Norway’s Incredible Cycling Accommodation That No One’s Using!

Accommodation prices have soared since the pandemic, but tucked away in the remote forests of central Norway are two unique initiatives offering affordable stays in historic old buildings. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds!

00:00 – Intro
01:49 – Sleeping Box 1 Bandaksli
05:29 – Woody Woodpecker & the Journey between
08:10 – Sleeping Box 2 Fjågesund
13:06 – Telemark Canal Route

Visit http://www.cyclenorway.com for more information about cycling in Norway.

Part 1 of cycling through Telemark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa8zCGIkGB8&t=2s

The 450km Route is available to our members here: https://cyclenorway.com/en/why-telemark-might-be-norways-best-kept-cycling-secret/

Sleeping box info: https://cyclenorway.com/en/hidden-sleeping-boxes-in-telemark-norways-best-budget-accommodation/

#Telemark #bikepacking #budgetaccommodation #norwaylife #cyclinglife

So, this is like absolutely crazy. I don’t think you can see this, but it’s a booking form for the whole summer. And it’s saying that every spot, every day is available. Four available places every day. [Music] It’s madness. We’re talking about one of the greatest budget accommodations available anywhere on the planet, and no one’s using it. [Music] Ta the county has done a tremendous job in the last few years at promoting tourism. Now what they have ownership of is two old docking areas which were part of the industrial pass. Boats would come in, cargo, raw materials would be loaded and taken to the coast for export etc. Now, what the local municipalities did, which I thought was genius, is instead of selling off that land, which is kind of like in really great prime real estate locations, you know, to a wealthy investor that builds a boutique hotel and charges €300 a night. Instead of doing that, they left the buildings as they are, just built what they call sleeping boxes inside. cheap to build, cheap to maintain, but more importantly, the old buildings themselves, they’ve left alone apart from obviously just maintaining it a little bit. So, you have that authenticity of history all around you. Good morning. You want to see what I’m seeing? [Music] Tour time. So, this sleeping box has one, two, three, four beds. Each bed comes with a reading lamp. There is a ventilation unit. Loads of space. There are six charging points and a heater and a bin. But best of all, there’s a mosquito donet. Very well thought through. [Music] There’s a lot of space. Yes, the outside part is huge. Plenty of space. Sanitizer. paper towels and a guest book. Make sure you fill it in, [Music] trash bins, life jackets, both children’s, adults, and pros. a mirror, a small formative museum telling you all about the history of this place and this area. [Music] You can pump water from the lake, but make sure you boil it first before drinking. There are loads of areas to sit down or lie down. [Music] Extra seats if you need them. A private toilet at the back of the unit away from the sleeping boxes. Of course, it’s a long jump. There’s no flushing here. Toilet paper included. There’s a private beach, but this is early May and that water is freezing. And best of all, fresh flowers. What a treat. This is incredible. Absolutely incredible. I don’t fish. So, you leave the place how you found it, cleaning up after yourself. And then you just put the key back and away you go. All right. So, I’m saying goodbye to this beautiful place. What an amazing night. That was unbelievable. Uh, but we got another amazing place to visit. Same same but different. Let me show you the other sleeping box. [Music] So Woody the woodpecker, he’s been flying around for the last five minutes making this squawking noise and I’ve been hearing him tink. Where you going? Where you going? Where you going? Where you going? Where you going? Come on, mate. Oh, where where’s he going now? Where’s he going now? Oh, he’s on that tree close to me. So, this is the black woodpecker, the largest found in Europe. distinctive red moakin on top there and it is a vital part of the ecosystem in a forest. Sadly, he popped into his house and I never saw him again, but I certainly won’t forget him. [Music] [Music] Heat [Music] up here. [Music] What’s great about these places, these sleeping boxes, is that they’re not like advertised at all. So, you really just got to get lost and try to find it. And I’ve just found it now. It’s all the way down there on this uh gravel road here. And uh they say it’s not even loc. It’s not even on Google Maps. Not even located on Google Maps. So, um you know, it’s exclusive and uh private. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Here [Music] is our patio. Here is our lake. Chairs and tables available for the patio. Just help yourself. Yeah. Here’s our kitchen. Sanitizer, paper towels, gas canisters. I thought brilliant gas canisters but they don’t fit on mine booger barbecue grill charcoal at the bottom here. Please be my guest. No flush brush though and sawdust. Didn’t have that in the first one. Very nice. Plenty of toilet paper. Small bin just in case. Where’s the light switch? That’s a good point. It’s here, flowers, trash, and most importantly, the sleeping box. It’s basically the exact same design, shape, everything as the last one, but smaller heater. It’s a mini heater. large bench. So, the last lake was like seven, eight degrees. It was so unbelievably cold when I put my hand in there. I was like, I’m never going in. This one, I think, is 10°. I think it’s still It’s still just not swimmable temperatures. But we we’ll put our toes in. Oh my god. If that is just a shock just putting your feet in. Oh my god. [Music] Yeah, come back in a few months maybe. I think it comes with this speedboat, but I can’t find the keys anywhere. Which is a shame. Now, you might be thinking, “This is incredible. How do I sign up? I’m coming.” But you got to remember there’s two really important points to mention here that you should be aware of. One minute you’re on your own and you’re thinking, “This is amazing.” The next minute you know, three people turn up and all a sudden you’re sharing this small confined space with three strangers. It can be either incredible or it could be not a good night’s sleep. But for €12, you can’t complain either way. So, I can already predict the comments right now. I should keep this quiet. why am I telling anybody, etc., etc. I get that argument, but there is a counterargument, and that is very, very simple. If no one uses them, which no one is right now, then they’re not going to build anymore, which is a real shame. But also is it’s taxpayers that cover the cost and maintain them right now if they’re not making any money back from it. And that’s people like myself. Good night, everyone. See you in the morning. Good morning. Oh, wow. Oh my god. Check this out. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. So today’s mission is very very simple. We’re just going to continue along these lakes. More more lakes. Boring. But there has been in the past an engineering masterpiece built here. And today I’m going to show you it. It’s the Talmark Canal built in 1892. And basically what it did is Darlin, which we passed yesterday, which is all the way into the heart of Talmark here. It connected Darlin with the coast. And why they needed to do that is obviously there’s loads and loads of timber around here. There’s loads of mining opportunities, iron or etc. So to be able to take them materials and to get them to coast where you could export them abroad or get them to other coastal towns in Norway, they built this Telmark canal system. There are eight locks in total and that elevates the boats up to 72 m allowing them to go along these beautiful lakes here. Now my beautiful morning was ruined when some locals started chainsawing. Can you hear them? Uh, so uh, it’s time to leave this place. I’m going to miss you, Ty Mark, but I’ll be back and maybe you, too. [Music] €12. €12. [Music] So this here, this little gravel path here is one of the best roads in Norway to cycle. It only lasts just 3 km and it takes you to the first of the locks. [Applause] It’s coming to an end. It’s coming to an end. Oh man. That’s it. Game over. Heat. Heat. [Music] Yeah, I’m sier glu and I’m a lawke keeper and a carpenter. Like you see it’s wooden gates. So we have to replace them. Sometimes they uh don’t hold more than 20 25 years. There she goes. [Music] [Music] So we’re now heading basically cutting across the forest to Porsche. There’s a a really nice gravel route goes right through the forest away from all of the main roads and that’s where we’re basically heading now. Then we’re going to take a train home. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Abolutely. [Music] [Music]