Hammerfest

This 10,000-strong fishing town claims to be the northernmost town in the world. If its name sounds familiar, it’s the place Bill Bryson hung around at the start of Neither Here Nor There waiting to be gobsmacked by the Northern Lights. While you’re waiting for this celestial display of psychedelia, check out the Royal & Ancient Polar Bear Society and the reindeer grazing in the Hammerfest graveyard.

Jotunheimen National Park

This national park is one of Norway’s best wilderness destinations. It has a network of hiking trails leading to some 60 glaciers and to the country’s loftiest peaks. The trails pass through ravine-like valleys and past deep lakes and plunging waterfalls. Huts and private lodgings are along many of the routes. The park is on the road between Sogndal and Lom, in central Norway.

Hammerfest

This 10,000-strong fishing town claims to be the northernmost town in the world. If its name sounds familiar, it’s the place Bill Bryson hung around at the start of Neither Here Nor There waiting to be gobsmacked by the Northern Lights. While you’re waiting for this celestial display of psychedelia, check out the Royal & Ancient Polar Bear Society and the reindeer grazing in the Hammerfest graveyard.

Jotunheimen National Park

This national park is one of Norway’s best wilderness destinations. It has a network of hiking trails leading to some 60 glaciers and to the country’s loftiest peaks. The trails pass through ravine-like valleys and past deep lakes and plunging waterfalls. Huts and private lodgings are along many of the routes. The park is on the road between Sogndal and Lom, in central Norway.

Oslo

Norway’s capital and largest city creeps up on you and makes you very glad you came. Possessed of a staid reputation and by no measure Scandinavia’s most beautiful city, low-key Oslo nonetheless has lots to see and do - it just doesn’t make such a big fuss about it.

Unlike most European cities, Oslo isn’t full of architectural wonders, but some districts, such as Frogner, offer elegant examples of historical architecture. The city is also replete with notable museums and monuments, as well as plenty of green spaces.

Central Norway

The central part of Norway takes in the country’s highest mountains, largest glacier and most spectacular fjords. Unsurprisingly, this region is the top destination for almost all travellers to the country. The historic city of Bergen is the main jumping-off point for the western fjords.

From here you can visit Sognefjord, Norway’s longest (200km) and deepest (1300m) fjord; the scenic Hardangerfjord; the massive Jostedalsbreen glacier; spectacular waterfalls at Geirangerfjord; and Trollveggen, a jagged and often cloud-shrouded summit near Åndalsnes that is considered the ultimate challenge among Norwegian mountain climbers.

In addition, there are resorts, excellent national parks, and road trips through some of Norway’s most breathtaking scenery. Don’t miss the 470km (291mi) train journey on the Oslo-Bergen railway: this scenic trip is Norway’s finest, and passes through mountain ranges and the windswept Hardanger plateau.

Risør

This cluster of historic white houses built around a small fishing harbour is one of Norway’s most picturesque villages. It’s popular with artists and tourists, and is a summer hangout for Norway’s yachties. Visits to nearby islands can be made by inexpensive water taxis. One such island is Stangholmen, which has an old lighthouse with a restaurant and bar. Risør is on the curving southern coast, south of Oslo.

Tromsø

The ‘Gateway to the Arctic’ is a stark contrast to the sober communities dotting the northern coast of Norway. It’s a spirited town with street music, cultural happenings, more pubs per capita than any other place in the country and many ‘northenmost’ claims. Snow-capped mountains provide the scenic backdrop, the town has a swag of period buildings and the Tromsø Museum is a good place to learn about Lapp culture. There’s also fine skiing here in winter.

Oslo

Norway’s capital and largest city creeps up on you and makes you very glad you came. Possessed of a staid reputation and by no measure Scandinavia’s most beautiful city, low-key Oslo nonetheless has lots to see and do - it just doesn’t make such a big fuss about it.

Unlike most European cities, Oslo isn’t full of architectural wonders, but some districts, such as Frogner, offer elegant examples of historical architecture. The city is also replete with notable museums and monuments, as well as plenty of green spaces.

Central Norway

The central part of Norway takes in the country’s highest mountains, largest glacier and most spectacular fjords. Unsurprisingly, this region is the top destination for almost all travellers to the country. The historic city of Bergen is the main jumping-off point for the western fjords.

From here you can visit Sognefjord, Norway’s longest (200km) and deepest (1300m) fjord; the scenic Hardangerfjord; the massive Jostedalsbreen glacier; spectacular waterfalls at Geirangerfjord; and Trollveggen, a jagged and often cloud-shrouded summit near Åndalsnes that is considered the ultimate challenge among Norwegian mountain climbers.

In addition, there are resorts, excellent national parks, and road trips through some of Norway’s most breathtaking scenery. Don’t miss the 470km (291mi) train journey on the Oslo-Bergen railway: this scenic trip is Norway’s finest, and passes through mountain ranges and the windswept Hardanger plateau.

Risør

This cluster of historic white houses built around a small fishing harbour is one of Norway’s most picturesque villages. It’s popular with artists and tourists, and is a summer hangout for Norway’s yachties. Visits to nearby islands can be made by inexpensive water taxis. One such island is Stangholmen, which has an old lighthouse with a restaurant and bar. Risør is on the curving southern coast, south of Oslo.

