Norway - have you been in summer / for a summer break?

[OneFootInTheDave]

Have always loved the idea of a summer break in Scandinavia, the idea of a coastal cabin, clean blue water, mountain view’s, few people around etc.. 😍

Norway looks like a good option as I have some cash points to spend on Norwegian Air and it feels like a fairly reasonable flight one with 2 primary aged kids. I’m not bothered about the weather being hot as I’m a fair skinned Celt and burn easily / feel sick if it’s too hot - so part of me quite likes the idea of a warm, pleasant summer that isn’t hideous like last year (now live in South East England).

Thinking of splurging and staying out there for 3-4 weeks (since flights will be £0 cost) and can work remotely if needed.

Looking for opinions and experience of Norway holidays / trips / culture / suggestions 🙏🏻🇳🇴💙

West coast of Norway - Bergen. Great city and called the 'Gateway to the Fjords' for a good reason.

Can easily explore further from there - Voss/ further inland. Take the Bergen- Oslo train.

Flåm railway.

Travel up to Sogndal.

Take a car and drive around the fjords/ mountains. Swimming in the sea.

Exactly what’s been written already - Bergen (we went years ago when you could sail in from Newcastle) and then the Fjords and Flam railway etc. it’s a beautiful country.

Norway, beautiful stayed in wonderful log cabin with hire car. Also Sweden, better weather, went rafting, saw moose and beavers. Stayed in little Stuga (think pod) lakeside.
Have fun

Norway is a lovely country and Norwegians very friendly. However, it is a very expensive country and the £ doesn’t go far. I’d keep track of the exchange rates before you go to get a good deal for any cash you take.

Thanks everyone💙

This sounds ideal, hasn’t even thought about doing train journey’s, good thinking!

Don’t forget the boat trips as well!

I went on a Norwegian cruise in September. What a beautiful country !! It's so clean and the people are lovely. It is expensive but not extortionate.

There are ways to avoid some expense here and there (but some depends on your need to eat out/ consume alcohol etc.)

I’ve heard it’s expensive, but I was thinking maybe we’d get Airbnb’s and cook at home / make picnics for days out so we can save a bit that way, then have the odd meal out 🤔

Bergen is a good starting point for exploring, go along the coast and go inland. Loen, Geiranger are other lovely places.
Flåm. You can also go high North to Lofoten or Helgeland. Seeing as you intend to stay for a 3-4 weeks you have a chance to explore quite a bit. I’d hire a car and drive around exploring. We definitely are a friendly bunch so come on over!

Years ago. Stayed in Balestrand, did Flam railway, boat trip to Bergman etc. it was stunning. But not warm or sunny!

Yes we've done Norway, Sweden and Finland in various summers. Norway was the most scenic but also the most expensive by a long way. We needed to stay in AirBNBs mainly whereas in the other two stayed in hotels. We also needed to self cater whereas in others could eat out. That did impact enjoyment of holiday.

We drove one holiday from Sweden to Norway and returned car in Norway. In Norway we stopped on way over from Sweden into a log cabin and did a moose safari and white water rafting which were good. Then we drove across to Alesund which is very beautiful and did a boat wildlife safari and went on boats around the fjords. We went on Flam Railway and to a viking village close to there which were both excellent. Flew back from Oslo. We did stay in one hotel in a mountains area which was very good. Weather was very mixed went second half of August and a lot more rainy than when we'ld been to Sweden and Finland before in July. And also think their school holidays had finished and some things were closed end of holiday.

It's very beautiful but as others have said extremely expensive! We visited friends there (so no accommodation costs) in 2010 and still spent a fortune. The equivalent of £8 for an ice-cream, £100 for a few bits at the supermarket, £100 for a train to Oslo, which was about 20 minutes away...

My ex is Norwegian, and so is one of my closest, long time friends so I've spent a lot of time there. It's a wonderful country, especially if you enjoy an outdoor lifestyle and healthy living. But it's incredibly expensive. Even the supermarkets are very pricey so self-catering isn't a cheap option. I'd factor that in to your decision to spend 3-4 weeks there.

