Does anyone know a Mitfahrzentrale-style website for Norway, for planned hitch-hiking? I need to travel from Kiruna (Sweden) to Tromsø (Norway) on 20 December, and the first train arrives in Narvik two minutes after the last bus to Tromsø has left. Among several alternatives (leave on 19/12, take a taxi to catch up with the bus, find a one-way rental via returbil.no) I'm considering a pre-arranged hitch-hike (I don't want to hitch-hike in the polar night; I have a flight to catch 21 December). Is there any website like the German Mitfahrzentrale for organised hitch-hiking in Norway?
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Are you sure that you have the bus time table for Dec 20th? The train schedules change on Dec 10th and I would assume (or at least hope) that the bus schedule is changed as well.– Tor-Einar JarnbjoSep 11, 2012 at 0:30
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Yep; the bus timetable is valid 20.08.2012 – 06.01.2013. As only a tiny proportion of passengers on this bus come from connecting public transport from Sweden, I consider it unlikely they'll adapt the timetable, particularly since the train from Sweden is often late, so a 15-minute change would be missed probably more often than not.– gerritSep 11, 2012 at 6:50
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In the end I took a taxi from Riksgränsen to Trældal, taking a shortcut and catching my bus.– gerritJun 12 at 10:45
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3 Answers
There is a similar exchange for hitch-hikers in Norway called haikeren.no. I haven't used it, but I would find it strange if you find any offers for a ride on an odd route like Kiruna-Tromsø on a specific date. You can of course place your own ad to tell that you are looking for a ride, but I don't think the site is well known and much in use. Even if you got a catch, I am not sure if I would rely on an offer if you really need to be in Tromsø on time to get your flight.
If you are looking for other options, I have a few suggestions:
The first one is pretty tight, but since the new train schedule adds almost two hours to the journey time from Stockholm to Narvik, there is at least a chance that the train will not run late so often.
- Train from Kiruna Central (dep 12:33) to Katterat (arr 15:06)
- Taxi from Katterat to Trældal (27km, appr. 25 Minutes)
- Bus from Trældal (dep ~15:55) to Tromsø (arr 19:50)
You probably have to pre-order a taxi to Katterat station and perhaps check if the bus stops in Trældal (I would be very surprised if it did not).
Another option is that if any of the car rental companies in Kiruna by chance have a car with Norwegian license plates present, you may get a good deal if you take it back to Norway for them. Otherwise, cross-border one-way-fees are usually very high.
answered Sep 11, 2012 at 11:20
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There is no road to Katterat, so that wouldn't work. I could however take a taxi from Riksgränsen to Trældal (the bus stops there; I've been getting on the bus there before). Regarding the organised hitch-hiking, I would in any case take the train to Narvik first, as Narvik–Tromsø is a lot more likely to work (also for one-way rental) than Kiruna–Tromsø. Still, the taxi-option works if and only if (1) the road is open (not always open in winter) and (2) the train is less than 30 minutes late. I'm not sure if I want to bet my entire Christmas holiday (or a ~5000 NOK taxi to Tromsø) on this...– gerritSep 11, 2012 at 13:51
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Ups, sorry about the missing road. I happily trusted that Google Maps gave me the correct route from "Katterat stasjon, Katterat stasjon, 8517 Narvik, Norway" to Trældal, but it actually starts the route on Bjørnfjell station, where there is a road (but the train doesn't stop). But even if it is a little bit longer, a Swedish taxi from Riksgränsen is probably cheaper, if you dare to try. Sep 11, 2012 at 15:30
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That, end the road to Bjørnfjell Stasjon may not be cleared in winter. I'm not sure if a Swedish taxi from Riksgränsen is cheaper, as the nearest Swedish taxi in December is probably located in Kiruna; cheapest taxi in that case would be from Bjerkvik, if I do dare to try. I might monitor the delays throughout the first two weeks of December to see how it goes, and try both haikeren.no and returbil.no in the meantime (if I dare to drive in north-Norway in December).– gerritSep 11, 2012 at 15:35
I found this site: carpoolworld.com with Norway listings, but the community here does not seem so big as Mitfahrzentrale or Mitfahrgelegenheit (in other countries also known as Carpooling).
So, the answer would be: similar websites are popular in several European countries, but not in Norway in particular.
answered Sep 11, 2012 at 18:40
Haikeren.no is not used much. For Northern Norway (Nordland, Troms, Finnmark), there is a dedicated Facebook group for exactly this purpose.