Norway is pretty

December 9, 2014 7:24 AM

The land of fjords, trolls and vikings is a nation of 5 million people, and snow. Photographers like it, as do jumpers and skateboarders. Norway is pretty and has a long coastline due to the lovely crinkly edges, making it nice to sail in. There are islands such as the Lofoten archipelago, long train journeys, steep train journeys, the Northern Lights, ferry journeys that last 134 hours, road tunnels, cathedrals, more Aurora Borealis, mountains, lights, some skiing, sunrises and sunsets, cosy hotels, long walks and whales. And the Aurora. Their tourist board has an unfair advantage. Camping is nice, either with other people or on your own. Svalbard is quite north. Did we mention the scenery and Aurora?
posted by Wordshore (25 comments total)

...you forgot Disney Princesses. Two of them. I'm guessing you don't have daughters, because they don't let you forget.

♪ Can't hold it back any mooore ♫
posted by leotrotsky at 7:34 AM on December 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Norway has also given us the adorable and fantastic singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche (whose first album is still sooooooo good after all these years).
posted by Kitteh at 7:40 AM on December 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

One of my biggest regrets from thirty years ago is not getting off that train from Oslo to Bergen somewhere at the top where the tiny houses sit dwarfed by boulders in their yards and waterfalls are everywhere. I planned during the trip back to jump off and maybe take pictures of the sun rising over the summits. But even though I was on Eurail I had to get some boarding pass at Bergen and then it was the middle of the night when we stopped at a place up top and I thought people would think I'm crazy getting off here now. So I hesitated, remained in my seat, watched several more adventurous people with backpacks disembark, and instead proceeded back to Oslo. Wanted to get back on that train ever since.
posted by TimTypeZed at 7:49 AM on December 9, 2014 [5 favorites]

And they also have the best damn cooking show on PBS. Well, all of TV, really. And OK, technically, they cover all of Scandinavia and Finland, but most of it is done in Norway.
posted by NoMich at 7:58 AM on December 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

Plus they have some totally cool horses.
posted by flabdablet at 8:05 AM on December 9, 2014

TimTypeZed: I did it (and, there's always tomorrow where you can). First long trip to Norway took the train from Oslo to Myrdal. Got off and took the Flamsbana. Which was astonishingly pretty but if you have even the merest vertigo DO NOT LOOK OUT OF THE WINDOW. Yes, that is the valley floor far, far, below at one point. Stayed in Flam overnight, woke up to a quite amazing fjord view, took a ferry to Bergen (most of which I spent slackjawed watching us go slowly past the walls of fjords), did conference things there, took the train from Bergen to Oslo.

Tim - there's always tomorrow. And the thing about Norway is that, going back, it's as good as you remembered or hoped it would be.
posted by Wordshore at 8:08 AM on December 9, 2014

you forgot Disney Princesses. Two of them. I'm guessing you don't have daughters, because they don't let you forget.

Go ask them, and I think you'll find they're from Arendelle.

I'm a Chicagoan. I miss my Gandma, but I'm sort of glad I don't have to tell her I live in Logan Square now, because she was Swedish, and if I told her that I lived in Logan Sqaure, she'd be all "WHAT, WITH THOSE GOTTDAMN NORWEGIANS?"

Their tourist board has an unfair advantage.

And yet, it wasn't enough for Disney. The ride in the Norwegian pavilion at EPCOT is becoming a Frozen ride, IN SUMM...I mean, THIS SUMMMMEEEEEEEER!

I'm going to tell him
posted by eriko at 8:25 AM on December 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

Kings of Convenience! Röyksopp! Annie! A-ha!
posted by rory at 8:29 AM on December 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

Go ask them, and I think you'll find they're from Arendelle.

Yep, they're from Arendal, which is in Norway.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:32 AM on December 9, 2014

I hear Norwegians have nice fences.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:44 AM on December 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Norway is lovely. They are not the only country of fjords, trolls and vikings though.

