Things To Know Before You Plan Your Travel To Norway
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We had planned a trip to Norway, but had a few things we weren’t entirely sure about. Further research on Norway dispelled most of our doubts/worries.
Norway is a beautiful country, and we are happy to say that even if you are backpacking and dependent on public transport, it has options to let you explore Norway at a pace best suited to each person
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We used public transport for the entire trip and did not rent a car. Whatever we’ll be mentioning next is based solely on our own experience in Norway. If you have a better experience, please feel free to share it in the comments. This could be helpful for people who are planning their trip to Norway.
Norway sure is an expensive country, but is travelling to Norway on a budget completely impossible? The answer would be “No”, if you plan your trip well, it is feasible. Honestly after our trip to Norway! we know this for sure- “How expensive your trip to Norway will be, solely depends on the type of traveller you are”. Nature is completely free. If you are like us and prefer hiking and exploring nature more than visiting museums, then the expense definitely comes down. Even if you do like exploring museums and cities we have options for you as well, since our travel included a mix of both.
Here are a few pointers that we found useful
1.Public transport
Norway is a very big country, lengthwise. If you plan to have an itinerary including places in the arctic circle and the southern cities of Norway, it would involve a fair bit of travel, unless you have planned a trip of about one month or more, in which case you can take your time to travel at your leisure. There are trains, ferries and buses to travel within cities. Each city has their own travel app that one can use to book tickets. Keep reading, we’ll tell you all about it soon.
We had around 2 weeks to explore Norway. Our itinerary included Oslo (the capital city), Bergen, Bodø , Flam, Aurland( also nearby places like Gudvangan and the famous Viking village- Njardarheimr), Lofoten Islands and the northernmost city in Norway “Tromsø”. Please note we’ll be able to explain the public transport information for only these places.
First things first; We can’t stress enough on getting a sim card when you travel to Norway. It’s a huge country with a low population and filled with wild forests. If you don’t plan on renting a car, then a local sim is your next best bet. The Sim card of Mycall is a good option. You can check out their official website to view the different data plans. You only need to pay for the data plan as the sim card is free.
Before we continue, we’d like to mention Google offline maps, as an absolute life saver. It’s always helped us in all our travels to date. Make sure you save the route offline before you start your travel. You’ll find your way back to your stay in case your data/network or access to wifi is hampered.
Booking.comTo keep things organized for optimal use, we’ll explain our experience city wise
(a) Oslo (The Capital city)
We landed in Oslo, as the first step on our journey.
- For those of you who’d like to explore the city and visit museums
If you plan to visit Oslo for at least 24 hrs or more, consider “Visit Oslo” pass. These passes are available for pre-booking online and also offline at Visit Oslo Centre. This pass is useful once you have reached the city per se, where you can activate the card. You can use it on all public transport, buses/local trains( both underground and overhead)/ferries/trams etc. The Oslo Pass also comes with many perks including free entry/discounts at museums if those are to your liking. Check out the link for more info on Visit Oslo Pass.
Please note: The Oslo pass doesn’t include the regional Vy trains, that’ll take you from one city to the next. For booking Vy trains, you can buy the tickets from either Rail Ninja website or from the official VY website.
- If museums aren’t your thing and you only want to use the public transport to explore the city and forests nearby
Download the Ruter App or use the online Ruter website . Get tickets in the app based on how many days you have planned for travel in the city. You’ll find these options- Single tickets, Tickets for 24 Hrs, 7 Days, 30 Days and 365 Days. You simply search the destination you want to travel to and the app will suggest different travel routes. Based on the zone (there are 4 zones) you will be travelling to, you’ll have to book the tickets accordingly.
- Transport between the Airport and your stay
Taking Taxis in Norway can get expensive, here’s a better option-The express train- FLYTOGET. Though please note, Oslo pass doesn’t include these tickets. For a cheaper option to travel to/from the airport, you can use the local trains(overhead & underground).
The first day we reached Oslo, we found a counter for Entur.no at the airport with a couple of helpful personnel. They helped us through the first leg of our journey to our hotel. They were kind enough to confirm the route that we had in mind, booked the tickets for us and also pointed out the way to the track (or Spor in Norwegian) which are located just outside/adjoining the airport.
