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?

@Greylag

(I haven’t read the whole thread yet).

Where are you wanting to go? Which part of the UK are you travelling from?

It's expensive, but UK price rises are catching up…. There are ways and means of keeping the price down.

Ok. Max I'd want to spend 3K. I'll live near Gatwick. 4 or 5 nights. Plus a couple of day trips to see mountains/fyords.

Do you book day trips before you get there?

Apologies for being totally dumb about this.

Just back froM bergen - extremely expensive. Thank goodness I had a work related expenses budget so didn’t actually have to pay things muself but bloody hell even Burger King and McDonald’s are more pricey. A meal out at a cafe would cost far more than what you’d expect in the Uk.

Have been to Bergen 7 times now and twice this year and a hard agree. Scandic hotel breakfasts were a saviour as was travel related work expenses budget.

Agree Norway is expensive. Gifts/ souvenirs to bring back eat a huge chunk of cash too! Even keyring type stuff!

For 4 lunches & nights out eating, would £300 ish cover it?

I couldn't get over the fact that on the fish market stalls in Bergen the local produce, eg smoked salmon, prawns etc are more expensive than in the U.K.! Even the food in the small shops, eg crisps, cold meats and pork pies etc are very dear.

That's a 'how long is a piece of string' question. How many people, what kind of food, are you planning to drink... But for 2 people, that's £37 a day each, which isn't going to go far anywhere (and definitely not in Norway).

I honestly think you're looking at the wrong destination.

Will you have access to a microwave where you stay?

You can buy 4x small soups (portion each) plus loaf of bread for 150 kroner. If you have a fridge in the hotel (some do). Your could have butter/ cheese there.

Unless you need to eat out, you can eat more cheaply...

From rema1000

We went in one cafe by a fjord, very unremarkable food, pictures looked like frozen food reheated, cheapest for lunch was burger and chips at £30, milkshakes were about £6 and made with ice cream. We just had milkshakes and got food from supermarkets which was maybe 50% higher than UK but was 2019 . But in a hotel we often eat a lot at breakfast and then just have dinner - hotels were also very pricey in the area we were (fjords by Alesund) so we stayed in AirBNB. I would say main course for dinner allow at least £30 a head then maybe £5 per non alcoholic drink. Maybe try looking up some restaurants nearby and see if can get prices. Alcohol is even more expensive.

We hired a car and drove and walked around fjords and took a car ferry over one but that I think was about £100 for a 1.5 hour or so trip. Car hire wasn't too pricey though we hired in Sweden and returned in Norway. Flights were really cheap with Ryanair so did give us some money.

Same here. The cruise goes from Southampton so no flight costs.

My friend married a Norwegian man. When people visit her from the UK they don't eat out. She cooks and people bring wine in their suitcases. They both have really good, well paid jobs but find eating out extortionate.

When they visited here we went to a lovely hotel restaurant, had a three course meal each including steak plus wine and cocktails and it was £80 per couple. They were amazed.

Absolutely lovely country.

I looked up Bergen restaurants and this was first one came up on visit Bergen site - the cheapest main is fish and chips and 275 NOK which is £21 and most expensive was double that.

https://26north.no/app/uploads/2022/11/26-North-Meny-ENG-1.pdf

What do you all think of this?

https://www.best-served.co.uk/destinations/norway/itineraries/bergen-gateway-to-the-fjords-152963/pricing

Plus I'd have to buy lunch/dinner.

We normally holiday in the UK but wanted to have a special trip this year as DS is 18 soon and it might be one of the last holidays together 😥

Schools go back mid August, so places address often quieter then. Weather often gets really good as soon as the schools start back.

Peppes Pizza - get a large take away pizza to share.

The itinerary looks good. There's so much you can do from Bergen.

Where are you flying from? Logan air is good (Newcastle/ Edinburgh) KLM have cheaper flights. Direct from London.

Could you hire a car?

Do you eat breakfast, then need to find a place to eat at 12 and then tea, or could you have a main meal in the evening, hotel breakfast and snacks the rest of the time?

Do you like the outdoors and hiking or do you prefer museums etc?

This trip is exactly the trip that a PP suggested up-thread. And it would be lovely. Whether you do do that for £3k (are there 3 of you?) would be another matter. It's 'from' £625, so it will be more than that (for a start, that will be based on 2 people sharing a room...) That just leaves £375pp for EVERYTHING else, which isn't a lot.

I've said it already, but I'd look at other destinations. If you want the trip to be 'special' your money could go further elsewhere.

It's very expensive.
I teally, really recommend visiting Norway on a small=ship coastal cruise; all catering /drinks provided and they hop up and down the coats stopping at lots of ports. Like a mobile hotel , and no need to keep packing your bag. Try Hurtigruten

Maybe Bergen for a couple of nights, then Voss and Bergen again? Loads to explore from there. Great countryside, but near to cheap(er!) supermarkets. Days out don't have to cost if you take a picnic and don't eat out. Would recommend hiring a car.

It can be expensive but it is possible to have a budget and have a great holiday. Last summer we (2 adults) spent 16 days travelling from Tromsø to Trondheim, we hired bikes for the first week then travelled by boat and bus with a cheap travel pass. Stayed in a mix of nice hotels and basic huts, best location was described by the campsite as 2 beds with a roof (cheap) but the view was fabulous. It cost us just over £2500 plus train to Gatwick, we really enjoyed it and were happy with what we spent for what we got. But it did take a lot of planning and we were familiar with some of the places we went.

Greylag, I've pm-ed you with some thoughts.

Oh and the weather is so unpredictable, you could be lucky or very unlucky.

We went last 2 weeks of August and found weather very variable, quite a lot of rainy days and around 14c though a few nice sunny ones at around 25c.

We were glad to have a hire car and booked attractions like Flam railway direct. Avoiding the packages meant avoiding the crowds mostly except Flam railway.

Would you consider something like this? Much Better Adventures £504 each for accommodation, most food and activities, leaving on 14th August. That leaves you £500 for flights and the remaining meals.

DH did it a few years ago and absolutely loved it.

A little too adventurous for us (not my da) I think. Due to my anxiety a break with day trips & flights included would be ideal. I've spent all day googling but not really come up with anything.