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NORWAY TOURISM GUIDE

Norway’s scenery is its main attraction, particularly the fjords of the southwest and the North Cape (Nordkapp) which is a popular spot from which to observe the Midnight Sun of midsummer. However, the principal cities, among them Oslo (the capital), Bergen and Trondheim, offer a good choice of museums, historical sites and architectural interest for the visitor. The often mountainous inland countryside is ideal for those in search of true wilderness. Unless winter sport is the reason for visiting the country, its appeal is strongest in the months between May and September.

Population is sparse outside the main centres, but Norway is sufficiently large and regionally diverse to warrant geographical division here. There are five defined regions: Southern Norway (including Oslo); Fjordland and the Southwest; the uplands of Oppland and Hedmark; Central Norway; and the arctic North.

Southern Norway

Oslo
Oslo, which celebrated its millennium in the year 2000, is Norway’s most populous district, providing a home for more than one-tenth of the country’s inhabitants in a mere 700th of its total area. For all this, urban and industrial development only occupies one-eighth of the land within the city boundaries, the rest consisting mainly of woods, islands in Oslo Fjord, and lakes.

The city has a strong arts culture, with a good choice of museums and galleries. The Munch Museum is the main draw among these, others include the National Gallery; the Norwegian Museum of Applied Arts; the Thor Heyerdahl Kon-Tiki Museum and the Norwegian Folk Museum, both on Bygdøy Island to the west of the city centre; the Viking Ships Museum; Oslo City Museum; and the Norwegian Home Front Museum, which tells the story of the country’s occupation during World War II. The Ibsen Museum was the playwright’s home prior to his death in 1906.

Away from the immediate city centre, the Holmenkollen ski jumping complex with its Museum of Skiing is popular, as are the 12th-century Cistercian monastery ruins on Hovedøya, a short boat trip from the harbor. About 4km (2.5 miles) to the east of the city centre lies Østensjøvannet, a lakeside bird sanctuary.

Principal architectural interest in Oslo focuses on the Kongelige Slott (Royal Palace), Stortinget (Parliament Building), the Cathedral and Åkershus Castle. Boat trips on the fjord are readily available, and the main shopping area is along Karl Johansgate, which runs from the Central Station to the Royal Palace. Guided city bus tours operate year round.

Oslo’s entertainment centres include the Norwegian National Theater; the New Theater; the Norwegian Opera House; Konserthuset (the Concert House); and Oslo Spektrum, the main rock and pop concert venue. Norway’s prime exhibition centre is at Lillestrøm, one of the stops with the flytrain to Oslo (website: www.messe.no).

The Oslo Fjord
Surrounding Oslo Fjord are the Fylker (counties) of Åkershus, Buskerud, Østfold and Telemark, all within a day trip of the capital. These are dotted with historic and prehistoric sites of varying importance, along with manor houses, stone churches (most are built of wood in Norway) and fortifications. Among the principal towns in the region, outside the capital, is Fredrikstad, the attractions of which include a picturesque Old Town and 17th-century Kongsten Fort. Close to Lillestrøm, to the northeast of Oslo, is Sørumsand, which boasts the Tertitten narrow-gauge railway and museum. The oldest building in the industrialized town of Drammen is the Skoger Old Church, which dates from 1200. Kongsberg is particularly well endowed with museums, among them the Silver Collection; the Royal Mint Museum; and the Arms Factory Museum. The Saggrenda Silver Mine is 8km (5 miles) from Kongsberg.

On the western shore of Oslo Fjord lies Sandefjord, with its Whaling Museum (Norway is one of just three countries worldwide still involved in commercial whaling).

Porsgrunn, near to Sandefjord, has long been a centre of the porcelain industry, the Town Museum tells its story, while the Porcelain Factory is open to visits by appointment. At nearby Skien, birthplace of Ibsen, his childhood home contains a multimedia exhibition about the playwright. The navigable Telemark Waterway links Skien with the interior via a system of canals.

