Norway?

Yes, we spent 10 days in Norway!!! 🙂

Norway wasn't in our travel plans for 2015 because of the high cost, but when a RyanAir promotion came along, everything changed. I found tickets from Dublin to Oslo to Dublin for 140 euros for the two of us in the middle of summer and I booked a week in August with a holiday here in Dublin so we could spend more time there.

The initial plan was to rent a motorhome and travel around the country without paying for accommodation, but when we started seeing the prices of these mobile homes, we were taken aback. Talk about 3 thousand euros for less than 10 days of travel. 🙁 We started looking at hotels and, as we expected, everything was quite expensive for our standards (over 100 euros). We felt discouraged at the time and regretted having bought the tickets, but we were saved by blogs written by foreigners (where are the Brazilians???) who told us about their experiences camping around the country. I thought the idea of traveling by car with a tent in the trunk and stopping whenever we wanted was great, especially because the camping free is encouraged in the country, then safety is almost guaranteed.

I went looking for tents and sleeping bags to buy here in Dublin and the cheapest options I found were at Dunnes: a great tent that sets up in 2 seconds for 25 euros (I recommend it for those trips that are always on the go) and two sleeping bags for 10 euros each. Then I realized that because of the large diameter of the tent, we couldn't carry it by hand and would have to check it in for 60 euros. Oh, how annoying...lol.

With the Norway guide in hand and some websites and foreign blogs, we started the process of putting together the travel itinerary. I only found reports from Brazilians who did the Oslo – Bergen – Flam – Oslo route, which is what they call Norway in a Nutshell. It’s a shame, because the whole country is beautiful and with some planning, you can enjoy a lot of things without spending a lot. Anyway…

After a lot of research, it became clear that the country is famous for its fjords and trails to the rocks. Preikestolen, Locks andTrolltunga with beautiful views, by the glaciers, by the northern lights in winter, by the midnight sun up north, by the medieval wooden churches (only found in Norway), by the culture viking, through the largest tunnels in the world, ferries of excellent quality and bridges everywhere. With this in mind, we put together an itinerary to encompass almost everything we read (the 8-hour trail to Trolltunga was cut from the beginning), but during the trip we made some changes and ended up doing the following:

We were very pleased with the final itinerary, as we really saw a little bit of everything and did everything in our own time, without stress. Have a chip with Internet from the Meteor It helped a lot when we were there, so here's a tip if you're going to drive around the country. 

Our car itinerary

We drove for almost 1800 km, following the route below:

Tours we did

• The trail of Preikestolen was definitely the most top of the trip, because it was where he made the most beautiful marriage proposal <3 and where we take advantage the best view of our entire life. It's almost 8 km of trail (round trip) with a climb of 330 meters, which takes about 4 hours, but we spent much more time than that enjoying the view on a sunny day! The view up there is truly incredible.
• We drove around and ferry through the largest fjord in the country, the Sognefjord and we bought a boat trip through the narrowest part too, the Naeroyfjorden. I thought the boat trip was a waste of time because it was packed with tourists (large groups of Asians with lots of cameras) and there was no peace, but there's no denying that the view is impressive. Just forget about the tourists. 
• We took the train ride through Flamsbana, which is considered one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world, taking the Flam – Myrdal – Flam route. Although we did it at the end of a slightly cloudy day, it was clear to see why this route is so highly praised.
• We went to the largest glacier in continental Europe, the Jostedalsbreen, which is about 100 km long and 15 km wide. We parked the car and took a trail to its base, but it was possible to take a walk inside it. Since we have walked on other glaciers in our lives, we didn't want to climb this one either.
• We visited the wooden church (stavkyrkje) Borgund, located in the city of Laerdal and built in 1180. It is the wooden church with the least modifications since medieval times and is very well preserved, thank God. It is beautiful inside and out, especially because of the details carved into the wood.
• We stopped in the city of Bergen for a few hours only and we loved visiting the region of Bryggen (Unesco heritage) with its crooked wooden houses, and go up the funicular Floibannen to see the view of the city.
• In Oslo, we visited the park Vigelandsparken, which is famous for its more than 200 statues by Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland. What a statue! We also visited the museum Vikingskipshuset, which has 3 original Viking ships in perfect condition, as well as many pieces that were found inside them. The ships were buried with important people over a thousand years ago and were only discovered in the 19th century. Seeing all that really takes you back in time and uses your imagination, but we left there worried: they still haven't found a way to preserve everything that is on display, which means that it is possible that many of the pieces will disintegrate in a few years. It is a race against time and I sincerely hope that they find a solution.

