Winter testing our Hobby motorhomes

We report from Arctic Norway. Winter camping in the midst of snow-covered landscapes and bright polar lights in the sky. This is only possible in the far north. We travel for a week to Tromsø in northern Norway, where we do the ultimate hobby winter test in the icy cold. With our new OPTIMA ONTOUR EDITION and VANTANA ONTOUR we go on a winter camping adventure and explore the country and its people.

We report about our experiences with the two hobbies ONTOUR. Join us and look forward to many great days and hours in the beautiful Norwegian winter landscape.

At -17 degrees outside temperature, we spend the first night in our cosy warm OPTIMA ONTOUR EDITION and VANTANA ONTOUR. The inside temperature is continuously set to about 23 degrees and the heating works perfectly. Also a big compliment to our design and manufacturing department: the very good insulation is immediately noticeable!

A dog sled ride through the fascinating winter landscape of Northern Norway is an absolute must do on our trip. With our vehicles we drive safely on icy roads to the Villmarkssenter, which is about 20 minutes away from Tromsø. We are greeted by 300 cuddly dogs, who can not wait to finally take the sledge through the snow. A great experience that we won’t forget so quickly and highly recommend!

In the morning we make our way to Sommarøy, a small island in the Atlantic. The way to get there is just breathtaking. With our OPTIMA ONTOUR EDITION and VANTANA ONTOUR we drive past beautiful mountains, fjords and typical Norwegian huts. The roads are covered in snow and they are extremely icy, but fortunately we don’t notice it very much. In advance, we have equipped our vehicles with spike tires, which were recommended to us by the Norwegians. We are very grateful for that because our vehicles have an extremely good grip thanks to the spike tires.

Over a large bridge we finally reach the island of Sommarøy, which is absolutely stunning. We immediately agree that we totally want to spend a night here and look for a comfortable parking space. Before going to bed, we make ourselves a quick tea, rave about the unique nature and fall asleep with a big grin.

In the icy temperatures, the heating is running at full speed. That's why we change our gas bottle in the morning after three days. Thanks to the practical gas bottle extractor in the OPTIMA ONTOUR EDITION, it is quick and easy.

Today the city of Tromsø is on the program - it is also called the Paris of the North. There are many shopping opportunities as well as countless restaurants and cafés. On our way there we cross a long tunnel with roundabout and drive on narrow streets without any problems through the 75,000 inhabitants city. After a successful shopping trip we return to the campsite, where we make ourselves comfortable with a campfire and some guitar music. Last but not least we see magical Northern Lights in the sky - an indescribable moment!

In summary, we can warmly recommend winter camping! Our heating and the isolated waste water tank have never let us down and made sure that we were always very warm. The gas bottle pull-out in the new OPTIMA ONTOUR EDITION is particularly practical, because the gas cylinders have to be replaced about every three days due to the cold temperatures. Also spike tires are highly recommendable. Thanks to the spike tires we always had an extremely good grip on the icy and snowy roads and felt very safe.