Norway Country Guide

Norway is long, narrow and steep. About 5.6 million people live here, most of them near the coast. Norway is in the Schengen Area, but it is not in the EU.

The basics

Nature in numbers

Norway has 48 national parks. Seven of them are on Svalbard. The newest is Østmarka, near Oslo, from 2023. The highest mountain is Galdhøpiggen, 2,469 meters. The Sognefjord is Norway’s longest fjord, about 205 km, and more than 1,300 meters deep in places.

Words that open doors

Norwegians say fjell for mountain. We Swedes say fjäll. The words look alike, but they do not mean exactly the same. I wrote about it in Berg vs Fjäll: the Nordic difference.

Norway is not in the EU, but it is in the Schengen Area and the EEA. The same entry rules apply as in Sweden.

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: A valid passport or national ID card is enough.
• Many other nationalities: You can visit for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa.
• The Entry/Exit System (EES): Border staff record non-EU visitors with fingerprints and a photo. Plan extra time at the airport.
• ETIAS: It has not started yet. When it does, apply only on the official EU website for ETIAS.

Check the rules for your passport with UDI, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration.

Norway is expensive, even for me, and I live in Stockholm. In Voss, I cooked most of my dinners.

Cards, not cash

Cards work almost everywhere, and some places do not take cash at all. You will see Vipps on signs. It is a mobile payment app, and it mostly needs a Norwegian bank account. Pay by card.

What I paid in Vestland in 2025

Daily budget per person

These are my rough estimates for 2026.

How to spend less

• Nature is free. Every mountain, fjord and viewpoint I explored on my days off cost only the bus fare. Many people pay for tours to views they can reach on their own.
• Cook your own food. Many cabins and hostels have kitchens.
• Buy alcohol duty-free when you land. In Norway it is expensive.
• Tipping is not expected.

From Oslo Airport to the city

• Flytoget: About 19 minutes to Oslo Central Station. 243 NOK.
• Vy regional train: 25–30 minutes to Oslo Central Station. About 124 NOK.
• Flybussen airport bus: 45–60 minutes. 149–199 NOK.

Trains

The Bergen Railway was my lifeline. It runs between Oslo and Bergen in about seven hours, over the mountain plateau, and stops at Voss and Myrdal. At Myrdal, change to the Flåm Railway, a steep line of about 20 km down to Flåm.

Buses and ferries

Buses connect almost everything, but timing is everything. In fjord country, ferries are not only transport. They are part of the trip. The ferry from Flåm to Gudvangen through the Nærøyfjord was my “office” on many days.

Public transport apps

• Ruter: Oslo. A 24-hour ticket pays off if you travel more than three times in a day.
• Skyss: Bergen and Vestland
• Entur: Journeys across all of Norway

Driving

• Tolls: Most toll roads and many ferries charge by license plate (AutoPASS). Rental cars have the tag.
• Mountain passes: Many close in winter and open in late May or June. I watched the Aurlandsfjellet road open in early June. Before that, you take the tunnel.
• Time: Roads are narrow, with many hairpin bends. Plan more time than your map app says.
• Tunnels and bridges: The Lærdal Tunnel on the E16 is the longest road tunnel in the world, 24.5 km. It opened in 2000. The Hardanger Bridge opened in 2013. It is Norway’s longest suspension bridge, with a main span of 1,310 meters.

The weather in the fjords changes fast. I have started tours in sunshine and finished them in rain.

My three months in Vestland

North Norway

In Tromsø, the midnight sun lasts from about 20 May to 22 July. The northern lights season is from about September to March.

What to pack

A waterproof jacket and trousers (I wore mine almost every day), a fleece, a merino wool base layer and a thermos. Norwegians say: there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.

