Oslo to Lillehammer by bicycle, through Nordmarka and Hadeland

The ride begins in the middle of Oslo and is out of the city within an hour. Nordmarka is the forest the capital keeps at its back door - a few hundred square kilometres of pine, gravel road and lake that Oslo residents ski across in winter and cycle in summer, and it takes two days to cross. After that the country opens: Hadeland and Toten are old farming districts on the shelf above Lake Mjosa, and the riding runs on quiet asphalt between them.

Five riding days of 56, 41, 25, 63 and 51 kilometres, over 250 km in all. The short day is deliberate - it leaves the afternoon for Hadeland Glassverk, where glass has been blown since 1762, and the Kistefos museum with its twisted gallery bridging the river. Day five picks up sections of the Kongevegen and the pilgrim route to Nidaros, and climbs from 180 to 650 metres before Mjosa opens below. The last day crosses the lake on the Mjosbrua bridge and follows the Mjostrakk cycle route into Lillehammer.

This one runs for groups only - a minimum of eight people, with dates and price quoted on request, and booking closing thirty days before departure. A Norwegian operator handles the accommodation, the luggage transfer, the route notes and the GPX files. Bike hire is not offered on this trip, so it suits a club or a group of friends travelling with their own machines.