The Rough Guide to Norway (Travel Guide eBook)

Rough Guides

Description

Practical travel guide to Norway featuring points-of-interest structured lists of all sights and off-the-beaten-track treasures, with detailed colour-coded maps, practical details about what to see and to do in Norway, how to get there and around, pre-departure information, as well as top time-saving tips, like a visual list of things not to miss in Norway, expert author picks and itineraries to help you plan your trip.

The Rough Guide to Norway covers: Oslo, Oslofjord, Geirangerfjord, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Tromsø, Balestrand, Lofthus, Loen, Fla°m, Ulvik, Mundal, A°lesund, Arendal, Mandal, Fla°m.

Inside this travel guide you'll find:

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EVERY TYPE OF TRAVELLER
Experiences selected for every kind of trip to Norway, from off-the-beaten-track adventures in Svalbard or the Lofoten islands to family activities in child-friendly places, like Stavanger or chilled-out breaks in popular tourist areas, like Oslo and Bergen.

PRACTICAL TRAVEL TIPS
Essential pre-departure information including Norway entry requirements, getting around, health information, travelling with children, sports and outdoor activities, food and drink, festivals, culture and etiquette, shopping, tips for travellers with disabilities and more.

TIME-SAVING ITINERARIES
Carefully planned routes covering the best of Norway give a taste of the richness and diversity of the destination, and have been created for different time frames or types of trip.

DETAILED REGIONAL COVERAGE
Clear structure within each sightseeing chapter includes regional highlights, brief history, detailed sights and places ordered geographically, recommended restaurants, hotels, bars, clubs and major shops or entertainment options.

INSIGHTS INTO GETTING AROUND LIKE A LOCAL
Tips on how to beat the crowds, save time and money and find the best local spots for whitewater rafting, sea- kayaking, skiing and glacier walks.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THINGS NOT TO MISS
Rough Guides' rundown of Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø's best sights and top experiences helps to make the most of each trip to Norway, even in a short time.

HONEST AND INDEPENDENT REVIEWS
Written by Rough Guides' expert authors with a trademark blend of humour, honesty and expertise, to help to find the best places in Norway, matching different needs.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Comprehensive 'Contexts' chapter features fascinating insights into Norway, with coverage of history, religion, ethnic groups, environment, wildlife and books, plus a handy language section and glossary.

FABULOUS FULL COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
Features inspirational colour photography, including the stunning Jotunheimen National Park and the spectacular Lofoten islands.

COLOUR-CODED MAPPING
Practical full-colour maps, with clearly numbered, colour-coded keys for quick orientation in Oslo, Bergen and many more locations in Norway, reduce need to go online.

USER-FRIENDLY LAYOUT
With helpful icons, and organised by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your time.

Sujets

• Points of Interest
• Museums
• Fiordo de Geiranger
• Loen
• Point of interest
• Travel
• Museum
• Ulvik
• Oslofjord
• Norway
• Mandal
• Balestrand
• Stavanger
• Geirangerfjord
• Bergen
• Arendal
• Trondheim
• Tromsø
• Tours
• Oslo
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781789196924
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 26 Mo

Extrait

Contents
Introduction to Norway
W here to go
W hen to go
A uthor picks
t hings not to miss
I tineraries
Basics
G etting there
G etting around
A ccommodation
F ood and drink
T he media
F estivals and events
O utdoors Norway
S hopping
T ravel essentials
Oslo and the Oslofjord
O slo
A round Oslo: the Oslofjord
The South
S andefjord to Lillesand
K ristiansand
M andal to Egersund
S tavanger
A round Stavanger: Lysefjord and Preikestolen
H augesund
Central Norway
E idsvollsbygningen (via the E6)
H amar
L illehammer and around
T he Gudbrandsdal
R ondane Nasjonalpark
J otunheimen Nasjonalpark
D ombås
H jerkinn
K ongsvoll and the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella nasjonalpark
R øros and around
T he E16: Oslo to the western fjords
H ighway 7: Hønefoss to the western fjords
R jukan
K ongsberg
T he E134: Kongsberg to the western fjords
Bergen and the western fjords
B ergen and around
T he western fjords
Trondheim to the Lofoten islands
T rondheim
N orth from Trondheim to Bodø
N orth from Fauske to Narvik
T he Vesterålen islands
T he Lofoten Islands
North Norway
T romsø
T he road to Finnmark: Tromsø to Alta
T he Finnmarksvidda
H ammerfest
N ordkapp and around
O verland east from Nordkapp to Kirkenes
B y sea: east from Nordkapp to Kirkenes
S valbard
Contexts
H istory
L egends and folklore
V iking customs and rituals
F lora and fauna
C inema
B ooks
N orwegian
Small print