South of Oslo, an unusual wooden bridge over the E18 motorway, built to the 1502 design of Leonardo da Vinci and officially unveiled in October 2001, is well worth seeing.

Fjordland and the Southwest

Unquestionably, Fjordland and the Southwest is Norway’s most important tourist area, due to its scenery. Many visitors arrive on cruise ships working their way north along the coast from Stavanger via Haugesund to Bergen and the best known fjord of all, Sognefjorden. Førdefjorden, Hardanger Fjord and Nordfjord are among other notable scenic attractions in the region.

Near Sogndal, at the head of Sognefjorden, lies Urnes, whose wooden stave-built church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inland are the Hardangervidda Mountains, which rise to over 1700m (5600ft) and incorporate the National Park of the same name. To the north of Sognefjorden lies Europe’s biggest glacier, the Jostedalsbreen, and its surrounding National Park of the same name. Immediately to the east of this area is the Jotunheimen National Park, which contains Norway’s highest mountain, Galdhøpiggen (2469m/8100ft). Away from the fjords, on the southern holiday coastline of Vest-Agder, Fylke, is the port of Kristiansand, from which ferries serve Denmark and the UK.

Bergen
Former Hanseatic port and medieval Norwegian capital, the city’s appeal centers on the Hanseatic Bryggen harbor-side district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with many buildings dating from the 17th century and earlier. Cable cars take visitors to the summit of Mount Ulriken, and a funicular railway climbs Mount Fløyen to give outstanding views over the city and coastline. Museums abound, and there is a large aquarium. Additionally, a broad choice of boat excursions plies the waters around the city, which is Norway’s busiest tourist destination.

Stavanger
Center of the country’s North Sea oil industry, Stavanger is Norway’s fourth largest city after Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim, with 96,000 inhabitants. Old Stavanger is Europe’s largest collection of wooden buildings. Other attractions here include the Norwegian Oil Museum, the unique Fish Cannery Museum (complete with sprat-smokehouse), and the Rogaland Art Gallery.

Oppland and Hedmark

Central southern Norway, comprising Oppland and Hedmark, is a land of mountains, spectacular glacial valleys, including Gudbrandsdal (one of Norway’s longest and most beautiful), and high plateau.

Lightly populated throughout, apart from the larger centres of Elverum, Hamar, Kongsvinger and Lillehammer (site of the 1994 Winter Olympics), this is a region of small settlements suitable for those seeking solitude and wilderness – or winter sports facilities. Kongsvinger’s Festning (fortress) dates from the 17th century, but never came under Swedish attack. To the north is the Dovrefjell National Park – mythical home of the Mountain King (Dovregubben) immortalized by Grieg, and where musk oxen are occasionally spotted roaming wild on the high plateau.

Lillehammer
The country’s biggest skiing and winter sports centre, offering both Alpine and Nordic disciplines, Lillehammer stands on the banks of the Mjøsa Lake, Norway’s largest with an area of 362 sq km (140 sq miles), and which reputedly conceals a ‘Loch Ness’ monster. Among non-winter-specific attractions in the town are the Norwegian Olympic Museum, the Maihaugen Open Air Museum (which features a collection of over 170 historic buildings from the Gudbrandsdal area), and the Art Museum, with its extensive Norwegian collections.

Hamar
At the northern end of the Mjøsa Lake, Hamar contains the Hedmark Museum, dedicated to the medieval period. There is also a Museum of Holography, unique in Norway, and the Olympic Hall, which staged skating events during the 1994 Winter Olympics. The Cathedral, restored in 1954, has origins dating back to the 11th century dawn of Norwegian Christianity.

Central Norway

Like most of the rest of Norway, the central region is largely mountainous, but the peaks do not rise as high as those of the southwest. This is the area where the country narrows on a west to east axis, and the Swedish border is never far away.

