Anyone been to Norway?
- Thread starter Phate
- Start date
Stunning place to go if you're either rich or don't drink alcohol.
Spent a week there travelling around the bergan area and I utterly fell in love with the place. Amazing scenery, great people, great food. If only they could sort their beer pricing out..
Spent a week there travelling around the bergan area and I utterly fell in love with the place. Amazing scenery, great people, great food. If only they could sort their beer pricing out..
Not quite true. Bergen is by far the bigger city in reality. Second biggest in Norway I think. But Stavanger is where all the oil money is, so usually more direct flights into there.
Also, it was expensive before Brexit. It's a very rich, socialist country. They do have some rather good benefits there. But also incredibly high taxation.
I work in Norway mostly. So usually fly in and out of Bergen a couple times a month. Occasionally also, or through, Stavanger.
Expect a Beer to cost somewhere around £10 a pint. They have started doing 0.75L beers now, which are about £13. A chocolate bar would usually be in the region of £2, and a bottle of coke (500ml) somewhere around £2.50 - £3. Luckily you can hit the duty free after you land if you forget before you fly, so you can pick up duty free then. Before Brexit it was worth doing it that way, post-Brexit though, you are generally better off grabbing it in the UK. Although you can get beers from the duty free when you land, so if you're not into spirits, thats a good shout. Remember it aint in the EU though, so there are limits on what you can buy / bring in.
Expect a "nice" meal to come in around £50 a head if you want a beer with it. That'll go up if you're fancying starters or desserts though, and they will run around a tenner a pop. Even a burger from a night-time burger place, with chips and a drink stands near £20. There is a really nice "hot-dog stand" just near the bottom of the Funicular in Bergen which is in the guide books. It's a nice, relatively cheap feed there. Definitely give it a try. Plenty of Pizza joints around too, and they are generally about as cheap as it gets for eating out.
Flying into Bergen is lovely, its a very rocky, coastal city. And you come in over all these little scraps of rocks with houses clinging onto them. You can imagine they would be wild places to live in a decent storm. The city is really spread out to. Stavanger, on the other hand, has a lot of green fields and stuff. It really does feel like a completely different place.
If you do fly into Bergen, or really anywhere, try to avoid taxis. They are £15-20 before you even start. It's around £60-70 for a taxi into town from Bergen airport. Or around £15-£20 return for a bus. The tram should hopefully be finished soon, so that might be a nice change. I believe it isn't quite run up to the airport yet though.
In town there are lots of nice restaurants and bars though. The people are really friendly too. It is a nice place to go out in the evening, but it does rain often, so make sure you have a good jacket.
There are LOADS of TESLAS there. Mostly because they don't tax them the same, so a P90 costs about the same as a 5 series, then you don't pay for fuel, and you can use the bus lanes and stuff. So electric cars are everywhere. So watch out when walking about.
I flew to Stavanger and took a rented car up to Trondheim a few years ago taking a scenic route. Some stunning scenery on the way and the roads are really well maintained, not much traffic late August went I went.
I actually found that staying in log cabins in camp site type areas was the cheapest way to go. They also had self catering facilities and the supermarket prices were not that much more expensive if you stick to regional food.
I actually found that staying in log cabins in camp site type areas was the cheapest way to go. They also had self catering facilities and the supermarket prices were not that much more expensive if you stick to regional food.
Looking like a long weekend in Tromso is on the cards for November 
Looking at a map, I think it'll be the furthest north I have ever been
Looking at a map, I think it'll be the furthest north I have ever been
Soldato
I went on a cruise and it's stunning would definitely like to go again but as others have said it's really expensive.
Soldato
Looking like a long weekend in Tromso is on the cards for November
Looking at a map, I think it'll be the furthest north I have ever been
Where would you connect to fly in to there? Copenhagen or Oslo?
For us its Oslo. We're tempted to fly in on the Wednesday evening. Have a day-ish in Oslo and then carry on to Tromso.
Soldato
Thanks - I did wonder as I'd looked at the same trip and there were no straightforward connections, making it almost a no brainer to do a day's layover.
