travelling to norway

[test_specimen]

I will spend this summer holiday in Norway. I want to leave at the beginning of July by train and go to Kopenhagen, where I meet some friends (who go to the Roskilde festival, which I will miss again). From there we will start to travel along the Swedish coast and to Oslo. We want to make some stops in Sweden, going swimming and to Gotheburg. From Oslo we will go to the Hardangervidda and hike through it, which will take about 10 days.

On our route back, we will visit any city of interest, but at least Hamburg. We have time until the end of July.


Now my question to everyone from Scandinavia and everyone who has been on vacation there: do you have tips, which youth hostels to use (the cheaper the better), where to buy food (the cheaper the better) and what things we should use for the hike? Which cities are recommended? Which sites are a must see? Is a pepper spray required to defend our alcohol?

 

[Smaasnekje]

Cheap food in Norway??
You must be joking

Anyway, you should check out the Geiranger fjord and perhaps Molde internatinal Jazz festival if you are going to anything in my county.. Pepperspray is not needed for defence of alcohol but beware of friendly people in the streets after dark if its a party nearby

 

[funxus]

Sweden:
I think the rules for bringing alcohol is that you can bring as much as you need for personal use (or maybe that was the old rules?). It's expensive to buy here, and to buy liquor you need to be 21 and can only buy at Systembolaget, which should be found in most cities.
I'd recommend the Tricity area :Trollhättan, Vänersborg and Uddevalla (I'm a bit biased though ). Here you can swim in our largest lake. The cities are nice to just stop by the day, maybe you should see if there's a festival in any of the cities.
I rarely stay at hotels in Sweden, so I can't say much about that. To compare food prices: A BigMac costs about €5. Food is generally good, but I recommend you try a kebabpizza when in Gothenburg and before you reach Norway

Norway: Expensive, I'd say about double costs compared to Sweden. I'm sure some Norwegian know more about it...

 

[Cilpot]

Norway is quite expensive, yes.. I would recomend you to buy food in the grocery store and make your own instead of eating at diners.

I would definantly recomend seeing fjords in the west of the country. Its quite pretty, and the guy who designed them won a prize

OT: Has anybody noticed that in the last week there have been a Sweden thread, Finland thread and now Norway thread... I'm eagerly awaiting the Denmark and Iceland threads

EDIT: spelingh

 

[HuckFinn]

I have a dear friend in Norway and I have visited there a couple of times... it is a very nice country, mostly because it is a lot like Finland, but also comes with mountains and fjords

The nature is of course breathtaking, though a bit monotonous once you grow tired of seeing... well... mountains and fjords.

Once my Norwegian friend and me drove from Oslo where she studies over the mountains to the west coast where her parents live. We stayed with her parents for a week or so, and saw a lot of Bergen and the surroundings. Bergen is -definitely- worth seeing, as Oslo is still a little sterile... a nice city for sure, but doesn't have nearly as much character as Bergen does.

Here's a few pictures to get you in the mood, taken by yours truly while he was a tourist there:

An alley in Bergen (you actually have to have some mountaineering skills in the city itself):

This is from inside the Brugge, which a trading warehouse kind of place from the Hansa period... the buildings are from somewhere around 1300-1400 or so.

A stave church! Once the Viking guys converted to Christianity from their cool pagan gods, they started building churches like this. This one is new though, but built using old methods.

A waterfall going into the fjord... somewhere along the road over the mountains. Note where the road goes

And oh yes, pepper spray to defend your alcohol is definitely recommended.

 

[stormerne]

It's a pity you're not going a little earlier.
Do they still have the midsummer bonfires there?

 

[mrtn]

Originally posted by stormerne
It's a pity you're not going a little earlier.
Do they still have the midsummer bonfires there?

I don't really know about Norway, but in Sweden it's been a mix up of festivals, so the bonfires are at the last day of april, and the Big D*ick in the Ground on Midsummer.
If you can I think you should try to go to Stockholm, it's a very beautiful city in the summer. And you can bath in the middle of town.

 

[test_specimen]

I've already been to Stockholm some years ago, and I really liked the city. Unfortunately it is not on our route this time.

I wanted to go to Bergen, but the others thought that it is too far north, perhaps I can convince them, going a little farther won't kill us.

My main concern are the costs, since I have no summer job for August until now. I want to keep costs of living below 1000€, which will be quite hard anyway.

(When I went to Sweden it cost me 350€ for a month, including the costs for the car. But we always bought our food at supermarkets and camped/stayed at a friends student's place in Stockholm.)

What is the weather usually like? Are there possibilities to wash clothes?

 

[col]

I've taken a group of students to Norway several times now - to the Jotenheim , and up to the Arctic circle at Svartisen. We stayed on cheap campsites cooking our own food and buying fresh stuff like bread and milk as we travelled. Great times. The sites are easy to find, well signposted, have good facilities and are freindly places where you meet lots of people from all over the world.

All you need is a car and a tent. It wasnt any more expensive than travelling in the UK.

Good Luck and enjoy a wonderful country.

 

[Akka]

Ok, Huckfinn, you showed us some pictures of Norway's landscape.
How about some of Norway's citizen ?

You know, the ones who are female, blonde, tall and all this kind of stereotypical features about scandinavian women ?

 

[Pikachu]

Nothing is cheap in Norway. If you want a cheap holiday, stay clear of that country!.

Hostels are expensive. I recommend that you buy a small tent and go camping. In Norway you can camp almost anywhere for free. It's legal, it's safe and it's very nice.

There are no cities in Norway except maybe Oslo. Oslo is nice, but it is just another small city. Go and see the nature and tiny towns instead. Whereever you go I am sure you will be satisfied.

The weather in Norway is usually great in the summer. It's almost never too hot, but it is often sunshine, even late in the evening. At the west coast however it's always raining, but that is kind of charming too.

 

[stormerne]

Originally posted by mrtn

I don't really know about Norway, but in Sweden it's been a mix up of festivals, so the bonfires are at the last day of april, and the Big D*ick in the Ground on Midsummer.

I know in Sweden that the bonfires are on Walpurgisnacht. I heard from a friend who lived in Norway for many years that there were similar events in Norway on the Summer Solstice. Anyone know whether they still take place?

 

[Cilpot]

You mean June 23? Yes, bonfires are common on this 'midsummer night' when the sun turns..

 

[test_specimen]

Originally posted by Pikachu
Nothing is cheap in Norway. If you want a cheap holiday, stay clear of that country!.

Hostels are expensive. I recommend that you buy a small tent and go camping. In Norway you can camp almost anywhere for free. It's legal, it's safe and it's very nice.

Since we will be hiking for more than a week, we will take tents with us, as well as a small propane cooking thing and pots, etc. But in Oslo we won't be able to camp.

You can have a cheap holiday almost everywhere, depending on you expectations. As I said before, I had a very cheap Sweden holiday, but I went to a lot of places (Stockholm, Mora, Karlstadt, Varberg, etc.). It just depends on the comfort you are willing to give up, in exchange for a longer stay. Even Paris or New York can be cheap.

 

[Pikachu]

Then you have an excellent plan already.

It is possible to camp in Oslo too. There are campsites relatively close to the center, but that would probably not be the best option in your case. You shouldn't stay long in Oslo anyway. The Tiger Town is not that special.

Have a nice trip.

 

[HuckFinn]

Originally posted by Akka
You know, the ones who are female, blonde, tall and all this kind of stereotypical features about scandinavian women ?

Oh, pictures of THOSE citizens... I keep them to myself