• Oslo: The Opera House roof, the Munch Museum and saunas on the fjord.
• Bergen: The colored wooden houses of Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with mountains right behind the city.
• The Nærøyfjord and the Geirangerfjord: Both are UNESCO World Heritage fjords. See them by boat and on foot.
• Borgund Stave Church: A wooden church from around 1200, with carved dragon heads on the roof. It is one of the best-preserved stave churches in Norway.
• Preikestolen: A rock platform 604 meters above the Lysefjord. The hike is about 8 km there and back and takes about four hours.
• Lofoten: Sharp peaks, fishing villages and the midnight sun.
• Tromsø: The base for the northern lights in winter.
• The National Scenic Routes: 18 roads chosen for their views. Aurlandsfjellet, with the Stegastein viewpoint, is one of them.

Farther north, Tromsø is small but full of life, with a university, the Arctic Cathedral and the northern lights.

From May to July 2025, I lived in Voss and guided tours through Vestland, from the steep Nærøyfjord to the orchards of Hardanger. Voss is a small town with a stone church from the 1270s, and it calls itself Norway’s adventure capital. By the lake stands Fleischer’s Hotel, a wooden hotel in Swiss style from 1864. The same family still runs it.

I arrived as someone who had visited Norway. I left as someone who had lived there. I learned to read ferry timetables in my sleep. I learned to see the weather build over the Atlantic. And I understood why Norwegians go quiet when they stand in front of their mountains.

What surprised me most

• The quiet in the mountains. Thirty minutes from Voss center, I could walk for hours and meet two or three people.
• The midnight sun. It is hard to sleep when it is still light at 23:00.
• The trail markings. Red “T” markers are everywhere, and they are excellent.
• The honesty boxes. Farm stalls by the road trust you to pay. And people do.

What travelers should know

I saw some visitors rush through Vestland in one day, and others who stayed longer. The difference in what they experienced was huge. Vestland shows itself slowly.

My Vestland stories

I wrote more than 25 posts about that summer. Here they are, by subject.

Places I lived in and explored

• Discover Voss: history, culture and adventure in the fjords
• Voss Folkemuseum: rural life at Mølstertunet
• Myrkdal and Vik in the Sognefjord
• Bergen’s Leprosy Museum: science, suffering and the ethics of progress
• Bomoen: where ice shaped the land and water still sings
• Stalheim: history, WWII and the most dramatic view in western Norway

My mountain hikes

• Hiking from Voss to Hanguren
• Hanguren to Vadalseggi (950 m)
• Hiking from Kvanndal to Kvanndalsstølen mountain farm

Routes I guided and traveled

• Nærøyfjord boat tour guide: viewpoints, hikes and fjord villages
• Voss to Flåm: a self-guided route via Tvindefossen and Stalheimskleiva
• Aurland to Hardanger: a fjord and cider loop
• From Gudvangen to Vik and the Hardangerfjord route
• Guided fjord route: from Voss to the Hardangerfjord
• National Scenic Route Aurlandsfjellet

Norwegian culture I learned about

• Hardangerbunaden: Norway’s national icon
• Rose-painted chests: more than storage
• Vossa kvanne: a heritage plant
• Harriet Backer: the painter who mastered light
• Berg vs Fjäll: why Norwegians and Swedes see mountains differently

Understanding the landscape

• Fjords 101: how ice carved Norway’s coast
• Norwegian nature: trees, wildlife and life outdoors
• The Atlantic salmon of Sognefjord and Lærdal
• How salmon farming works in Norway

Food

• The potato in Norway: from doubt to staple

Guiding

• The art of guiding: more than just leading a tour
• Guiding in Vestland, Norway

• Friluftsliv: Life outdoors. It is part of who Norwegians are. On weekends, the cities empty into the mountains.
• Kos: Cosiness. Candles, wool socks, waffles and time together.
• Janteloven: The Norwegian version of our Swedish jantelagen: do not show off.
• At home: Take off your shoes, be on time and keep your voice low on public transport.

Traditions

• 17 May, Constitution Day: The biggest party of the year. People wear the bunad, their regional folk costume, and children march in parades.
• Easter: The country goes to the mountains to ski and read påskekrim, Easter crime novels.
• Julebord: Christmas parties with colleagues and friends in November and December.
• Taco Friday: A modern family tradition. Yes, really.