I've always found the people to be very friendly and helpful. I'm tall and blonde so they assume I'm Norwegian (until I've used up my 3 sentences of Norwegian and it becomes obvious I'm not) but I don't think it makes any difference to how I'm treated. People are very polite.

For me what I like most about Norway are the simple pleasures. Taking a small boat over to one of the islands in the fjord and sleeping out on the island overnight (happens a lot on midsummer's eve), swimming or wading into one of the crystal clear lakes (just make sure there isn't an algae problem first), cooking dinner for friends and then sitting outside drinking wine and chatting (then realising it's actually 4am because of course its summertime so the sun never really sets). I always enjoy the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, and getting a boat back in to town and sitting having a (rather expensive) drink in the sun at Aker Brygge but the museum is currently closed until 2026.

With primary aged children, I'd consider splitting your time between Norway and Denmark, and taking the boat between the two.

Thank you this is a super helpful reply :-)

Denmark sounds interesting too - are there any places / points of interest that really stood out?

Wow, that sounds a lot more expensive than I even imagined😑

I’ve been looking on restaurant menus in Google maps etc, looks like a mid level restaurant is about 30-50% mark up on what I’d expect to pay in South-east UK.

Hmm, perhaps a suitcase of dried goods on the plane will be cheaper than shopping (joke / not joke!)

Definitely take the basics of food with you when travelling there! Some shoe are cheaper than others and there are ways to save, but it is expensive (the most we'd eat out is at Peppe's Pizza or McDonald's 😅

We had 2 weeks in Norway last summer, and loved it! Expensive, but not as bad as we thought it would be (certainly not £8 for an ice cream- more like £4).
Oslo is a great city, as is Bergen. Fjords stunning- all the places already mentioned are fab.

We had gorgeous weather in early July- only one day of rain in 2 weeks, and it was warm/hot.

Make sure you stay somewhere with blackout blinds if your kids don't sleep well - the midnight sun is amazing, but messes with your body clock.

The prices were quite shocking in Norway - even when we went to a supermarket in middle of nowhere and there was a takeaway van and I asked DH to get me some noodles from it expecting it to be £5 or so they were £15. A cafe we went to, pictures of what looked like frozen food reheated around with prices and cheapest was burger and chips for £30, that was in a scenic area but still, was 4 years ago too now.

When we went to Lapland in winter we did take food and drink items in suitcase and that was worth it - things like squash and snacks. Its quite easy to combine Norway with Sweden as well and we did Stockholm and an alpaca farm on way over, flew into Stockholm out of Oslo with Ryanair. Flights were very cheap. In Denmark we did Copenhagen, Tivoli is great for primary kids and nice there. There are quite a lot of wildlife things if you like that with moose, brown bears, beavers etc in Scandinavia. We did Arola Bears in Finland, there's Wild Sweden things in Sweden, we did moose safari in Norway.

Yes we loved the midnight sun and 24 hour daylight but the kids found it amusing to say we'll sleep when its dark.

Yep, very expensive! Also don't be fooled into thinking it will automatically be cooler, we went in 2019 and ended up in a 30c heatwave 😆

As others have commented, if you are staying 3 - 4 weeks, you will need a second mortgage. Definitely take food with you in your luggage, and don't expect to eat out. When I visited, the rules about when you could buy alcohol in supermarkets were also surprisingly complex.

Bergen is lovely. I've been in May once and September twice and had lovely weather every time. The Norway in a Nutshell self-guided tour is excellent. You can comfortably do it in a day, or book accommodation en route if you want ro spend time hiking or doing watersports etc.

It's so expensive though. I remember paying the equivalent of £8 for a petrol station hotdog, and £25 for 2x coffees and pastries.

I'd highly recommend Lyderhorn for a fairly easy but very rewarding hike:
www.studybergen.com/guide-to-bergen/outdoor-activities/lyderhorn-1/