Getting there in a day is doable. Its Lisbon - Oslo which is 4hrs. Then a 4hr stop then 2 hours onto Tromso. So not that bad. However for 4 hours, we might as well grab a hotel not far away and grab a conenction into Oslo and check it out for a day!
Caporegime
Thing that hit me about Oslo was the shear amount of graffiti everywhere. Even on rocks. Who spray paints rocks ffs?
Soldato
Yes, years ago. Amazing in parts with incredible scenery. Great for photography. Glacier walking is well worth doing.
Soldato
I was chatting to some Norwegian business colleagues today. They reccommended June to be a good time to visit this year for a road tour. It's been a warm winter so the mountain roads should all be open early and from July onwards the place will be 'swarming with Germans and Dutch'.
I've only ever visited for business... I couldn't afford to pay my own way out there.
I've only ever visited for business... I couldn't afford to pay my own way out there.
Associate
Always wanted to go to Norway but put off by prices. I will do it in the next 5 years so this thread has been really useful.
Love the history and scenery up there.
Black metal too.
Oh but what about the trolls?
What a classic reference!
Love the history and scenery up there.
Black metal too.
Oh but what about the trolls?
What a classic reference!
Soldato
Years ago (1980s) spent some time "bashing" the rail network, all the way up to Bodo and Narvik (via Sweden) in the far north.
Pro's: Magnificent scenery, good wholesome food, most people speak English.
Con's: Expensive, expensive, expensive.
Pro's: Magnificent scenery, good wholesome food, most people speak English.
Con's: Expensive, expensive, expensive.
Associate
I'd love to do that!
You're not the Vern from the ole Trainz and UKtrainsim world are you?
Associate
Went to Tromsø for my birthday at the start of the month, loved every second, bar the price, which as mentioned is very very high! 2 hot chocs, 2 small toasties, and one slice of cake was nearly £40!
Went for a fjord cruise, reindeer sledding with some real Samis, dog sledding (which the wife is officially terrible at, two big crashes!) late night snowmobiling in a snow storm, and a big northern light hunt on a coach for 9 hours ending up in Finland!
Rather successful on the northern lights front, 5 nights in a row!
And randomly found a epic little toy/comic book shop in a backstreet of Tromsø, which is a such a lovely little city!
Also made a little timelapse from the top of cable car: Watch in HD
Loved it, BUT not quite as much as Iceland.
Went for a fjord cruise, reindeer sledding with some real Samis, dog sledding (which the wife is officially terrible at, two big crashes!) late night snowmobiling in a snow storm, and a big northern light hunt on a coach for 9 hours ending up in Finland!
Rather successful on the northern lights front, 5 nights in a row!
And randomly found a epic little toy/comic book shop in a backstreet of Tromsø, which is a such a lovely little city!
Also made a little timelapse from the top of cable car: Watch in HD
Loved it, BUT not quite as much as Iceland.
Looks amazing!
Really looking forward to it. Thinking of hiring a Tesla for a day to go for a drive and explore the scenery as well.
Definitely going to get myself a better filter system for the photography!
Really looking forward to it. Thinking of hiring a Tesla for a day to go for a drive and explore the scenery as well.
Definitely going to get myself a better filter system for the photography!
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Nov 2007
- Posts
- 4,099
Went to Tromsø for my birthday at the start of the month, loved every second, bar the price, which as mentioned is very very high! 2 hot chocs, 2 small toasties, and one slice of cake was nearly £40!
Went for a fjord cruise, reindeer sledding with some real Samis, dog sledding (which the wife is officially terrible at, two big crashes!) late night snowmobiling in a snow storm, and a big northern light hunt on a coach for 9 hours ending up in Finland!
Rather successful on the northern lights front, 5 nights in a row!
And randomly found a epic little toy/comic book shop in a backstreet of Tromsø, which is a such a lovely little city!
Also made a little timelapse from the top of cable car: Watch in HD
Loved it, BUT not quite as much as Iceland.
Is that Camp Tamok? I did the reindeer sledding there, managed to see the Northern Lights again on that night. Food was lovely aswell.