🇳🇴 Norway: 10 must-dos for an unforgettable trip
Infinitely beautiful Nordic nature – Iceland? Opportunity to see the Northern Lights – Sweden? Intricate sculptures and interesting buildings – Denmark? The last clue is the fjords! There are more than a thousand of them here! Norway is simply beautiful in its existence. Crystal clear lakes, super-ecological fish and the main hobby of the locals is hiking. Well, let's pack our bags for the land of trolls? In this article we will tell you what tasks a trip to the kingdom would not be complete without doing!
Experience the Troll's language
If hiking were a sport, it would be number one in popularity in Norway! This is the most popular form of leisure in the kingdom. Local passion for a healthy lifestyle + stunning scenery = mountain equipment stores at every turn. It's hard to stay at home when your country is simply replete with a variety of hiking routes – for every age and taste .
Why not combine business with pleasure? We find trekking boots, clothes for the season and go on a hike to one of the most famous natural attractions in Norway – the Troll's tongue. This is a rocky horizontal outcrop on the Skjeggedal rock. It is located at an altitude of 1100 meters. According to local legends, a huge Troll once decided to check what would happen if he went out for a walk in sunny weather, and stuck his tongue out of the cave, which immediately turned to stone… The place is located in the vicinity of the town of Odda.
For an unprepared person, the one-way journey with breaks for coffee and photos will take about 4-4.5 hours. Needless to say about the menthol air and stunning views along the way? This is definitely a must do it.
Go on a fjord cruise
Is it worth mentioning the hackneyed expression that visiting Norway and not seeing the fjords is a crime? Certainly! After all, they are one of the most striking manifestations of the unearthly beauty of this country. It is better to start getting acquainted with bays with rocky shores from the second largest city in the country and the former capital of the Kingdom – Bergen. It is also called the gateway to the fjords. This is the ideal starting point for a cruise. There are a lot of options to see the main Norwegian attractions: you can choose a tour that suits the price and distance.
By the way, from Bergen it is easy to get to Sognefjord, the king of the fjords, the largest in the country and the second in the world (the first place is occupied by the Greenland fjord). Its length – more than 200 km – unrealistically beautiful views and the realization that Sognefjord was formed about 2.5 million years ago will take your breath away and make your heart beat faster.
Firstly, the road to the fjord itself is already a great adventure and excursion. It took a long time to get to the fjords – about 5 hours. And I, as a big fan of Norway, couldn’t take my eyes off the window for the whole 5 hours. It was all just very beautiful, mesmerizing. First the sun shines, fields-meadows, churches-cemeteries, houses. Then – mountains, snow, ice floes. Next – a river, trees, a forest. Landscapes are constantly changing! But during the trip I changed clothes several times: sometimes I sat in a T-shirt, sometimes in a bike.
The fjord was viewed from a small ferry. All this leisurely movement on the water between large mountains-rocks – steeply immerses you in the atmosphere. You begin to believe that trolls or hobbits from The Lord of the Rings could really live here. Everything there is so authentic! I think this is the main charm of the ferry – you don’t stand on the shore and look at the mountains from one point, but as if you merge with nature, the flow of water and get permission to look at the life of the fjord from the inside. The most important and vivid feeling from there is the feeling of the majesty of nature. Gigantic ancient rocks and such a tiny you. But you need to be well insulated!
Irina, was in Norway in 2019
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Dine at an underwater restaurant
To do this, we will go to the southernmost point of the country – to the Lindesnes lighthouse. Under, the first underwater restaurant in Europe, was built nearby in a picturesque place. An architectural marvel and perhaps the most unusual place for dinner!
It is very difficult to get into the space at a depth of 5.5 meters, which is designed for 40 people – everything is booked months in advance. There is no menu as such in the food aquarium: the chef offers his own set of dishes (mainly seafood delicacies) and a wine list. Dinner on average will cost 2450 NOK ≈ $223.
In addition to the chef's special dishes, a bonus is a unique view of life on the seabed of the North Sea. The picture behind the glass changes depending on the season and time of day: in summer – green light predominates in the room due to algae blooms; in winter – crystal blue water.
The concrete shell of the facility was designed to be completely integrated into the water space in the future. The designers hope that over the years the surface will turn the restaurant into an artificial reef and host marine plants and animals.
Try Norwegian brown cheese
Gudbrandsdalen – did you manage to pronounce it? Oh, we have a Norwegian lurking here! While you might not be able to say the name of this goat cheese fluently the first time, you will fall in love with it instantly!
The color is brown, the consistency is harder than the classic one, and the taste is sweet and salty. The first notes are caramel, and then the cheese dominant comes through. The number one delicacy in Norway can be eaten with toast, waffles, or a sandwich. Brunost (another variant of the name) gets its color due to the fact that whey and cream are boiled for several hours until the water evaporates. During this time, the sugar in the milk is cooked and turns into caramel.
PS We deliberately did not write about fish. Come on, go to a recognized leader in traditional fishing and artificial salmon farming and not try it? We can only understand vegetarians.
Walk on the roof of the opera house
A visit to a country is often incomplete without a visit to the capital. We will not describe in detail what to do in Oslo, because we have already told you how this city can surprise you. Let us just clarify that without a walk on the roof of the local landmark – the Opera House – the trip will be incomplete. This is an opportunity to touch art in the truest sense of the word.
In winter, the slope of the roof turns into a court for snowboarders, and in summer you can take a walk here, sit down and admire the capital from an unusual angle. By the way, during the warmer months, some theater performances also take place on the roof! In general, a very multifunctional building.
Whale watching
There are few places in the world where you can watch whales all year round. But one of these is Norway. Let's go to the Vesterålen archipelago, to the city of Andenes. In this place in Europe, the deep sea is closest to land. The local waters are home to many small fish that mammals love to eat. In summer you can see black dolphins, sperm whales and minke whales, and in winter you can see killer whales and humpback whales.
By the way, a museum of marine animals and an observation deck in the shape of a giant whale fin will soon open in this place. Please note that it will be called “The Whale” (whale).
Drive through the longest car tunnel in the world
Due to the abundance of peaks, and, accordingly, avalanches, Norway, in addition to the fjord region, is also known for its tunnels. There are about 900 of them in the country, and 33 of them pass under water.
The longest, the Lärdal Tunnel, is located in the southwestern part of the country, on the way from Oslo to Bergen. Its length is 24.5 kilometers. But driving in it is not at all scary. Everything is thought out to the smallest detail: there is special lighting – blue with yellow lights around the edges to create the impression of a sunrise, car pockets so that the driver has the opportunity to stop the car and rest. An excellent example of how to make a standard structure unusual.
Norway is when everything is beautiful to the eye, from an ordinary tunnel to the wonders of nature – the fjords. This is the Northern Lights, the largest glacier in Europe, delicious fish, the Troll Road and waterfalls at every step. Why aren't you there yet? Go ahead and pack your suitcase!