Norway is one of the three Scandinavian countries that is famous for natural beauty of mountains and fjords. There are fjords everywhere in Norway, created when the ice from the last Ice Age cut through the tall mountains. is ranked as one of the best countries to live in and has one of the lowest crime rate in the world.

Must Do

1. Visit Geirangerfjord (UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005) by cruise when you visit Norway.

2. Visit beautiful Lofoten Islands (in the Artic circle) for amazing experience

3. When you visit Oslo, purchase 24-hour or 7-day city transit ticket depends your length of stay.

4. Visit Alesund when you visit Norway and the town is a sea port and is noted for its concentration of Art Nouveau architecture.

5. Food in Norway is very expensive. Most fast food restaurants are over $20 USD per simple meal. Try local grocery supermarket for prepackaged food items or cooked items (e.g., BBQ chicken).

6. Most hotels in Norway offer amazing breakfast (best in the world!). I enjoyed large selections of melons, other fruits, cheeses, bakery, deli meat and eggs items, so choose a hotel includes free breakfast.

7. There are not many Airbnb properties in Norway, so book it as early as possible.

8. If you travel by self-guided tour, you must make very flexible with your schedule. Ferries are cancelled often even during the summer months.

9. When you visit Pulpit Rock, please buy a combo ticket for Stavanger airport bus and bus to Pulpit Rock (Super Deal!).

10. Book Airbnb from the link below will save you $62 CAD/$43 USD/€41 instantly for your first stay anywhere around the world

https://www.airbnb.ca/c/weic3807?currency=CAD

Avoid

Search Results

Web resulAvoid

1. Avoid using public washroom ($2.7 USD). Instead, use restaurant, hotel or attractions' washroom.

2. Avoid buying bottled water in Norway. The tap water is portable with high water quality.

3. No tipping culture in Norway. Don't give servers tips unless you really want to.

4. Avoid skipping tickets on the Oslo airport express train. Staff frequently checks passengers' tickets.

5. Avoid personal service in Norway. People's salary is extremely high in the country. Regular men's hair cut from simple Barbershop is 46 USD (or $60 CAD).

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Trip Highlights (2018)

London to Bodo transfer via Oslo by Scandinavian Airlines (not recommended)

For our trip in August 2018, we had a very rough start. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) lost my son's stroller when we arrived at Bodo airport around 10:20 pm. SAS was not able locate it and asked me to come back to check the next morning because the first morning flight from Oslo would arrive around 8:30 am. I worried so much because we would need this stroller for my son (he was still under 2-year old at the time). Also, for our next stop - Lofoten Islands we would have lots of walking on the island. Plus we only stayed in Bodo only for one night. The airport of Lofoten Islands is far away from where we are going to stay. SAS staff was not nice nor helpful. SAS lady kept saying she would leave work soon for the night and wanted to push me away. The next morning, I didn't find my strollers after the first flight from Oslo arrived. I talked to SAS desk again and I was told it was on the next flight arriving at Bodo airport around 9:30 am. The staff asked me to check at the luggage conveyor belt. Clock is ticking and we don't want to miss the 11 am ferry either. I didn't find my son's stroller at the belt, so I visited SAS desk again. I saw my son's stroller was on the floor behind the desk. I was happy to get the stroller. After I left the airport, I suddenly noticed the main frame connecting to one stroller push handle was broken, so SAS damaged my stroller. We would really need to catch the ferry soon, so we didn't go back to SAS to argue. Broken stroller is still better than nothing if we can fix it.

We started our journey in Bodo, a small costal city in Northern Norway. Our 11 am ferry was cancelled. Then 3 pm ferry was cancelled as well. We had to catch the last ferry of the day around 7 pm, which luckily not cancelled (we prayed the whole day). Otherwise, we would waste the Airbnb that we paid for already. Also, had to look for a hotel in Bodo (will be very costly for last minute hotel booking). We basically wasted the whole day in Bodo ferry terminal. Not much to see in Bodo.

I sent an email to the owner of Airbnb property. He was a very nice fisherman and would offer free pick up from the ferry dock later when we arrive in the night (no bus that late, don't even know if taxi is available).

When the ferry sailed in the ocean, I realized why the previous two ferry was cancelled today. The big wave hit the ferry pretty hard. I observed many people quickly ran to the washroom to vomit. Later I used to washroom, it looks pretty terrible. All hand wash sinks were clogged because people vomit inside, also some were on the floor. I played with son at the kids corner on the ferry. A big wave hit the ferry again, my son fell off from the bench. I don't have ocean sickness, but I felt like the ferry was a space shuttle during the 4-hour journey.

A Fishing village on Lofoten Islands

Lofoten Islands

Beautiful White Sand Lofoten Islands. It is great to see white sand beach in artic circle

White Sand Lofoten Islands

Beautiful Lofoten Islands

Oslo Street

Oslo

The Royal Palace in Oslo

Geiranger Fjord

The Seven Sisters: Waterfall at Geiranger Fjord

Geiranger Fjord

Geiranger

Fjord on the way to Alesund

Alesund

Alesund is a very neat city

Alesund

Stunning View of Alesund

We travelled to Pulpit Rock by ferry and bus. We were ready to climb around 2 pm. My turning 2-year old son refused to walk because it was his afternoon napping time, so I had to carry him all the way up, took us almost 3.5 hours to reach the destination.