Mid-Norway consists of three large Fylker: Møre og Romsdal; Sør-trøndelag; and Nord-trøndelag, between them home to about one-seventh (635,000) of the Norwegian population. A quarter of them live in and around Trondheim, the country’s third largest city. It lies on the southern shore of Trondheimsfjorden, which although not spectacular scenically when compared to the fjords of the southwest, is one of the largest, stretching more than 70km (44 miles) inland. Other larger towns include Ålesund, Kristiansund, Molde (which stages a major annual summer international jazz festival), Namsos and Steinkjer.

Outside Trondheim, by far the most important attractions in the region are the former copper-mining town of Røros to the east, and the historically significant Stiklestad, a short distance south of Steinkjer. It was at the latter that Christianity first came to Norway, when St Olav met his end during a battle in 1030. To the south of Trondheim, the mountain village of Oppdal is an important skiing resort.

Trondheim
Founded in 997 AD as Kaupangr, and later called Nidaros, Norway’s early capital has a number of major attractions, not least the Nidarosdomen Cathedral, which dates from the late 11th century. Built over St Olav’s grave, it has been a center of pilgrimage since medieval times. Elsewhere, the Ringve Museum is famous for its collection of rare historic musical instruments, while the Trøndelag Folk Museum incorporates the ruins of a 12th-century castle. Stiftsgården, the Trondheim palace of the Norwegian Royal Family, is a fine 18th-century wooden building in the city centre. Across the river stands the Kristiansten Festning fortress. The former island monastery of Munkholmen in the fjord is a popular boat excursion.

Røros
One of just four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Norway, Røros is a small but picturesque mountain town near the Swedish border; from the 17th century until the 1980s it had been a copper mining and smelting settlement. Principal attractions are the Old Town, the wooden church and the Mining Museum. Close to Røros is Olavsgruva, an early mine now open to visitors.

The North

Although encompassing only three Fylker, Finnmark, Nordland and Tromso, this vast and wild region extends for more than 1200km (750 miles) northwards from Nord-trøndelag across the Arctic Circle to the Nordkapp (North Cape).

Less than 500,000 people inhabit the region, around one-tenth of whom are of the Sami (Lapp) ethnic group. Their ‘capital’ is at Karasjok in Finnmark.

Mo-i-Rana is about 80km (50 miles) south of the Arctic Circle, where there is a visitor center (Polarsirkelsenteret) by the main E6 road. Further north are the coastal cities of Bodø, Hammerfest and Tromsø, while Alta (with its nearby UNESCO-listed prehistoric cave carvings), and Kautokeino (traditionally Norway’s coldest town), lie inland. Kirkenes, on the Russian border, offers the Borderland Museum and a gallery devoted to the work of John Savios, a Sami artist.

The North Cape is a major attraction: people come to observe the summer Midnight Sun. The North Cape Hall, built into the side of a mountain, and with panoramic views out to sea, is the main visitor center here.

Tromsø
The largest center in northern Norway, with a population of nearly 50,000, Tromsø spectacularly straddles Tromsøy Sound. It boasts the world’s most northerly brewery, and even a professional football team. The Tromsø Museum, 4km (2.5 miles) from the city centre, features archaeological and historical displays, while the City Museum concentrates on development of the settlement. The 43m (140ft) high Tromsø Bridge across the Sound affords good views of the surroundings.

Bodø
The Norwegian National Aviation Centre is a prime attraction here, as is a climb for the views from Rønvikfjell Mountain, which rises 3km (1.9 miles) outside the city center. The world’s most powerful maelstrom, Saltstraumen, and a multimedia visitor centre dedicated to the phenomenon, are 33km (21 miles) east of Bodø.

Mo-i-rana
Northern Norway’s third largest, and most southerly town of any size is a popular stopping off point for visitors keen to explore the coastline, the mountains and nearby glaciers. It also offers the Nordland Museum of Nature.


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