Food and Drinks

• We chose to buy our food in supermarkets, as we knew that restaurant prices would be high. We wanted to use the restaurants' kitchens. campsites, but we discovered that almost all of them only have the stove and the sink. No pots, plates or cutlery. The campsites They assume that everyone has their own material (and they do, with the exception of us here) and when I asked why, they explained that they would have to have someone to clean/wash what people left behind, which would mean more costs. The solution was to eat a lot of cheese and ham sandwiches, fruit, juices, canned sardines, toast and chocolate. The sardines and chocolate were our favorites!
• We also buy a lot of water for car trips, but in hotels and hostels we drink tap water (they recommend it).
• We eat Japanese food at the restaurant Sushi San (rated 4.5 on TripAdvisor) in the city from Stavanger and cIt was certainly one of the best meals of its kind in our lives. We knew about the good reputation of Norwegian salmon and it was great to feel the fish melting in our mouths, but perhaps this psychological factor affected our judgment…
• In Bergen we tasted for the first time the King Crab and we fell in love: it is now my favorite food, without a shadow of a doubt. Shrimp moqueca is in second place, tied with crab from Prefeitinho (Bahia). 🙂
• Although they have whale, elk and reindeer meat as some of their typical dishes, we didn't get to try any of them in a restaurant. Just so we don't say we didn't eat any of them, Celo got some whale meat at a market in Bergen and said it was really strange (it was black when raw!!!). I stayed away!
• In Oslo, we went to a restaurant recommended by the guy at the hotel and we loved the atmosphere, the service and the food. Remember the name: Southwest. It is a crossover of Asian food in a very cool atmosphere. There we tried the typical Norwegian distilled drink, Aquavit, which in my opinion, could be a little weaker…lol
• We ate at the food chain fast food Norwegian Max and I don't know if it's because we were hungry, but we found the cheeseburgers delicious. Much better than McDonald's or Burger King and to our delight, the prices were great.

Accommodations

• Of the 8 nights we were driving around the country, we slept 2 of them in hotels/hostels that we booked along the way, 2 inside the car in quiet areas of the road (they recommend it!) and the other 4 in campsites with excellent structure.
• Both the hotel and the hostel were chosen on the spot, with the help of Booking. We researched hotels near where we were staying, sorted them by cheapest price and arrived at reception with the app open asking them to charge the same rate. We saved a lot of money, because the rack rates were really more expensive!
• We stayed at Kronen Gaard Hotel in the city of Sandnes, for 805 Norwegian kroner (90 euros) and we even had dinner with typical Norwegian food at the hotel restaurant. The hotel is very cozy and the breakfast was fair. (PS: I loved the heated bathroom floor. Every house should have that!)
• We stayed at the HI Hostel chain, Red-haired women in the woods, after we came down exhausted from the trail of Preikestolen. We got a room just for us with a lake view for 900 Norwegian kroner (100 euros) and took advantage of cooking in their super kitchen. (We didn't even have to wash the dishes, they put them in the dishwasher themselves). It was great for us since we were tired of eating sandwiches and didn't want to spend a fortune in a restaurant. Oh, and this price included a very generous breakfast!
• We downloaded the application NorCamp, that shows the campsites spread across the country, and as we got tired, we started looking for a place to sleep. A great help!
• In Oslo, we stayed in a hotel relatively close to the city's central train station, with great value for money, Comfort Hotel Xpress Youngstorget. The hotel has an awesome decor, a terrace up there with a great view and the room is very comfortable. All this with 24-hour service by young staff with good tips. We recommend it!

On the road

• The roads are of excellent quality and there are toll booths everywhere, but there are no toll booths. The amounts are automatically calculated by a machine that is attached to the front window of the car, but from what we saw, they were not very expensive (maximum 5 euros each). Since we haven't seen the final bill for the trip yet, I can't say how much it all cost, but I imagine it must have been a bit of a rip-off, since we drove more than 1,600 km, right?
• We passed through COUNTLESS tunnels on this trip. Many, several, diverse, a lot. Seriously, we lost count, but I think there were more than 100. We made sure to catch the largest road tunnel in the world, the Laerdal Tunnel, about 24.5 km long, which took 6 years to build by 130 people, costing about 125 million euros. There are even 3 rest areas with lots of light, which we didn't even use, but it's impossible not to get psychologically shaken (and we don't even have claustrophobia!). It's very tense!
• Beyond this tunnel, we wanted to take the longest road tunnel under the sea, the Car tunnels, almost 9 km long. We felt a lot of pressure in our ears and a lot of adrenaline when crossing it, but we calmed down when we discovered that there were almost 50 meters of rock separating the sea from our car.
• We caught several ferries and they were all very comfortable, with restaurants and padded seats upstairs. We bought all the tickets on the spot (in the car line itself or up there with an inspector), without any stress. They weren't cheap, but we thought they were worth it to rest and enjoy the view of the fjords without groups of tourists around.
• We also crossed many bridges, each more impressive than the last. Some began and ended in tunnels and had incredible views, but others were quite ordinary as well. There is something for everyone.

I think I've already written too much in this summary (sorry), but if you want to know more about each place we visited, take a look at the links below. They are very detailed, as always! <3

Detailed Posts

If you want to know more about this 10-day trip to Norway, check out the posts below:

• 10 incredible days in Norway in the middle of summer (Summary)
• Arriving in Norway (a plane, bus, train and car saga)
• 1 day in Kristiansand and surroundings
• Between Kristiansand and the famous Preikestolen stone
• The famous Preikestolen
• 1 day in Stavanger and surroundings
• 1 day in Bergen and surroundings
• The largest Norwegian fjord and the largest European glacier
• Borgund Stavkirke, a medieval stave church
• 2 days in Flam and surroundings
• 2 days in Oslo, capital of Norway

Our photos

If you want to book tours in Norway safely, check out the options offered by our partner Civitatis: