Is Norway Worth Visiting?

By Mark Bennett of Outdoorily

Norway is no less than a magical place. From its vast, stunning landscapes to Norway’s famous, picturesque fjords, and from the art and culture of the cities to the strikingly stunning Northern Lights. The country woos tourists with its breathtaking beauty.

Is Norway worth visiting? Here are 5 reasons why I say yes …definitely

Let’s take a look at some of the most eminent aspects of Norway that make it a must-visit destination.

1. The Norwegian Fjords

Norway has some of the world’s greatest landscapes, and a visit to the country would be incomplete without visiting the Fjords of Norway. With snow-peaked mountains rising to the skies, long narrow deep-blue inlets of seas in between them, and not to miss the green countryside with pretty towns and villages. This is what you get to see when you visit the Fjords in Norway. Absolutely breathtaking scenery!

Image by enriquelopezgarre from Pixabay

Both the summers and the winters pose the fjords in different faces, nevertheless breathtaking. In the summers, wild flowers, waterfalls and melting glaciers adorn the countryside whereas the winters in the fjords are made spectacular by the frozen lakes and changing weathers.

Fjord Norway is popular for its stunning landscape and is famous for its various outdoor activities such as kayaking, hiking, skiing, glacier hikes, etc.

One another very popular Norwegian Fjord is the Sognefjord, which is the longest and deepest, in Norway. Nærøyfjord arm of the Sognefjord, and Geirangerfjord are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, especially popular in the fall and spring seasons popular for hiking, fishing, sightseeing, rafting and cycling.

2. The Winter Sports

It is not without reason that Norway emerges as a big winner in the Winter Olympics. Norway is a dream winter destination, with a plethora of winter sports like cross-country skiing, ski jumping, alpine skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, snowmobiling and many more.

Image by markusliebe from Pixabay

Hemsedal, situated in the mountain in between Oslo and Bergen, is a very popular ski resort in Norway. It has a wide range of lifts and slopes, in varying levels of difficulty. With around 100 kilometres dedicated to cross-country skiing, the ski resort is famous for most of the popular winter activities such as ice climbing, snowshoeing and sledding.

Lillehammer a pretty little town close to Oslo, is where the Winter Olympics was held in 1994. Hafjell, 15 kms from Lillehammer has a majestic Olympic Downhill Run that was merged with the slopes from Kvitfjell.

Some of the other popular destinations for winter sports in the Olympics are Trysil, Geilo, Myrkdalen, Hovden, Norefjell and Kongsberg.

3. Exploring the landscapes of Norway

Norway is also Europe’s favourite destination for hiking and other adventure activities. A hike along the mountains of Norway takes you through its stunning and wild landscapes.

Image by Thorsten Blank from Pixabay

Galdhøpiggen, Norway’s tallest mountain is a spectacular day hike that should not be missed. The hike all the way up to the summit treats you with picturesque views of the mountains that makes the hike worth as much as reaching the summit. Juvaashytta or Spiterstulen two places through which you reach Galdhøpiggen, while with the former you would need some help from a guide or a local person to cross the Styggebreen glacier.

Mount Ulriken, Preikestolen, also known as the Pulpit Rock, Romsdalseggen, Trolltunga and Scala are other hikes worth hiking.

For Ice Climbing, Rjukan Valley is the most popular destination in Norway. The Rjukan valley has guided tours and ice climbing courses, and visitors get to hike up frozen waterfalls that remain so, for most of the time of the year. Briksdal glacier is well known for glacier hiking.

4. The museums and art of Norway

The Norwegian Folk Museum is another interesting place to visit in Oslo, in which you can find a large collection of authentic Norwegian houses put up for display. It gives an insight into Norwegian living, with some of the houses even being from the 13th-century.

The Viking Ship Museum displays the 3 Viking ships Gokstad, Oseberg, and Tune ships, that were recovered and found to reveal intricate details about the Viking lifestyle.

Vigeland in Oslo, the world’s largest sculpture park, has around 200 sculptures designed by the artist Gustav Vigeland. You can find some of the weirdest sculptures in the world here.

The Fram Polar Ship Museum, the Norwegian Maritime Museum and The Kon-Tiki Museum, among many others, have all been created to remember the adventures of sailors with audacious events. Listening to these stories are fit for people of all ages.

For art lovers, The National Museum and the Munch Museum are perfect.

5. Auroras – The Magical Lights

Norway is a pleasant location for the Northern Lights because of its mild temperatures, the breathtaking landscapes and the Alps.

Tromso is the most popular & commercialised place in Norway to spot the Northern Lights, through guided tours. Some of the other places are Senja in which you get to see the Lights reflecting on the Norwegian fjords, Lofoten Islands for witnessing them with the amazing landscapes of Norway, Alden for its resorts, North Cape for seclusion, and Hammerfest, Svalbard, Nordkapp, Senja, Alta, Kirkenes among the others.

The best time to hunt for Northern Lights at Norway is from Mid-September to March.

So, that’s it in a nutshell guys! I hope this guide has inspired you to pack your bags to Norway and experience these magnificent aspects of the country.

Have you visited Norway before? Let me know in the comments of your experience in the comments, I would love to hear them!