How expensive is Norway?

[Greylag]

Planning a short summer holiday in late August. I hate hot weather so thought Norway? But I've heard things are very expensive there?

Yes, a "memorable" meal of a burger and chips (at a chain) was well over £20, not including a drink, and that was about 7 years ago in Bergen. I'm sure it's worse now. We learned very quickly to fill up on the sizable hotel breakfasts.

Food and drink is expensive, particularly alcohol, but otherwise I haven't found it too bad. But I live in London so perhaps that's the measure.
You won't get a full-board experience in Norway, there just aren't those sorts of resorts. Choose accommodation including breakfast then eat out without alcohol and you'll be fine.

Depends what you want to do and what type of accomodation you want. If you want to stay in the HIlton in Oslo nad eat out every day then it will last you about 2 days. If you want to hire a car, stay in self catering places and go walking every day then it could easily get you a weeks holiday.

It's easy nowadays to book everything yourself months in advance. The likes of booking.com and airbnb make doing so easy.

We went last summer, and whilst it was expensive, it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. We ate a good breakfast every day (in hotels/B&Bs) and packed up a roll for lunch from the buffet. Loads of people were doing this, and no-one batted an eyelid.

Evening meals were more than they are here, but nowhere near the double that other people seem to have experienced.

Yes - it's expensive to drink, but we just drank less than we would on holiday. But not loads less - we were just a bit more mindful of things and didn't have as many 'casual' drinks (the 'shall we pop in here for a quick glass of wine' type) as we might have otherwise.
We normally holiday for a full 2 weeks, but went for 10/11 days, and didn't spend much more than we would have done elsewhere.

It is a truly amazing country - I'm glad we went, and it was worth the money. But I wouldn't have wanted to do it if I was watching every penny - that would have sapped all the enjoyment out of it.

We found Norway more expensive than Iceland.

BUT if you paid £90 for breakfast in Iceland you are doing it all wrong tbh. There are plenty of ways to have a really good holiday, eat local food and do it on a tighter budget. Full board is stupid and extortionate and personally I think it means you miss out on the opportunity to eat out.

Genuinely breakfast - supermarket pastries, main meal / eating out at restaurant at lunch (you get the same experience but it's cheaper than an evening meal out), evening meal fast food / lighter snack.

Hotels - look for a budget hotel. There ARE some really good ones in Scandinavia. They are basic but still comfortable. That can save you a fortune. Some DO include breakfast too. Search the likes of Expedia.

You can definitely do Oslo for three for 2k.

I think the mindset of wanting full board is where you are going to fall down though.

I think that’s the crux of it. If money is really tight it won’t be enjoyable at all. I am guessing that’s why OP wants full board too as at least that way they know how much food will be.

Painfully so! As is Sweden. It's such an amazing country though. I'd go again in a heart beat.

Ok. So either a cruise or hotel/breakfast.

We did Oslo and Bergen in March. I didn't find it too bad but I live in London so it didn't seem too horrible to me.
In Bergen we found a street hot dog stall that was amazing. Reindeer hot dogs. Cheap and lush.

Ok. Decided on either hotel or self catering. How do I book a day trip to a fjord? Would a hotel do this?

I'm a total novice when it comes to travel. It's years since I've been abroad. Should I use a travel agent?

Many thanks for any help. I'm rather embarrassed that I don't know how to do this🥴

You won't get a 4 day cruise to Norway as it takes a full night and sea day to get up there. Go for a 7 night cruise. There have been some good offers recently on fjord cruises.

OP look on Viator for days out ideas, you don’t need to book them as you may be able to just copy them.

Yes! And smuggle the odd croissant out to eat later if hunger pangs strike.

So there are direct flights to Bergen. How to get to a hotel?

Expensive enough to make my family member living in Sweden* wince...

*which is pretty pricey itself

The P&O Iona leaves from Southampton on 3rd June with prices starting at £449 pp. Full board, you'd only have to pay for soft / alcoholic drinks, tips, and any excursions. Look on cruise.co.U.K.

Don't eat out where you can. Go to the supermarket instead. Don't drink. Don't forget to take your own paracetamol.

Got it, don't go.

Buy a bottle of spirit duty free, if you want to drink. If you want wine and beer, go to the vinmonopoliet. Beer is about 25 Kr a bottle and wine for less than 100.

Seconded about Paracetamol, it's about 5 Quid for 16 and only from a chemist, who will interrogate you.

If you want to eat out, look for restaurants with happy hours, usually set before the evening rush.

If you go to Hammerfest, nothing at all is on the cheap.

The tram goes directly from the airport to the city centre (or there's an airport bus which does the same). It's very easy to do.

You can go on a fjord boat trip from Bergen - there were loads being advertised (we didn't go on any because we'd come by boat, from the fjords).

I'm not sure I would stay a full week in Bergen though... Not if money is tight. If you're keen walkers, then maybe that's different as there is loads of great hiking up above the city at the top of the funicular, but that's probably not something you'd want to do every day. It's a very small city, so you'll be out of 'free' things to do very quickly.

Maybe fly to Bergen, then get a boat to somewhere in the fjords (a ferry boat, rather than a tourist boat). We got the ferry from Balestrand, which was about 5 hrs I think - that was like a day trip in itself, it was a stunning journey.

Just a thought, but if it's purely the weather driving your choice of location, why not go somewhere else in northern Europe? There are lovely beaches and plenty to do in Belgium and Netherlands. Or Brittany.

There's no guarantee of what the weather will be anywhere at any time these days! We went to Norway in June, with all the layers, and loads of waterproofs packed. It was BOILING! Properly hot and sunny.

Norway is a really lovely place, but if you're worried about money, and it's a long-awaited holiday (so you don't want to be constantly worried about what you can/can't do) then I'd go somewhere else. Go somewhere you can relax and be a bit more carefree - that's what holidays should be about.

An escorted coach tour might work for you but I have no idea what prices would be like nowadays. Norway is very expensive but it is beautiful, safe, friendly and English is widely spoken.

That sounds great. I was planning 4 nights maybe. Or maybe 5.

I would be eternally grateful if someone could point me in the right direction of how to book it from flights to Bergen (from London) plus hotel (breakfast included) and then a day trip to a fyord . Or a hotel outside Bergen on a fyord.

I am literally clueless on this.

Norwegian air website is good

From Bergen you can do a fabulous self guided trip including train, bus and boat, called Norway in a Nutshell. It's very easy to follow and there'll be plenty of other people doing it so no danger of getting lost. It's doable in a day if you just want to take in the views etc, with a few short stop offs for food, short walks, etc. Alternatively you can book accommodation en route if you want to spend more time at some of the locations, hiking or doing watersports etc.

https://www.norwaynutshell.com/original-tour/?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0tKiBhC6ARIsAAOXutlt8JaM9EknynL8u7e4qsxDqTlwgO5biV5Oadonvj-o2ZMS1BFE_iIaAjgKEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'd still go back to 'why Norway?'

What's your budget? Realistically.

There's no point someone pulling together a suggested itinerary for you if you can't afford it anyway, or it's all going to be too stressful.

Booking flights and hotels couldn't be easier these days. You literally go to the website of the airline you want to go with, and book the tickets. No different to booking a train.

Booking hotels is also easy if you use something like Booking.com. You tell it where you want to go, and the dates you want to stay, and it will give you all the options available to you on those dates. From there you can read reviews, look at hotel websites etc, and make a decision.