Use google lens for translating instructions written in Norwegian to English. That said, the announcements inside the trains and buses do include instructions in English, so understanding the instructions wasn’t a problem. We took our first Overhead train from Airport to the station Oslo S, then switched to taking the Underground train to reach our destination. And thus our trip began!
(b) Bergen
- For those of you who’d like to explore the city and visit musuems
Once you have reached Bergen, just like in Oslo, they offer a Bergen pass for 24hr/48hr/72hrs/96hrs or more as suits your duration of stay and purpose. The pass also covers public transport (bus/metro/train/ferries) and a good free entry to many of the museums (if that be your liking).
Please note: Similar to the Oslo pass, the Bergen Pass doesn’t include the regional Vy trains that’ll take you from one city to the next. For booking Vy trains, you can buy the tickets from either Rail Ninja website or from the official VY website.
- If museums aren’t your thing and you only want to use the public transport to explore the city at your own pace
Bergen has it’s own app for public transport and it’s called Skyss. Works similar to the Ruter app in Oslo
c) Flam
This is a small village near Aurland. When you are in Norway, taking Flamsbana, the world’s most scenic train journey, is a must. We used the Rail Ninja website to book our Flamsbana train tickets.
The local buses in Flam\Aurland to nearby villages like Gudvangen etc, are available, and in most buses they accept credit card payment when we mention the final destination.
(d) Tromsø
- There is a pass even in Tromsø, but since our intent of staying was mostly for the elusive and magnificent Green lady (Northern lights) and exploring nature we didn’t take the pass.
- Public transport in Tromsø is via an app called Tromsø Billet, and the app offers a lot of different options to cater to all duration of travel for eg: for people travelling for less than 3 days, you can just book tickets for individual trips (usually the cost of a single ticket is 39 NOK and is valid for 1 hr/1.10 hr). 24hr ticket cost 110NOK/ person. If your itinerary has a duration of 5 days or more, it will be useful and economical to consider a weekly travel pass, which will allow stress free travel and it’s a very economical option as it costs only around 270 to 300 NOK per person.
(d) Bodø and Lofoten
Lofoten is an archipelago in Norway. This was the leg of the trip (Lofoten) that we were most concerned that the lack of a rented car might affect our travel plans and we were pleasantly surprised that even here we found a good network of public transport (mostly buses).
Since we were there during the off-season, we had a smaller frequency of buses, mostly around twice or thrice a day but we planned our day trips around it.
Both Bodø and Lofoten belong to the Nordland area in Norway and the same app can be used in both – Nordland Billet. If you are planning a stay for more than 5 days and are planning to travel extensively around via public transport, do consider a weekly pass – a bit expensive around 1290 NOK per person, but worth it if your itinerary involved travelling around a lot. Pass includes buses and ferries too.
2. Food
Eating out everyday in Norway is expensive. It’s like being in Singapore without the Hawker centers and only eating from huge restaurant chains (every meal of the day) that’s how expensive it can get if you eat out every day in Norway. What we noticed was that sometimes the prices in Norway were either equal to or higher than that in Singapore. We had booked most of our accommodation in cabins/cottages/hostels with an option of a kitchen/kitchenette. And we are grateful that most of the stays we booked were amazing above and beyond our expectations. We had a great time cooking our meals, but we also had some cheat days where we did try out some Norwegian salmon, Hot Chocolate and a few other dishes from cafes & restaurants, but most of our meals, we cooked together in our cabins.
a) Supermarket
There are many supermarkets usually within accessible distance of the city centers in most of the towns, and the options include REMA1000, Kiwi MiniPris, Euro-Spar, Coop Prix. Out of these REMA 1000 & Kiwi MiniPris are the cheapest options available and are good for budget travellers.
If you are staying at a single place for more than 3 days, it pays to stock up on essentials on the first day as per your preference.
