Oslo and rest of Norway

cojobt

I'm thinking of going to Norway for a week in August. As I haven't spent a lot of time planning this, I'm looking for some advice on accomodation and travel.

I''ll probably spend a night or two in Oslo, but would like to visit some other parts of the country.

Any recommendations?

Any advice on keeping travel costs down? Even hostels seem expensive.

Or costs in general? Is the rest of the country as expensive as Oslo?

I think the Oslo-Bergen train journey looks promising, and I'd like to visit the Fjords and the like.

I had a look at the Norway in a Nutshell package, and it came to about €300 before accomodation (I may be wrong about that. I haven't been looking into this for long) which is possibly out of budget.

mel.b

Here is a link to a trip report i wrote a few years ago after doing an independent norway in a nutshell 4 night trip

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g190455-i550-k3829513-Trip_Report_Independent_Norway_in_a_Nutshell_5days_4nights-Norway.html

I think it's just expensive and you have to grin and bear it certainly one of the most beautful places i have been.

Some train trips can be booked in advanced and will be cheaper. Ferries don't need to be booked in advanced generally.

Just noticed yor comment about your budget. My trip cost me in the region of €900 :shocked: that was with two nights hotels and two nights hostels and the glacier trip which was expensive but so worth it. Accomodation and transport will eat into your budget very quickly but food is also expensive and forget about alcohol!

Norway is not part of the eu so any splurges you do while shopping will be tax free

rossie1977

flying from oslo to bergen shouldn't cost you that much, we did that journey for about €50-60 one way couple of years back, the nutshell tour from bergen to the fjords costs around €130 per person and i would recommend it wholeheartedly, one thing to note though, it rains in western norway more than ireland in summer, we got lucky the day we did the tour is was sunny, however it rained the others days we were in bergen

these offer budget accommodation in bergen and centrally located in town http://citybox.no/?lang=en

imme

Tromso up at the top of Norway, the most northerly city in the world, is a nice town, if you make it up that far.

There's the Hurtigruten coastal ferry service if that floats your boat!

Hostels sometimes charge for sheet 'rental', so consider bringing your own or a sleeping bag liner if you go down the hostel route, as they'll charge 8 Euro or so per night.

roro2

cojobt wrote: »

Any advice on keeping travel costs down? Even hostels seem expensive.

Or costs in general? Is the rest of the country as expensive as Oslo?

I would second the recommendation for Tromso, I really liked it there. Although that was mid-winter so I'm sure it would be a completely different experience in summer.

Unfortunately it was very difficult to keep costs down, as even the basics were very expensive. I found that accommodation wasn't as expensive as feared though, but only on a relative basis due to the price of most other things!

cojobt

Norway definitely looks like somewhere I want to visit, but I think I'll put the trip to one side. Rather than just head there for a couple of days because there are cheap flights, I think I'd rather wait until another time when I can visit it properly, and perhaps save up!

Thanks for the advice anyway folks.

joeKel73

I highly recommend Norway! It is expensive though.

I spend 5 months working in Oslo a few years ago, great Summer. It's a very relaxed and safe city - worth stopping for a couple of days before or after heading further north. This is a very good value hostel for Oslo, it's central too: http://www.ankerhostel.no/en/ .

During my time there I went on weekend trips to Bodo->Tromso, Bergen and Stavanger. Bergen is certainly worth a look, it is wet though but you might get lucky in the Summer.

The year before last myself and a couple of friends did a hiking trip in the Lofoten Islands, they're up north, within the Arctic Circle! We flew to Oslo then Oslo to Bode. Then got a ferry from Bodo to Moskenes on Lofoten. From there we hiken for 2 weeks and camped in tents along the route. Did roughly 10-12km per day and covered about 142km on our hike - here's the route. The scenery was stunning! We did it quite cheap as we had minimal accommodation costs and cooked our own food as we camped. You could cycle it and do it in a day or two.





I could talk on and on about Norway but better get back to work for now... can give further advice if you do plan to make a trip

AnnieUncanny

I see you're postponing your stay, but when (if) you do decide for Norway:

Anker Hotel is good value for money, and it has a central location.
While you probably will do your sightseeing in other parts of the town; when it comes to dining you could eat in the Grønland area to keep costs down.

Norway is expensive, and while I think a lot of tourists that come here are aware of this they still become shocked when they actually arrive. You need to plan if you want your money to last.

The rest of the country is as expensive, and in Oslo you will actually find a variety of prices because the price level differs from area to area.

If you do want to visit another part of the country I suggest the north, and definitely Tromsø.