Favourite Norwegian holiday destinations

dmcart13 Serial expat

554POSTS

12 years ago

Summer is upon us, and I thought perhaps we could share our favourite Norwegian holiday experiences and places. Might give us all some ideas about where to visit (and perhaps where not to visit).

My favourite trip so far was a drive from Oslo to Bodø. We split it over a couple days, and it was an amazing drive. The scenery in the north of Norway is amazing, and unlike any other part of Norway. There's lots of places you can stop along the way. You get to see quite a lot of the country on such a journey. Bodø itself is quite nice. Pretty much a typical Norwegian town. It's a good base to explore the surrounding area though, which is well worth seeing. There's also the world famous Saltstraumen, which is apparently the worlds strongest maelstrom / tidal currents. It's quite hypnotic to watch. If you are there in the summer, which I would recommend, you will also see the midnight sun. Apparently some tourists think the midnight sun is a different sun from the regular one. I can confirm that it is the same sum. Remember that the midnight sun occurs at 01:00 due to the fact the clocks have been moved for daylight saving time. If you go in the winter, you will find it's pretty cold and windy, with not much daylight.

Other places I would recommend would be Bergen and Oslo. I think these are good places for tourists who like city breaks. There's also the opportunity for some outdoor activities in both places.

I look forward to hearing other people's experiences.

David

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dmcart13 Serial expat

554POSTS

12 years ago

I wanted to stop in Trondheim on my way back from Bodø, but when we drove into the city a concert was coming out and we couldn't manage to get parked. It looked really nice from the drive thorough though, so I would like to go back and see it properly.

sbvikas007 New member

6POSTS

12 years ago

I have not worked and lived here long enough to earn enough paid holidays to take a summer vacation, but I can mention a trip from last winter. We took the ferry from Stavanger to Bergen and traveled to Oslo via the scenic rail route. It is rated as the second most scenic rail routes in Europe (by Lonely Planet) and I presume it would be much more scenic during summer.

A part of the rail route was closed due to excess snow and we could take a bus to cover that route on road. After spending a few days in Oslo, we took the flight back to Stavanger.

This was a short, but a worthy trip where we covered all the major modes of transportation; by water, rail, road and air.

If anyone has a spare weekend, I would definitely recommend the train ride between Oslo and Bergen.

P.S. I come from India and I love traveling long distances by trains.

dmcart13 Serial expat

554POSTS

12 years ago

I suppose you passed Haugesund, where I used to live? It's a nice part of Norway. There't lots of pretty scenery in the area. I would like to take that train journey. I have been along part of it, from Oslo to Geilo, but I suspect the best part of the journey is between Geilo and Bergen.

sbvikas007 New member

6POSTS

12 years ago

Might have passed Haugesund, not sure. Then we were pretty new in Norway and don't know much of the places (don't know much now either). I would say the whole route from Bergen to Oslo is awesome.

Now since I brought up this topic, been looking at some options to travel by trains in Norway and came across Flam Railway, which seems to be along breathtaking Norwegian locations.

visitflam.com/flam-railway/the-journey-more/

Planning for a weekend + a couple of days of 'Travel Norway by Train' itinerary now

Bhaskar

dmcart13 Serial expat

554POSTS

12 years ago

I have also heard that is beautiful. I think you can also get a good price if you plan ahead.

new_in_norway Serial expat

382POSTS

12 years ago

Norway is so full of tourist sights that it is even difficult where to begin .... I have hardly anything of Norway!

Even a town like Drammen - although considered an industrial town back in the 1970s, has got a new make over and it was featured in an in-flight magazine.

Drammen is a cosy destination for a one-day trip out of Oslo in summer due to it's proximity to Oslo, the hills, fjord and new waterfront.

But of course the classical destinations, and still superiour destinations such as Geiranger fjord, Lofoten etc beats them all.

ECS Norway Expert

1566POSTS

12 years ago

as a resident of Drammen, I can't imagine that a carless daytripper would be particularly enchanted, although I do like living here.

spiralen and gulskoken are pretty neat, and I like living somewhere with so many great ethnic grocery stores, but compared to some other places I've been here, it's not quite so norwegianny. My impression is that's what most people are looking for when traveling around here.

I'm glad you mention Drammen though, because I do think a lot of native Norwegians are kinda unfairly anti-Drammen. It's a pretty nice place to live.

new_in_norway Serial expat

382POSTS

12 years ago

#10

Oh yes Gullskogen looks nice

Yes Drammen is a nice place to live (good for residential purposes) and since it's easy to commute into Oslo.

Perhaps not ideal for tourism as such, but much change occurs at the waterfront with bridges and new buildings and upmarket restaurants ( God, I could hardly afford to go to Mcdonalds there!!

)

ECS wrote:
as a resident of Drammen, I can't imagine that a carless daytripper would be particularly enchanted, although I do like living here.

spiralen and gulskoken are pretty neat, and I like living somewhere with so many great ethnic grocery stores, but compared to some other places I've been here, it's not quite so norwegianny. My impression is that's what most people are looking for when traveling around here.

I'm glad you mention Drammen though, because I do think a lot of native Norwegians are kinda unfairly anti-Drammen. It's a pretty nice place to live.

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NZTess New member

7POSTS

12 years ago

#11

Last summer we drove from Oslo to Bergen via Flåm and then back from Bergen to Oslo via Hardangavidda and Geilo. Pretty trip

We stayed in HI hostels for this trip. Bergen and Geilo had OK hostels, but the one in Flåm was great. The fjord boat trip we took in Flåm was excellent.

The roads especially between Flåm and Bergen and Between Bergen and Geilo were stunning, huge mountains and loads of crazy tunnels.