Norway

What Norway is:

  1. A nature lover’s paradise
  2. A country full of adventures
  3. A lesson in modern architecture

What Norway is not:

  1. A country with a thriving beer scene
  2. Filled with large bustling cities
  3. Inexpensive

We visited Norway in July 2016, and it’s a country we could see ourselves visiting over and over again. The natural beauty of Norway is stunning, and if you’re going to visit, soak it all in as much as you can.

Full disclosure, we were not yet vegan in 2016, so if you’re looking for vegan food tips, this is not the post for you.

– TJ

We chose to book a trip from go-today, which we highly recommend for good deals on trips that include a semi (or mostly) structured itinerary.

If you subscribe to their emails, you’ll receive many different coupons (i.e. spend $500, get $50 off), and it’s really convenient as go-today books the flight, trains, hotels, and a couple of tours. We enjoyed them so much that we later booked through them for our Switzerland-Austria-Germany trip.

Our particular package included:

  1. Roundtrip flights from Boston to Oslo (and back). We booked our own flight from SF to Boston and spent a few days exploring the city.
  2. Train tickets from Oslo to Balestrand (including the famous Flåmsbana).
  3. Ferries through the Sognefjord to Bergen.
  4. A Danish tour guide accompanying our group throughout our travels.
  5. An Oslo city tour by bus – with a walking tour of the famous Vigeland Park.
  6. A historic walking tour through Bergen.
  7. Several coffee/wine happy hour events.
  8. Fantastic camaraderie with the group we travelled with (British, Germans, Americans etc.)

Oslo

As the capital of Norway, many itineraries will take you through Oslo at some point, and it’s an excellent small- to medium-sized city to explore.

Transit

Modern, sleek, clean, & efficient. Can’t speak highly enough of the Oslo transit system!

Trains and trams in the city are a glorious dream. If the U.S. could ever improve our transit system to be as clean, modern, efficient, and reliable, we’ll have it made in life. Trains come every 1-3 minutes downtown, and around 7-12 minutes through other areas. I can’t stress enough how sleek, clean, and reliable the transit is compared to other cities – the only drawback is that navigating a train system that consists of zones can be a learning curve. But if you stick with zones 1 & 2 you’ll get to see most of what you want.

Lodging

We stayed at the Thon Opera Hotel and would stay there again. It’s a great location, right across from the iconic Opera House – and checkout the free espresso machine they have rolling all day long!!

The added benefit of a free, all-day espresso machine in your hotel after a transatlantic flight cannot be overstated.

Food/Drinks

Norway is not a country known for inexpensive food. We recommend sticking with the advice you’ll find on most travel blogs… try Mediterranean, Thai, Middle-Eastern, and Ethiopian… those restaurants will be cheaper than most in Norway. We did have really delicious curry and pizza while in Oslo.

Tofu curry – delicious!

Activities

Okay, okay, Emily & I run around like crazy on our adventures, so I limited our recommended activities to a list with 1-2 sentences per activity. The activities are in order, #1 is the activity we recommend most. There was a lot to do in Oslo and we loved it all. See the gallery at the end of this section for some visual highlights!

  1. Visit Botanisk Hage, it’s a free, world class botanical garden with greenhouses, and all manner of plants throughout the grounds, it’s hyper-photogenic.
  2. Place a love lock on the bridge near the Akerselva River.
  3. Walk through Aker Brygge to the end of the sculpture park, and marvel at all of the architecture (you can also snap a great photo of the Oslo Fjord here). Bonus: Grab a drink on the upstairs patio of Beer Palace.
  4. Walk on top of the Opera House, the building is art in and of itself.
  5. Take a guided tour of Vigeland Park (sculptures). The sculptures are unique and impressive, but having a guide explain the meaning & symbolism behind the sculptures truly makes it worthwhile.
  6. Visit the Munch Museet, dedicated to the artist behind The Scream.
  • Fun fact:
    Some visitors believe if you touch the left hand on this statue, you’ll be given the gift of fertility. Unfortunately, touching the statue has rubbed off the paint & it is now highly discouraged at the Park.