Allemannsretten lets everyone walk, ski and camp in nature, also on private land that is not farmed.

• Camping: Put up your tent at least 150 meters from the nearest house. You can stay two nights in one place without asking the landowner.
• Fires: From 15 April to 15 September, fires near forests are not allowed, unless it is clearly safe.
• Trails: Stay on the path. Short cuts across bends cause erosion.
• Wildlife: Keep your distance.
• Rubbish: Take everything back with you.

I saw tourists leave rubbish and walk too close to animals. Don’t be that person. The landscape looks untouched because people treat it that way.

• Brunost: Sweet brown goat cheese. Slice it thin, on bread or waffles. In Undredal, by the Nærøyfjord, they still make goat cheese.
• Fårikål: Mutton and cabbage stew, the national dish, eaten in autumn.
• Vafler: Heart-shaped waffles with sour cream and jam.
• Raspeballer: Potato dumplings, a west coast dish.
• Salmon and cod: Norway is the world’s largest producer of farmed salmon. Winter cod, skrei, is a seasonal treat.
• Hardanger cider: Try it at the farms in Ulvik.

Alcohol rules

• In shops: Beer and other drinks up to 4.7 percent. Sales stop at 20:00 on weekdays and 18:00 on Saturdays. No sales on Sundays.
• Stronger drinks: Only at Vinmonopolet, the state shop.
• Age limits: 18 for beer and wine, 20 for spirits.

Norway is a safe country. The biggest risks are the weather and the mountains.

• Before a hike: Tell someone your route and check the forecast on yr.no, the Norwegian weather service.
• Mountain weather: It changes fast, even in July.
• Cold water: Fjords and lakes are cold, even in summer.
• Ticks: Check your skin after walks in grass, mostly in the south and west.
• Emergencies: Call 113 for an ambulance and 112 for the police.
• LGBTQ travelers: Same-sex marriage has been legal in Norway since 2009. Oslo Pride takes place in June.

1. Seeing the fjords in one day from a bus.
2. Packing for the calendar, not for the weather.
3. Driving to a mountain pass that is still closed in May.
4. Booking summer ferries, hotels and Lofoten too late.
5. Expecting the northern lights in Oslo.
6. Walking off the trail or leaving rubbish.
7. Paying for tours to views you can reach by bus and on foot.

Norway rewards the slow traveler. Take the ferry instead of the tunnel. Stay one more night in the valley. Walk up the mountain behind the village.

When you stand at the top, you will understand why Norwegians go quiet.

God tur.

For the curious. I checked every number against official sources in September 2026. Numbers change, so the year is next to each one.

People

Travel and tourism

Work and money

The oil fund

Family and society

Norway in Europe and the world

National symbols

Curious facts

• A penguin in the King’s Guard: Sir Nils Olav III, a king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo, is an honorary Major General of the Norwegian King’s Guard.
• The cheese slicer (ostehøvel) was invented in Norway in 1925.
• Slow TV: In 2009, NRK showed the whole Bergen Railway trip, minute by minute. People watched it.
• The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo. The other Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm.

Read next

• Sweden Country Guide
• How Norway’s fjords were made

All photos on this page were taken by Zayera Khan. Zayera Khan is the photographer and copyright owner. Please do not reuse them without permission.

Sources: Statistics Norway, population; Statistics Norway, largest municipalities; Statistics Norway, immigrants; Statistics Norway, overnight stays 2025; Statistics Norway, unemployment 2025; Norges Bank Investment Management, the fund’s value; Store norske leksikon, national parks; Av-og-til, beer sales hours; Ruter, 24-hour ticket; Kartverket, the size of Norway; Statistics Norway, largest immigrant groups; Statistics Norway, Labour Force Survey; Statistics Norway, jobs in public administration; Helsenorge, exemption card; Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Lærdal Tunnel; Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Hardanger Bridge; Fleischer’s Hotel, history.