Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Looking for authentic experience

Country forums / Scandinavia & the Nordics / Norway

Hi guys,

I am traveling to Norway and when I travel, I like to get an authentic experience. So, I also want to get in touch with the locals. I would like to know what your way of getting in touch with the locals is or what do you think is the best way?

I have seen offers where you can dine with Norwegian families. Would you pay for that experience? Do you think it is still authentic?

Thank you so much for your answers.

Cheers,
Dayanand

Are you repeating this for every with a tag for each Nordic county?

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Yes, because I expected the experience to be different for the different Nordic countries. Don't you think that would be the case?

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1: the difference between the individuals you will meet will be extremely much larger than any national differences. Worded if a foreigner will be able to make out any reliable national characters unless living and working for a year and knowing the languages. This is even more pronounced as you seem to exclude Denmark from your Nordic trip.
And still - the way to get into contact with "authentic" ppl is the same. YOU take contact, you AVOID being aggressive in contacting and you realize that most Scandinavians have travelled extensively, so you being from a foreign country is not by itself very interesting for them.

2: it is my impression that most of those locals that answer here simply look at the site for Scandinavia/Nordic and not on the individually country tagged postings.
This one: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/europe-scandinavia-the-nordics
(Because the non-tagged postings are not seen if choosing the individual countries) If looking at the normal site your questions comes in a row under one another and all could get same answers.

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I meet them at work.....

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Listen to bjoerns advice as for how to get in contact.
As for where? For a tourist the easiest places are:
*At clubs, pubs and suchlike when people are in a party mood.
*At hiking lodges, specially staffed ones. Being friendly to strangers you meet in nature is a part of the Norwegian outdoors ethos.
For someone a bit more interested in using time in their travelling and getting into the culture I'd suggest to get a job. Most do require basic norwegian skills though, but for a german that should be overcomeable. There are also some volounteer options, wwoof-ing through some farms perhaps?

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