Balestrand and the Fjords

No trip to Norway is complete without checking out its most fantastic natural feature – the fjords. Thankfully, most itineraries realize that the fjords are the main attraction for visitors, so they all involve the fjords in some way, shape, or form. And usually, the Sognefjord is the most popular – it’s the longest and deepest fjord in the country. From Oslo we took a train to the Finse Glacier (it was melting like crazy, climate change is real), then down the famous Flåmsbana to the Sognefjord where we caught a ferry to Balestrand. In Balestrand, we spent a few days soaking in the fjords.

Transit

Getting to Balestrand was a scenic journey like none other. The trains we took were comfortable, gave us enough space to play Machi Koro, and provided an all around relaxing journey through the beautiful countryside of Norway. Gazing out the windows provided constant entertainment and we took more than our fair share of nature photos from our seats. Was the coffee on the train too expensive? Of course, but was it nice to have a hot cup of joe while watching the greenery speed by us? Absolutely.

Pro Tip: There are many ways to get to the Sognefjord, but make sure the route you take includes the Flåmsbana, it’s incredibly steep and one of the most scenic train rides in the world. You’ll love the stop it takes for the Kjosfossen waterfall.

Food/Drinks

When we reached the bottom of the Flåmsbana, we enjoyed the ambiance of the viking brew pub while we waited for our ferry, but in general, there weren’t many places to eat or drink in Flam, Balestrand or Leikanger. We did get a super awesome photo of a troll soup option though!

Troll Soup! We can’t speak to how good it is, we didn’t try it – but it looks delightful! “Note: No Trolls were harmed in the making of this soup”

Activities

Balestrand and the fjords offer a variety of adventure recreation. One of our favorite hikes that we have ever taken was in Balestrand up Raudmelen. If something could ever be called a troll forest, it’s that hike.

The top of Raudmelen, 100% worth the effort to get up there. It’s beyond epic!

Raudmelen is a strenuous hike with lots of elevation gain, but it’s well worth the trip. We found immense satisfaction by hiking it as a loop, starting from the backside of the mountain and making our way up through the bog. Look for the sign below so you know you’re on the right track.

The last activity I’ll mention is the viewpoint at Gaularfjell. Reserve a van to drive along the fjord to get there, and…just look at it, it’s really cool!

Bergen

Bergen was at the end of our trip, and by the time we made it there I have to admit that we were tired and sad. Leaving the fjords was a very sad moment, the fjords are probably the most breathtakingly beautiful natural wonders we have ever seen, and with a whole wide world to explore and limited time (we need to escape the 9-to-5 life!), we weren’t sure if we’d ever make it back. Nonetheless, Bergen is a cute trading town, essentially a smaller Norwegian Seattle (it rains all the time). We enjoyed the unique activities Bergen had to offer.

Transit

The bus system in Bergen was fine, nothing much to report. Since we stayed near the famous Bergen houses, most of what we wanted to do was in the area and we didn’t need to take many bus trips.

The famous germanic houses in Bergen. Our hotel was right across the harbor from them.

Food/Drinks

YES! FINALLY! A beer worth reporting!

  • Was it expensive? Yes
  • Was it better than every other beer in Norway? Yes
  • Was it on par with U.S. IPAs? No, it was better!
Floien. If you like beer, try it, it’s absolutely fantastic!

Best Restaurant in Bergen: Madam Felle – Ok, so we weren’t vegan at the time, but Madam Felle is definitely the place to go for food in Bergen. Compared to other Norwegian restaurants, it’s cheap, it’s casual, but with really high quality food, and somehow, independently, everyone in our tour group (including the tour guide) knew to eat there!

Activities

So at this point in our trip, Emily and I were incredibly tired, but there were still some great things to do in Bergen. The activities are in order, #1 is the activity we recommend most. See the gallery at the end of this section for some visual highlights!

  1. Walk the Harbor (Bergen Havn) for those picturesque views of the old germanic trading post houses (Hanseviertel Bryggen). Peruse the harbor side market too!
  2. Take the Funicular (Floibanen) to top of Mount Floyen for some spectacular views and a hot chocolate, and then soak it all in walking down.
  3. Take a walking tour into Bergen Havn. The history and insights from a tour guide make the space come alive.
  4. Take a walking tour of Bergen. You’ll wind your way down cute little alleys and learn about the history of the town
  5. Buy a beanie, Norway is famous for selling amazing, warm, comfortable beanies!