A long-distance hike – a long-cherished dream that will come true for us in 2022. Years ago, we saw a documentary about the Appalachian Trail and since then, the topic has remained with us. The big long-distance hiking trails in the USA – like the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) – are probably familiar to everyone who has ever been involved in long hikes. However, the fact that there are also great long-distance hiking trails apart from the Way of St. James in Europe, which means right on our doorstep, is something we only discovered years later. We will walk one of them in 2022: the Norge på langs, or NPL for short, which means “Norway lengthwise”.
Norge på langs (NPL)
Unlike many other long-distance trails, the NPL does not (yet) have a fixed route. Therefore, each traveler plans his own route. Not even the starting and ending points are set. You start somewhere in the south and finish high up in the north. Or the other way around, of course. Most hikers, however, start at the lighthouse in Lindesnes. For many, the North Cape or Knivskjellodden – a rocky outcrop near the North Cape, which lies a little further north – have become the destination for their hike. In between there lies a distance of about 2,500 to 3,000 kilometers. This can be covered on foot, by bicycle or, in winter, on skis. Or a combination of different modes of transportation.
Our plan
Our version of the NPL starts on May 15, 2022: the sabbatical has already been approved (Katharina) and the employment contract has been terminated (Manuel). The route is also planned. At a length of about 2,700 kilometers, it will take us from the Lindesnes lighthouse through Norway, Sweden and also a small stretch through Finland northwards to the North Cape. We have about 150 days for this route before Katharina has to be back in Germany in the middle of October.
Track our Norge på langs tour live on the map
While we were on the move, we sent our location every day. See where our Norge på langs tour took us:
NPL at a glance
| Total distance | 2,716.9 km |
| Difference in altitude | 57,837 m ↑ and 57,565 m ↓ |
| Duration (total) | 150 days |
| Hiking days | 131 |
| km/hiking day | 20.7 km |
| Countries | Norway, Sweden, Finland |
| Border crossings | 8 |
8 comments
Hello there! A great plan, a great trip! Best of luck to both of you + dog! Best wishes from Finland…
Thanks a lot!
Hi! I just read your post about the Nordkalottleden. I’m planning a section of this trip at the end of August. Do you mind sharing what month you started? I’d rather not encounter snow!
Hej,
we started from Abisko northwards on the second of September and arrived in Kilpisjärvi the eleventh of September. Please keep in mind, that you always have to expect snow this far north. Even in den summer. Have a nice trip!
Katharina
Wow! An impressive route. I met a guy in Cunojavrihytta last October doing this; first time I had heard of it. Enjoying reading your other trips, great photos. Wishing you success in this huge adventure. But I take my hat off to the real star, Lando! Oblivious to what is coming up soon!
Hey Bill, thank you for the good wishes and thanks for commenting! Here on the blog you will be able to follow our current position on the map. While we are on the trail, there will likely be additional information on Instagram.
Great blog!
I also hike with my dog (from Denmark), so I found a ton of useful information here! Thanks!
When I look at your NPL-route on the map, the tent sites differ a lot from the route (green line). Why is that?
If you have a gpx-file of your route I would love to see/use it, or parts of, hopefully some day.
Nice dog! Hope he is fine 🙂
Camilla
Hey Camilla,
the green route is the one we planned to hike. However things never go as planned and we had to much snow to cross Hardangervidda in the beginning, my knee forced us to have a break and skip a section and finally a very rainy and cold July made us rethink about entering the remote national parks Blåfjella-Skækerfjella and Børgefjell. We hiked around instead. At the very end we hired a camper and drove the last kilometers as weren’t in a mood to hike along the road anymore.
We are definitely working on publishing the route we actually hiked as a gpx on this site as well. Give us a bit more time and come back a little later!