We are just back from a trip to Norway, a place I have long wanted to visit. In truth I was desperate for a holiday after a year of hard slog in my current job- something I rather hoped I had left behind. You know what I mean, that feeling of holding on in desperation for some kind of survival related break. Anyway, we spoke long and hard about where to go, and even considered one of those package tours but I simply could not face it. I have this dread of the thought of a package tour, even though I have never been on one.
As it happened, the planning of the trip to Norway made it clear to Michaela and I that having someone else organise your holiday for you might well have advantages!
Should you be thinking about a trip to Norway, here is what we did. The first thing that you should know is that it is an expensive place to go, so we decided to do it as cheaply as we could- we payed about £500 for air tickets (with extra baggage) and hired a car for 11 days or so (about £600) and then took tents and camping gear. We planned to spend between 70-100 quid a day and this already would mean this being the most expensive holiday we have ever taken. As it happens we spend more than this! Supermarkets (Rima 2000 being the cheapest) were about twice as expensive as here and meals out were two to three times more expensive (we only had one.)
We drove a lot of miles; down to the forests of the Swedish border, up to the high plateau between Oslo and Bergen then right round the southern coast back to were we started. The roads are stunning; Norwegians seem to have two national industries, one related to all things fish, the other tunneling through mountains. One tunnel corkscrewed down into a mountain for miles before emerging out of a cliff face onto a bridge over a fjord before the road entered another tunnel the other side.
Our favourite bits were the stunning high mountain passes, with all their snow patches and wildflowers. Bergen we were not so impressed with on the whole; to many cruise liners and ridiculous prices (we paid £16 for two ice creams!)
At the end of the day, we had a fantastic time and I would love to go back and explore the high latitudes. Need to save up though!
A few snaps;
this fragile tent 