Norway vacation

Thinking of traveling to Norway in the next couple of years. If anybody has had experience with tours good or bad please let me know. It would be in summer time.

Thanks

I hunted in Sweden and Norway about 6 years ago. I covered a fair bit of ground in both countries, but not in the north.

I'll tell you one thing.... EVERYTHING in Norway is unbelievably expensive. They have a strange system where people make more money than in Sweden or the rest of Europe, but they spend it all on food.

6 years ago, I paid over $6 for a single 16 ounce can of regular beer in a grocery store. A single plate of mediocre Chinese food in a town was $19. A pack of cigarettes is $35.

It was kind of a Twilight Zone experience for me. I met some nice folks there and in southern Sweden as well. In Sweden you can hunt geese and ducks with lead shot over land, and no shooting hours and no limits.

Pete

I might b a little bias, but I think you will find the attitude of the people in Norway more on the pessimistic side of things.
For example:
You say to a Norwegian; "beautiful day isn't it". His likely reply will be "but it will be rainy and windy tomorrow".

Swedes, stoic as they can be, are a little more cheery.

Go visit both Countries if you can afford it. Plan your own itinerary, and rent a car, no need for an over-priced tour where they will just herd you around to the most expensive tourist shops and restaurants. Everyone in those Counties speaks English, probably better than you and me.

We traveled there for a week, all in Norway but it was 25 years ago. Yes things are expensive and no we did not use any tours or tour groups we mapped out our trip through a travel book that we also used for 5 other countries and two more weeks. I have very distant relatives in Norway which we did not hook up with. We were not able to take the train north as the big floods had washed out the train tracks north of Lilihammer.
We were more into a recreational travel and museum trip. We were there in early June and it was very light until about 11 PM at night. They like much of northern Europe have a very well laid out and dependable rail system.
Bryce

I was glad I had packed a jar of peanut butter.

Some of the aged half rotted food they devour didn't sit well.

WS

I studied french as a second language for a semester in Bordeaux and we had three Norwegian gals in the class. They were the life of the party. I came away with a very favorable impression of Norwegian youth. Dang good looking too!

you and *I*

The State Department has a system they use to rank the difficulty of foreign languages for staff like ambassadors, embassy personnel, etc... to learn to speak.

If I remember correctly, Norwegian is the easiest language for English speakers to learn.

If the Normans had decided to stay home (or were defeated) in 1066 it would probably be even easier to speak any of the Scandinavian/German languages today.

Mike

From a written aspect Norwegian and Danish are very similar, They are however spoken very differently. The Danes speak more Germans do and the Norwegians gallop when they talk. Norway is the most capitalistic of the socialistic Scandinavian countries and have the most relatives in the US and other countries. Before oil Norway was a very poor country. Today they have one of the highest standards of living or per capita income in the world.

Bryce

Norway has an expensive VAT tax rate.

We hosted max. Rotary exchange visitor from Norway once. She lived with us a week. When she left for the next city, I told he I wanted to give her a gift of something not available in Norway. The year was the mid 90s. She asked for a cordless telephone, which at the time was illegal to own in Norway. Their government did not want the Russians to listen to phone calls. She said I could ship it to her and declare that the package contents were candles. I declared electronic equipment and Norway retuned my package about two months later.

well, they're fixing to be poor again, if the Paris Accord takes effect...

The joke I've always heard is that Danes speak a Scandinavian language... They just sound like they're doing it with a potato in their mouths.

Kind of like I don't "pahk my cah in the yahd" like they do in Boston. I know exactly what that means but it sounds funny to me. Lol

Mike

My Norwegian fishing buddies said the system is call "Socialism and Oil in the North and Norwegian Sea".

Thanks for the info.

I was in Norway 6 years ago. As has been said, it is very expensive. Breathtaking scenery almost everywhere. I have relatives in Norway that we met and they acted as tour guides and hosts for part of our trip. While that helped substantially, anyone under 50 speaks English and generally very good English. So traveling and doing things shouldn’t be a problem.

If I went back I would check out Sweden because it is far cheaper and I’ve been told that Stockholm is the “Venice of the North”. As a visitor I doubt you would notice any difference between the two.

Yes, many things are VERY expensive(but so are many other euro destinations IMO) but if one eats and lives like a local it is not that bad. Spent 14 days there driving thru the S. half of Norway and it was incredibly scenic(you will get immune to waterfalls). Was very surprised at the disappearance of native arts/crafts with coming of oil wealth. Always like to learn about the local cultural crafts of the places we visit. Lack of commercialization of tourist shopping/attractions I have experienced in most of the places I've been(which I liked). If you don't have an interest in their culture, have roots/relatives there or willingness to want to share how they live I wouldn't recommend going. Also one needs to be really tolerant of the many tourists that are everywhere in summer(by the multiple buss loads). Rented a European "SUV" and it WAS a Mercedes but it wasn't any larger than most of our UTV's. Probably still wanted there for a slight, lol, speeding violation(3 mph over traffic cam limit) racing to the airport(I think the target tourist there as all rental vehicles have identifiable license #).

Nope..... You and me...... LOL!

Spot on. Danes swallow many sounds. Written Nord amd Dansk bokmal or nearly the same.

I agree with the comments above, especially about Sweden. When I was hunting geese in the wheat country it felt like I was in Alberta or the Dakotas. Plus all those cute blonde gals.

Pete