Oslo at Christmas

My partner and I are planning on a white Christmas this year in Norway. We plan to divide our trip into roughly two parts: approx 5 days around Bergen area (getting there and exploring around) and a cruise from Tromso to Kirkenes with a few days in both Tromso and Kirkenes. There will probably be a day or so in Oslo in between these two activities.

I haven't decided on the specific dates yet but Christmas Day will fall in there somewhere and I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to where would be best to spend Christmas Eve / Day. I don't really want to be stuck somewhere if everything is closed (I'm not sure what the customs are as far as shops / restaurants / galleries / museums etc closing at this time - what hours / days they may be closed). Similarly, if there is somewhere that would be particularly GOOD to be at Christmas for one reason or another, I'd be interested to hear about that too.

Cheers
ST

I guess it's part of the "exotic" aspect of this trip, but you are aware that you will travel from Tromso to Kirkenes in dark. I would choose Tromso and stay instead in that area for 5 days or a week. It's a nice city and there are lots of activities. I couldn't think a holiday in Kirkenes in the darkness time of the year but I'm not into very extreme things. I wouldn't visit Australian desert in hottest months either.

A bit of Oslo + Bergen area + Tromso area would be my suggestion.
Someone else can give more accurate tips about opening hours, but it's good to think that ahead like you said.

Haha, yeah you are right, we are doing this because it's so different to how we normally spend Christmas. We live in a beach resort town and Christmas is normally crazy hot and crowded with tourists and for us locals it's horrible to even have to leave the house to get groceries because it's so busy. So this year we decided to flee the Christmas madness and do something completely different - dog sledding, snow mobiling, Christmas markets, Northern lights and stay in a snow or ice hotel. I don't think the snow hotel opens much before mid December anyway.

Although I realise that the sun won't rise above the horizon up there, there will still be a few hours of blue light in Kirkenes, no? I'm a photographer so I was hoping to capture some images that are completely different from anything at home.

Tromso is sounding quite appealing but not sure if I want to spend 24th / 25th there if nothing is going to be open. I guess there will probably more things to do on those days if we arrange to be back in Bergen or Oslo by Christmas. Even the Hurtigruten cruise ship pulls into port and stays there for 24 hours if the 24th December is one of it's cruise days.

Thanks for your input. I wasn't expecting shops / galleries etc to be open but where I live there are usually lots of restaurants still open on Christmas Eve and Christmas day (albeit, they charge a lot more).

Everything is closed 25 - make sure you are on the ship 24-26 - should be easy as the trip on the ship is 5 days. Tiny Kirkenes in the dark period seems really extreme to me.

Sounds like you have been planning well and I see the point of having different Christmas. There will be some blue time before blackness so it can be exotic for sure. (I spent Christmas often on Arctic Circle but it is way more South than Kirkenes so we have few hours of sun.)
I have visited Kirkenes only on summer peak holiday times. There were about 3 cafés on summer. It's basically more like a village with a hotel and harbour than town. However, it's definately peaceful and not crowded.

Hi Bjoern, yeah seems a bit extreme to me too :-) but as its dark for so long up there, and the only time we have available is 3 weeks over Christmas / New Year, then there's not much we can do about that. I've been reading reviews from people who stayed in Kirkenes in December 2014 and everyone seemed to love it so I think we can put up with it for a few days. It will probably be quite surreal, given it will be 38 degrees back home.

I considered planning to be on the boat during Christmas but it's only 1 day + 15 hours from Tromso to Kirkenes, and the Hurtigruten ferries pull into port and don't travel on the 24th, so that just adds an extra day to the cruise, in a small dark port, and adds about another 100 euros to the fare. :-/

I'm starting to think Bergen or Oslo may be the better choice for Christmas.

Ok wasn't aware that Hurtigruten actually stopped once during the year. I also had the idea that you would sail all the way from Bergen to Tromsø and Kirkenes. Note that Tromsø is much bigger than Kirkenes and equally dark.

Bergen will not guarantee you a white christmas, some years they will have snow other not, it is just as likely to be wet with lots of rain.

Usually there will be snow in dec. just a couple of hours drive away from Bergen though, or a trip on the Bergen-Oslo train line will get you into the mountains proper.

I guess the only place to expect any activity over Christmas would be the Grønland area in Oslo, more or less immigrant quarters. Never spent Christmas in Norway, but several Easter's in different places, and when Norway shuts down it shuts down properly!!! Christmas is very much a family holiday, you celebrate at home and not in restaurants.

Yeah Christmas is a difficult time to be travelling, not so much because we want to be celebrating Christmas, but it would nice to be able to get a meal or two rather than having to self cater. I guess we need to make sure we will be located somewhere where there are activities to do that are not affected by Christmas closures. I don't really want to be stuck indoors in a hotel with nothing to do. More research required.... :-)

Haukeliseter mountain lodge is open on 24-25th as I recall. At that time (cross country)skiing is probably your best bet for an activity. A lot of hotels are closed from midday 24.th and all 25th. dec. so contacting them beforehand is a mustdo. The cities and towns close down but the nature remains open for all holidays...

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.

Unlocked by user request.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.