Airplane: Numerous airlines offer regular flights to and from Norway. The Norwegian low-cost airline Norwegian flies to dozens of European cities from Oslo, Trondheim, Stavanger, Bergen and Tromsø, for example. Other airlines with regular connections to Norway include Lufthansa, Spanair, Air France, Coast Air SAS Braathens, Icelandair,British Airways, Aeroflot, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Iberia, Danish Air Transport, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Ryanair and TAP Portugal.
Airports: Norway has around 50 airports. The country’s most important international airports, in addition to Gardermoen Airport (OSL) in Oslo, are Vigra Airport in Alesund (AES), Flesland Airport in Bergen (BGO), Karmøy Airport in Haugesund (HAU) and Kristiansander Kjevik Airport (KRS). International flights also land at Torp Airport in Sandefjord (TRF), Sola Airport in Stavanger (SVG), Tromsø Airport (TOS) and Værnes Airport in Trondheim (TRD). Visit themakeupexplorer for Norway Economy.
Ship: Norway has ferry connections to and from Denmark, Germany, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Sweden. Most shipping companies offer flat rates for cars including passengers. There are also often discounts for seniors, students and children. A small fee is usually charged for taking a bicycle with you.
Color Line, DFDS Seaways, Fjord Line and Stena Line operate between Denmark and Norway. Color Line ships operate between Germany and Norway and connect Kiel with Oslo every day. Color Line regularly brings passengers from Sweden to Norway.
Until 2009, Smyril Line operated once a week between Bergen and Seydisfjördur (Iceland), via Lerwick (Scotland) and the Faroe Islands between May and September. However, Norway and the Shetland Islands are no longer served by Smyril Line.
DFDS Seaways’ ferry service between Newcastle in England and Bergen was discontinued in September 2008.
Rail: There are regular rail connections between Oslo and Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmö in Sweden and Hamburg. There are also, but less frequent, connections between Narvik and Trondheim and some cities in central Sweden.
Hamburg is the central European train station for trips to Scandinavia. From there, up to three trains leave daily for Oslo. Travelers may have to change trains in Malmö. Tickets can be booked online with Deutsche Bahn. The Berlin Night Express offers a daily night train from Berlin to Malmo. From there there are connections for onward journeys to Gothenburg and Oslo.
Traveling by train from the UK to Norway takes a long time and is more expensive than flying. Information on exact connections is available from Euro Railways.
Car: Crossing the borders to Sweden and Finland is straightforward. Customs officers carry out random checks. A visa is required to enter Russia, and there are border controls.
Bus: Eurolines operates a large part of the international bus connections to and from Norway. However, other bus companies also offer corresponding bus trips. Nor-Way Bussekspress brings passengers from Copenhagen every dayvia Gothenburg, Malmö and the Öresund Bridge to Oslo. Other providers for trips to and from Denmark are Swebus Express and the somewhat cheaper Lavprisekspressen. Nor-Way Bussekspress also connects Oslo daily with Berlin and Rostock via Gothenburg.
The E8 motorway leads from Tornio in Finland to Tromsø; smaller roads also connect Finland with the northern cities of Krasjok and Kautokeino. Long-distance buses run regularly on all three routes. The Finnish company Eskelisen Lapin Linjat offers daily cross-border bus connections, but some only during the summer months.
There are daily buses between Russia and Norway connecting Kirkenes and Murmansk.
National Express and Nor-Way Busseekspress also offer bus trips between London and Oslo several times a week. The journey takes about 36 hours and goes via Brussels, Copenhagen and Gothenburg.
Best travel time for Norway
The climate should always be considered when traveling to Norway. The main travel season (which coincides with the Norwegian and European school holidays) is between mid-June and mid-August. During this time, public transport runs frequently, tourist offices and attractions are open longer and many hotels offer cheaper tariffs.
However, Norway can be traveled very well from May to September. The end of May is particularly pleasant in Norway: the flowers and fruit trees are in bloom (especially on the Hardangerfjord), the days are getting longer and most hostels, campsites and tourist attractions are open but not yet overcrowded. For hikes, however, you should note that many trails and huts do not open until the end of June or the beginning of July. Smaller mountain roads can usually only be used in June.
North of the Arctic Circle you can see the midnight sun in summer, at the North Cape from May 13th to July 29th.
Extreme temperatures should be expected in every season, temperatures above 30 ° C in summer and below -30 ° C in winter are not uncommon. Unless you’re an avid skier or want to see the aurora borealis (northern lights), winter in Norway is not the best time to travel. There is seldom public transport, most hostels and campsites are closed and sights, museums and tourist offices have limited opening times in the best of cases.
Norway has excellent festivals all year round.