Introduction to Norway

With its rearing mountains and deep, blue-black fjords, Norway remains a wilderness outpost in a tamed and crowded continent. Everything here is on the grand scale with the country boasting some of Europe’s harshest and most beautiful land- and seascapes, whose vastness is merely pinpricked by a clutch of likeable cities. From the Skagerrak – the choppy channel that separates the country from Denmark – Norway stretches north in a long and slender band, its wild coastline battered and buffeted by the Atlantic as it rolls up into the Arctic. Behind this rough coast are spectacular mountain ranges, harsh upland plateaux, rippling glaciers, thick forests and mighty fjords of surpassing beauty – an exhilarating landscape begging to be explored by car, boat or bike, on skis or even husky-drawn sled. For many visitors, the sheer size of Norway comes as a real surprise and for many more, with the exception of Oslo, Bergen and the famous fjords, the rest of the country might as well be a blank on the map. Yet it’s out of the cities and off the major roads that you’ll experience Norway at its most magical: great stretches of serene, postcard-perfect vistas where it is at times possible to travel for hours without spying a single soul.
Perhaps inevitably, the fjords are the apple of the tourist industry’s eye – with the infrastructure to prove it – though when well-heeled English and German gentlemen travellers arrived here in the late nineteenth century on the hunt for the Scandinavian exotic, Norwegians were so poor that you could hire a gillie or two for next to nothing. It is this stark contrast – between a severely impoverished past and an astoundingly wealthy present – that, for locals at least, remains a salient characteristic of life up here. Since the country happened upon vast oil and gas reserves under the Norwegian Sea in the 1960s, Norway has managed to assemble one of the most civilized, educated and tolerant societies in the world – one that its population maintains a profound loyalty to and pride in.
Norway may have a scattering of attractive, cosmopolitan cities, appealing destinations in their own right, but where the country really shines is not in its urban culture, but rather in the amiable and low-key feel that pervades most of its settlements. This is not to say that Norway suffers from provincialism – Munch, Ibsen, Grieg and Amundsen, to name but four, were all Norwegians of international importance and the country has long taken an exemplary role in everything from famine relief to peace keeping. Yet, one thing is for certain: every Norwegian you ever meet anywhere in the world will at some point make their way back to this remarkable country, put on a pair of old hiking shoes and head off on foot for yonder mountain, reminding themselves how lucky they are to have one of the world’s most ravishing landscapes right at their back door.
Where to go
Though for the most part its people live in small towns and villages, Norway’s five largest cities are the obvious – and the most popular – initial targets for a visit. They begin with urbane, vivacious Oslo , one of the world’s most prettily sited capitals, with a flourishing café scene and a clutch of outstanding museums. Beyond Oslo, in roughly descending order of interest, are Trondheim , with its superb cathedral and charming, antique centre; the beguiling port of Bergen , gateway to the western fjords; gritty, bustling Stavanger in the southwest; and northern Tromsø . All are likeable, walkable cities worthy of time in themselves, as well as being within comfortable reach of some startlingly handsome scenery. Indeed, each can serve as a starting point for further explorations or as a weekend destination in their own right. And wherever you arrive, the trains, buses and ferries of Norway’s finely tuned public transport system will take you almost anywhere you want to go – although services are curtailed in winter.




Kayaking in the Lofoten Islands
Casper Tybjerg/www.visitnorway.com





Outside of the cities, the perennial draw remains the western fjords – a must, and every bit as scenically stunning as the publicity suggests. Dip into the region from Bergen or Ålesund , both accessible by public transport from Oslo, or take more time to appreciate the subtle charms of the tiny, fjordside villages, among which Balestrand , Lofthus , Loen , Flåm , Ulvik and Mundal are especially appealing. This is great hiking country too, with a network of cairned trails and lodges (maintained by the Norwegian Trekking Association DNT) threading along the valleys and over the hills. However, many of the country’s finest hikes are to be had further inland, within the confines of a trio of marvellous national parks : the Hardangervidda , a vast mountain plateau of lunar-like appearance; the Rondane , with its bulging mountains; and the Jotunheimen , famous for its jagged peaks. Nudging the Skagerrak, the south coast is different again. The climate is more hospitable, the landscape gentler and the coast is sprinkled with hundreds of little islands. Every summer, holidaying Norwegians sail down here to explore every nautical nook and cranny, popping into a string of pretty, pint-sized ports, the most inviting being Arendal and Mandal , the latter the proud possessor of the country’s finest sandy beach.


FACT FILE Norway’s population is approaching 5.4 million, of whom 1 million or so live in Oslo, the capital. Bergen, Norway’s second city, clocks up about 287,000 residents, while around 80,000 indigenous Sámi (Lapps) live mostly in the north of the country. Norway has a surface area  of 386,000 sq km, of which half is mountain and a further third forest, lake and river. Norway is a constitutional monarchy and the present king, Harald V, came to the throne in 1991. The parliament  – the Storting – sits in Oslo, but many functions are devolved to a complex network of local authorities. Forget stews or seafood – frozen pizza can lay claim to being Norway’s national dish: Norwegians eat over 20 million of them each year. Norway is not a member of the EU , but has signed up to the EEA (European Economic Agreement) free-trade deal and the Schengen Agreement. The Lutheran Church of Norway is the official state church and over seventy percent of the population belong to it, however nominally. Lutheran jokes are legion: one shipwrecked sailor to another ‘Don’t worry: I make 50,000kr a week and I tithe; my Lutheran pastor will find us.’


NEW NORWEGIAN CUISINE
Upon tasting a piece of Norwegian flatbread, a Parisian woman in the mid-1800s described it as having ‘the shape and size of a plate, and the same consistency’. With images of dried mutton, potato dumplings, cabbage stew and lutefisk , Nordic food was rarely anything to write home about. That all changed in 2010, when Copenhagen’s Noma was named the world’s top restaurant by a panel of eight hundred chefs and critics, sending the gastronomic world into shock and turning tastebuds towards Scandinavian kitchens.
Even before this time, though, Norway had begun to reinvent its culinary identity, with new foodie movements, celebrity chefs and a series of government initiatives aimed at supporting local food producers , preserving farming traditions and championing the rich heritage of Norwegian ingredients. The country is now in the middle of a kitchen renaissance, returning to its long-standing local food traditions; once again, Norwegians are consulting their grandmothers’ recipe books.
Given nearly 25,000km of rugged coastline, 150,000 lakes and some of the world’s best angling rivers, it is no surprise that a huge variety of locally caught fish and seafood predominates in Norwegian kitchens. Norway’s diverse landscape also provides habitat to a range of sheep, elk, reindeer and woodland fowl that graze on some of the greenest, most unpolluted grasses in the world, lending their meat a rich, succulent taste. And the country’s temperate summers allow plants to r