Zurich to Hirtshals is approximately 1400 kilometres. When your vehicle has a maximum speed of 100 kms and a maximum comfortable speed of 90 kms, this is a very long journey. Therefore planning a couple of overnight stops in Germany and Denmark on the way is advisable. Both countries offer so much to visitors and are a welcome break in the long journey.

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We decided to take the ferry from Denmark to Norway, more precisely from Hirtshals to Bergen.

Tips:

• Book early as it is a lot cheaper.

• Members of the fjordline club get a special discount and it does not cost anything to sign up.

• The fjordline (www.directferries.com/hirtshals_bergen_ferry) offers an overnight passage. The trip takes over 16 hours and as we had our dog with us we thought it would be easier for him to travel by night and sleep through most of the journey. Though pets are not allowed in the cabins, there is a dog hotel with a small area for them to relieve themselves. We were able to visit Nikhil a few times during the trip and he seemed very comfortable.

•  I would recommend booking a larger box size than you think is necessary. The boxes are relatively tightly packed in the dog hotel and this will give your dog more distance from neighbours if necessary. All boxes cost the same when we traveled so we opted for a large even though a medium would have been sufficient. As we traveled during the last week of September, neither the ferry nor the dog hotel was particularly crowded but I am sure it looks different if travelling in summer.

• Duty free on board the ship offer a large variety of specialties, luxury goods and clothing.. It is an excellent opportunity to stock up on alcohol which is extremely expensive in Norway. We bought some groceries as well and were glad when we saw the Norwegian prices on arrival. Norway is as expensive............

• Do check on the conditions for entering both Denmark and Norway if accompanied by a pet. There is a time window to be respected for both countries which related to the de-worming procedure for dogs.