We usually had a few staple items in our grocery shopping bag: protein bars, nuts/cereals, mixed nuts, frozen meats, milk, bread, bread spreads, eggs and ready to eat meals, pasta and onions & tomatoes, (optional). Ready to eat meals were a really good option – up to 30-70 NOK/person/meal, And if you decide to cook on your own, it’s way cheaper.
b) Restaurant
Most budget friendly option includes pizzas, wraps, kebabs, and range from 100 to 200 NOK per person. Most restaurants in the slightly higher cost category range from 250 to 300 NOK/person to 500 – 600 NOK/person. We did try a few of the local restaurants. During the peak season the prices are higher.
3. Flights vs trains for intercity travel
Some vloggers & travel bloggers suggested long distance travel between cities via overnight trains, this probably works well during the peak season. While what we noticed by travelling to Norway during the off season is that taking flights between cities were cheaper/ at times equal to that of taking trains. That is if one considers booking tickets months ahead before the date of travel. This way you could save both time and money.
We made an exception for the round trip between Oslo and Flam, since we wanted to go via the famed Flamsbana between Myrdal station and Flam station. It was a short 1 to 1.2 hr train journey which was definitely worth the hype and a must do when you’re in this beautiful country. And even the round trip train(Vy) between Oslo and Myrdal was also a great train journey.
To travel between Lofoten Islands and Bodø , there are two main options-first, taking a flight, Widerøe (20 min travel). This was one of the shortest as well as the smallest flight we’d travelled in. Second, taking ferries between the cities. Bodø is a super windy city. The ferry rides in Bodø are considered one of the roughest journeys to go through, while in Norway. There’s a high chance your ferry ride might get cancelled for the day, due to bad weather. In our opinion taking the flight is the best bet here.
4. Payments
Most places, including shops, restaurants, souvenir shops and even buses and public transport in some cities accept credit card payment and mostly prefer contactless payment.
We used a YouTrip card. Any similar travellers cards can be considered as a viable option for day to day payments.
5. Using the Reverse Vending Machines in Norway
Norway’s excellent recycling system ensures the recycling of every plastic bottle produced within the country. Every time you’re in Norway don’t forget to use the reverse vending machines to drop any plastic bottle you buy in exchange for money. You’ll find these machines at any of the supermarket stores we mentioned above. You can either use the money to buy something else from the supermarket/ show the bill at the reception and get paid in exchange/ send the money to charity. This way the country makes sure that all plastic bottles purchased are returned for recycling. Isn’t that brilliant? I wish every country adopted this technique from them. If I am not wrong I think Singapore’s starting a similar initiative and I’d love to see it work in all other countries as well. After all it is our duty to travel responsibly and take care of our precious nature.
6. Northern Lights
One of the mistakes tourists make while travelling to Norway to see Lady Aurora is to stay only in the southern cities like Oslo and Bergen. To see the Northern lights the best thing to do is to head to the North of Norway. If seeing the northern lights in Norway is on your travel Wishlist, our suggestion would be to plan your trip in such a way that you spend max of your time in the Arctic. In our travel itinerary of 20 days, we spent about 10 days in the arctic circle- Bodø , Tromsø and the Lofoten islands and split the rest exploring cities in the south of Norway. We’ll tell you all about our experience of seeing Aurora Borealis in our upcoming blogs. Best time to see the Northern Lights in Norway is from the end of August to February.
7. Weather in Norway
One of the perks of travelling to Norway during off season (October- April) is that it’s cheaper and quieter. So you can get most places for yourself. If you’re lucky you can see the northern lights dancing above you as well. The tricky part however is the weather. Norway has a highly unpredictable weather especially during the offseason (October-April). While we were in Norway, the quick change in weather both shocked and amazed me. Don’t forget to dress in layers. Also, carry your winter coat as well as your poncho everywhere you go because the weather can change within minutes. Pack for all seasons when you’re travelling to Norway especially if you are travelling in October like we did.
One additional thing to note is that November second week marks the beginning of “Polar Nights” in the arctic. So if you have any day trips planned, plan your trip before that. “Polar Nights” is a phenomenon that happens in the arctic, which is an exact opposite of the famous “Midnight Sun”. Unlike the Midnight Sun, where the sun does not set, during the Polar Nights the sun never rises. The closer you are to the north pole, the darker it gets. If you are travelling in October, you will notice the Sun setting earlier each day, so do plan accordingly.
Loads of love,
Until we meet again with more stories from Norway,
Unni & Achu
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