Tromsø

The ‘Gateway to the Arctic’ is a stark contrast to the sober communities dotting the northern coast of Norway. It’s a spirited town with street music, cultural happenings, more pubs per capita than any other place in the country and many ‘northenmost’ claims. Snow-capped mountains provide the scenic backdrop, the town has a swag of period buildings and the Tromsø Museum is a good place to learn about Lapp culture. There’s also fine skiing here in winter.

Currency: Norwegian Krone
Meals

Budget: Nkr30-80
Mid-range: Nkr80-200
High: Nkr200-300
Deluxe: Nkr300+

Lodging

Budget: Nkr50-300
Mid-range: Nkr300-650
High: Nkr650-1000
Deluxe: Nkr1000+ (more…)

Norway is at its best and brightest from May to September. Late spring is a particularly pleasant time - fruit trees are in bloom, daylight hours are long, the weather is mild and most hostels and sights are open but uncrowded. Summers are marked by the phenomena of the midnight sun, especially north of the Artic Circle. At Nordkapp, in the far north, the sun stays out from 13 May to 29 July, but nowhere in the country - even the far south, experiences true darkness between late May and late July.

Unless you’re heavily into winter skiing or searching for the Aurora Borealis of the polar nights, Norway’s cold, dark winters are not the prime time to visit.

Visas: Scandinavian citizens can enter Norway freely without a passport. Citizens of the USA, Canada, Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand do not require visas for stays of less than three months. The same is true for EU and EAA countries, most of Latin America and most Commonwealth countries.
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +1
Dialling Code: 47
Electricity: 230V ,50Hz
Weights & measures: Metric

Only 3% of Norway is arable. Some 27% remains forested, though acid rain is affecting forests thanks to pollutants pumped into the atmosphere by Russia, Germany and the UK. Fauna includes reindeer, wolves, musk oxen and lemmings. Many of Norway’s 30,000 Lapps live a traditional nomadic life herding reindeer in the far north. The paucity of productive farmland has focused Norwegian attention on the sea, and commercial fishing plays an important role both in the economy and the social fabric of the nation. Norway resumed commercial whaling of minke whales in 1993 in defiance of an international whaling ban, and in early 2001 announced that it was set to lift a ban on exports of the magnificent mammal’s blubber.

Norway occupies the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula and shares borders with Sweden, Finland and Russia. Shaped like the rind on the bacon rasher of Scandinavia, Norway has a long coastline pierced by fjords and a mountainous interior that is blanketed by some of Europe’s largest glaciers. Over 500 sq km (193 sq mi) of Norway lies north of the Arctic Circle, but the country’s western coast usually remains ice free year-round thanks to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

Norway’s coastal areas have a surprisingly temperate climate thanks to the Gulf Stream, especially in the summer months. The mountainous inland regions experience more extreme ranges of temperatures, and the northern highlands suffer Arctic conditions. The country is at its best and brightest from May to September, and at its worst between November and March when average temperatures are below freezing. Midnight-sun days, when the sun never drops below the horizon, extend from 13 May to 29 July at Nordkapp in the far north, and from 28 May to 14 July in the Lofoten islands. Even southern Norway has daylight from 4 am to 11 pm in midsummer. On the other hand, the sun does not rise in the north from the end of November to the end of January, which is fine if you’re angst-ridden, bed-ridden or vampiric.

Getting There & Away

International airlines link Oslo with most major European cities. Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim also have international airports. Norwegian airport departure tax (313.00) is almost always included in the price of the airline ticket. Trains run daily from Oslo to Copenhagen in Denmark and to Helsingborg and Stockholm in Sweden. There are also trains to Stockholm from Trondheim and Narvik. Numerous highways and secondary roads link Norway with Finland and Sweden. A bus and a catamaran service link Kirkenes in northern Norway with Murmansk in Russia. There are also ferries to/from Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

Norway’s main domestic airlines - SAS, Braathens and Widerøe Norsk Air - fly to nearly 50 airports scattered across the country. Distances are great in Norway, which means air travel should be considered even by budget travellers. Norway also has an extensive bus network, with routes connecting every main city as well as more remote areas. The national rail system is good, though somewhat limited, with main lines running from Oslo to Stavanger, Bergen, Åndalsnes and Bodø.

Major car-rental companies have offices at airports and city centres but rates are expensive. Given its great distances, hilly terrain and narrow roads, Norway is not ideally suited for cycling. The one bonus for cyclists is that traffic is very light. A far-reaching system of ferries and express boats link Norway’s offshore islands, coastal towns and fjord districts. For more than a century, the coastal steamer Hurtigruten has been the lifeline linking the tiny fishing communities scattered along the northern coast. A ship heads north from Bergen every night calling at 33 ports on the six-day journey to Kirkenes. Local transport in the cities and towns is generally efficient and served mainly by public buses. Oslo also has an underground rail system, trams and ferries.

Center Party [Odd Roger ENOKSEN]; Christian People’s Party [Kiell Magne BONDEVIK]; Conservative Party [Jan PETERSEN]; Labor Party [Jens STOLTENBERG]; Liberal Party [Lars SPONHEIM]; Progress Party [Carl I. HAGEN]; Socialist Left Party [Kristin HALVORSEN]