fjord roads, a route about light and rounded mountains and Norwegian art as much as about corners. Drive it in autumn when the birch turns gold against the grey peaks, and stop at Sohlbergplassen to see the view that became a national icon.
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16
14 mi27 minHöga Kusten Nordingrå Coast Road
Sweden’s coast at its most sculptural. Road 825 threads the Nordingrå peninsula at the heart of the High Coast, a UNESCO site shaped by the fastest post-glacial land rise on earth, where the ground is still visibly lifting out of the sea. The paved route rolls past red fishing hamlets, bays and steep wooded hills above the Gulf of Bothnia, a landscape of quiet, particular beauty rather than grand drama. This is the Sweden of red cottages and still water, best taken at a wander. Mind the slow tourist traffic in high summer, take the small detours down to the fishing villages, and give yourself time to just stop and look.
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17
222 mi6 h 46 minVildmarksvägen (Wilderness Road)
The big one, and the Nordics' great wilderness road trip. Vildmarksvägen, the Wilderness Road, runs about 360 km from Strömsund via Gäddede and the open Stekenjokk plateau to Vilhelmina, crossing Stekenjokk at around 876 m as Sweden’s highest fully paved through-road, climbing above the treeline into reindeer country. It is a whole expedition rather than a single pass, a route that strings together waterfalls, forest, the Norwegian border and the bare high plateau over a couple of unforgettable days. The Stekenjokk section is snow-gated and opens only in summer. Drive it north to south with an overnight in the wild, and treat it as the Scandinavian answer to the great overland routes.
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18
28 mi54 minValdresflye
The sensation of flight. Fylkesvei 51 climbs over the Valdresflye plateau between Beitostølen and Hindsæter, a National Tourist Route topping out at 1,389 m and running for long stretches above the treeline, where the broad horizon of the Jotunheimen peaks, Norway’s highest, opens out and you get the genuine feeling of hovering above the landscape. This is high, open, exhilarating driving, the mountains laid out around you rather than towering over you. It is one of the best ways to see the roof of Norway from a car. Drive it in the long summer light, stop at the viewpoints for the Jotunheimen panorama, and mind the sudden high-altitude weather.
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19
103 mi3 h 36 minKjölur Highland Route
Iceland’s great interior crossing, and the Nordics at their most elemental. The F35 Kjölur runs 168 km through the uninhabited central highlands, flanked at a distance by the Langjökull and Hofsjökull ice caps, past the geothermal oasis of Hveravellir, the rhyolite mountains of Kerlingarfjöll and the glacier-fed lakes of the interior. It is the most accessible of Iceland’s mountain F-roads, unpaved but generally bridged, a genuine wilderness route through country where nothing lives. This is not about corners; it is about crossing a desert of ice and lava that feels like another planet. Drive it in high summer only, in a capable vehicle, and treat the interior with the respect it demands.
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20
29 mi53 minAndøya
Level tarmac along Andøya’s western edge in Arctic Norway, past steep headlands and the white sand at Bleikstranda, with whale country off the Bleik Canyon.
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21
35 mi1 h 7 minWestfjords Route 60 (Dynjandi)
The spine of the Icelandic Westfjords, over Dynjandisheidi at around 500 m and down past the tiered falls of Dynjandi between Thingeyri and Flokalundur.
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22
42 mi1 h 38 minGaularfjellet
A National Tourist Route between the Sognefjord and Sunnfjord, snaking up the hillside in a stack of hairpins to the Utsikten viewpoint at roughly 700 metres.
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23
13 mi24 minSnæfellsnes Peninsula Coast
Paved heath pass crossing the Snæfellsnes Peninsula to Ólafsvík.
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24
30 mi1 h 2 minAurlandsfjellet Snow Road
A high, lunar mountain crossing past the Stegastein lookout.
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25
34 mi1 h 9 minHardanger Sørfjord
Fjordside fruit-country road to Latefoss waterfall.
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26
72 mi2 h 25 minTröllaskagi Peninsula Road
A paved coastal road through North Iceland’s dramatic Troll Peninsula, threading narrow fjords, fishing villages, and single-lane mountain tunnels.
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27
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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28
26 mi52 minHamningberg Road
A dead-end Arctic road across the Varanger Peninsula to an abandoned fishing village on the Barents Sea, running through tundra, sea cliffs and weathered lava in some of the most elemental landscape in mainland Europe.
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29
48 mi1 h 46 minSenja
Senja’s outer edge, a narrow road threading between fjords and rock-cut tunnels out to the Tungeneset boardwalk and its head-on view of the jagged Okshornan peaks.
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30
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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