Molde’s history is fascinating, though the town itself might not be the most visually striking. It’s located at the end of a series of fjords, which were formed over millions of years by glacial erosion. As massive glaciers moved across the landscape, they carved deep U-shaped valleys. When the glaciers receded at the end of the ice ages, these valleys were flooded by the sea, creating the dramatic fjords we see today. The town of Molde was rebuilt after being heavily damaged during World War II, which explains its modern appearance. We made a stop here before taking the ferry to Vestnes, a journey that costs extra for motorhomes. Vestnes is near Helland, which is known for the Tresfjord Bridge. The Tresfjord Bridge opened in 2015 and replaced a section of the E39 highway that previously ran along the eastern side of Tresfjorden. It connects Remmabryggja on the west side to Vik on the east side, shortening the driving distance and making travel more efficient. What we truly loved about Molde was the experience of going up to the Molde Panorama Observation Deck. We spent a fantastic night there in our motorhome. The road to get to the top is steep and unpaved, but our motorhome, which is over 22 feet long, handled it without any issues. We even saw two tourist coaches navigating the road, both going up and down in the dark, which shows that it’s manageable. The panorama from above was simply stunning, especially from the beautifully maintained Old Varde Hut. There’s a wooden bench there where we enjoyed sitting and taking in the view. We wouldn’t recommend going up on a rainy day, as the road could be very slippery and the view would be obscured.

Where we have stayed

As I already told in the previous text, we had a very nice stay at the Molde Panorama Observation deck. But during the day, we chose to leave our motorhome in a more central parking lot that was more suitable for visiting the city center, which, as I already said, isn’t that special. For the day, we were in the parking lot between the Molde Football stadium and the Scandic Seilet hotel, a noisy paid lot (about 26 Norwegian Kroner per hour) but close to the city center, which can be reached with a short walk on the waterfront. Another option is the equipped camper parking behind the Moldebadet water park and Uno-X service station, which also has a 7-Eleven convenience store. That parking is functional for services but not very suitable for a stay because it is narrow, with high walls at the end of the parking spaces (except for the bus ones) and is very noisy. The parking lot near the Molde Skatepark and next to the Molde Idrettspark was not accessible when we were there. A free option that we tried is the parking lot with a beautiful sea view in front of the REMA 1000 and the Europris, two small but very well-stocked supermarkets. For obvious reasons, it is only allowed to park there from 7 AM to 11 PM, and the parking lot is reserved for supermarket customers.