You need coats in Oslo (one of the warmer places in Norway) even in April, so definitely go summer. Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger are all beautiful and have lots of natural wonders :) In terms of history, Bergen has a lot of interesting museums. It depends, of course, on what kind of history interests you.
Norway is not really a country in which markets are overly common like central Europe. But in Oslo, there are occasionally farmers markets at Majorstuen on Sundays, plus flea markets every weekend at Grunlokka, and Sunday markets at Bla.
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sallykr
11
bjoern
OP: Make it 1 week Iceland and 2-3 weeks Norway - you will regret the other trip.
If not possible - flip a coin and take only one of the countries his summer. Norway is FAR too big and extended for 1 week if you ahve spend a lot of money getting there
12
fid
Bjoern: I would be coming from Canada so most flight destinations are relatively expensive because of the airport taxes. I don't necessarily need to see everything each country has to offer but maybe more of seeing some history and nature, enough to give me a sense of whether that country would be somewhere I'd love to come back to again to explore some more. Unfortunately North Americans are not as lucky as some Europeans in the length of vacation time so I'm trying to spend my 2 weeks as best I can. Although, I'm not opposed to extending it an additional week if I can plan and not spend too much more on accommodations.
13
fid
Strauss: Thanks for your input, I don't mind some cold weather as I live in Canada and am used to unpredictability in that area. I would prefer not being in high tourist season so maybe May would be best? I really don't mind stacking on a few layers.
As for your suggestion of a cruise, I've honestly never been on one or ever thought of going on one. Which line did you use and were you able to spend enough time i each area that you went to?
14
fid
walkingmzungu: I know you mentioned quite a few places to see and that it was just one small corner of Norway. Unfortunately I can't afford the length of time or money to stay too much longer than 2 weeks, so I was hoping (since you seem knowledgable in the area) if you could recommend any area of Norway that I could spend maybe a little over a week that had a lot of history & nature. I scenic views that I see of the country is spectacular so I would like to experience that but I love deep history and culture so that would definitely be something I'd also like to focus on.
15
bjoern
Hurtigruten (This IS the name of the company - "the fast route") IS NOT a cruis in the carribian way. It's a "line boat", i.e. a ferry leaving every day (new ship) to do a 5 (?) rooute along the coast - going to port very often for a very short time to load/unload - and then returning for another 5(?) days. Looking up Hurtigruten - use their International homegae and not the US one (if they still have both - if you get intersted try to study the Norwegian one with google translator turned on - therte used to be more offers on the Intern. and Norwegian ones)
Facilities are like a good ferry with cabins - you can buy tickets between any pair of ports and cabins of different qualities.
The company tries to sell tourist tickets for the whole 5 or 10 days trip. Or tickets where you get off - sightsee for 24 houirs and catch the next ferry 24 hours after.
so I'm trying to spend my 2 weeks as best I can. that's exasctly what I am adressing - would you think 1 week Canada and 1 week US be a good suggestion?
North Americans are not as lucky as some Europeans in the length of vacation time I DID mention that if you could not go for a reasonable time then ....
Maybe it's time to learn for Tunesians and Egyptian and make some kind of revolution ;-) [am I allowed to write this word on the forum] I think ALL Europeans have at least 3 weeks in a row in summer - and 5-6-7 weeks in total (+religious and national holidays).
16
cke
Hi there - i think end of august/early september is actually a good time to go to Norway...warm during the day, a bit cool at night (though much colder up north, yes) but a spectacular change in seasons from summer to autumn with the leaves starting to turn yellower and yellower each day before your eyes and foggy mist settling over the fjords during the overcast days - quite beautiful!
also good for avoiding the main summer rush of tourists....you won't have a problem getting accommodation anywhere though you may have some restrictions on getting public transport to particular places - i can remember i didn't make it to the Trollstigen in time before the bus timetable stopped....oh well, ended up going to the Sognefjord instead and didn't regret it one bit!
one concern: if you only have 2 weeks to cover Norway AND Iceland, i think you are going to either be run off your feet or miss some of the beauty of each as the real gems lie out in the countryside and not always in the easily-accessible main cities. Maybe just pick one country and see a few places well? Remember in each there are long distances to travel, especially if you are trying to see everything!
For Norway, I would recommend Bergen and then spending some time in the western fjords - Solvorn is particularly lovely little village with easy links to Urnes Stave Church, walking trails and more gutsy hiking on the Jostedalsbreen glacier. From here you can also do kayaking on the ice lakes. But there are also really really charming towns like Fredrikstad and Aalesund which are perfect for wandering around in the sun and scoffing those huge sticky cinnamon scroll buns with plentiful coffee.....
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strauss1944
I have been on the Hurtigruted ships twice, a round trip to Kirkines from Bergen on the old MS Midnatsol, and from Tromso to the Lofowen Islands on the MS Finnmarken. They are a strange mixture of working boat, in that they take cargo, carry mail and so on, but they also take passengers and offer top quality service and top class food, in that they also are a cruise ship, a strange and wonderfull combination indeed!
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