Regards,
The disgruntled former norwegians of Iceland.
posted by svenni at 8:44 AM on December 9, 2014 [6 favorites]

My first stop on my inevitable trip to Norway will surely be The Fram Museum - - how could it be anywhere else for anyone who's read Farthest North?
posted by fairmettle at 8:46 AM on December 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

I got off of the Oslo-Bergen line for a couple of days of hiking. Amazing.

I've been to Norway twice, but I've missed almost all of those spectacular places in the FPP opening montage. One thing different about hiking in Norway, at least near the west coast, is that you hike in waterproof boots. Water, water everywhere.

If I can say something negative about Norway in this thread (and if I were a Swede I could go on and on...they kinda see Norskies as hicks), it's this: wintertime up north. Even if you're used to it, it's still pretty depressing to live with so little sunlight, especially before the snow brightens things up a little. Rjukan ameliorates this problem with mountaintop mirrors.

One interesting thing about all the water in Norway (coming in from the Atlantic) is that they have a lot of huge hydroelectric facilities. I've been inside of one. I can't say that anything made by man rivals Norway's natural beauty, but the scale of these things, the size of the turbines, is breathtaking. (By the way, aside from providing most of the nation's electricity, they also use it to produce aluminum, a very energy-intensive process.)
posted by kozad at 8:47 AM on December 9, 2014

The Fram Museum is cool, I went back the second time I was in Oslo and it was still cool. Its right opposite the Kon-Tiki Museum, which is also fascinating. Nansen's story is a fascinating one, not just for the exploration, he was also responsible for a lot of the post-WW1 diplomacy and took a role in founding the League of Nations, he was one of the first to take up skiing as a serious sport and also did some serious work in biosciences research.

I got off the train at Myrdal and went up to Flam, then got the ferry up to Sogndal, then bus to Stryn, then Alesund where we watched the tall ships come up the fjord, then trains to Andalsnes then Trondheim, where we were given a scare by an Elk in the local wilderness, then up to Bodo and on to the Lofotens for fishing and walking, caught my first fish off Stamsund, then cleaned it on the hostel pier. I would love to go back, and might well do so this summer or next.
posted by biffa at 9:07 AM on December 9, 2014

Very pretty. I understand the fjords of Norway won some kind of award for their design.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:37 AM on December 9, 2014 [32 favorites]

I lived in Bergen for nearly ten years, and moved away only recently.

I must take umbrage with the idea that camping is good - scenic, yes, but either you're in the backcountry, where there are better options, or you are in a generally awful camping area. I've camped all over Europe, and Norway has some of the worst choice and quality when it comes to camping areas. (And you've never REALLY experienced living in a tent until you've been in a five-star rated European camp site - it might not be your preference, but it's worth experiencing. We're talking things like heated baby changing tables in the bathrooms.)

If you visit Norway, don't bring your tent. Stay in a hytte, or stay in Sweden.
posted by grajohnt at 9:54 AM on December 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

And this and Edvard Munch too.

Love,
a Dane x
posted by kariebookish at 10:05 AM on December 9, 2014

Wow, spectacular.

I'm booked for big trips this next year (either Kilimanjaro or a long inn-to-inn hike in the UK), but after that I'll have to save up for a visit to Norway.
posted by suelac at 12:07 PM on December 9, 2014

Very pretty. I understand the fjords of Norway won some kind of award for their design.

I was just coming here to page you.
posted by hypersloth at 12:07 PM on December 9, 2014

The ride in the Norwegian pavilion at EPCOT is becoming a Frozen ride

Now that you mention it, that was probably inevitable, but I have fond memories of that weird little boat ride, so I'm sad to see it go.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:51 PM on December 9, 2014

lovely crinkly edges

Subtle. :)
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:04 PM on December 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Now that you mention it, that was probably inevitable, but I have fond memories of that weird little boat ride, so I'm sad to see it go.

Yeah. Malestrom wasn't the greatest ride in the world, but I liked it for the silly little thing is was.

I'm hoping some cast member took the last ride, and at the start, when the Odin figure says "You are not the first to pass this way, nor shall you be the last" made some remark.

Alas. But change happens.
posted by eriko at 6:22 AM on December 10, 2014

Just decided against going to Lofoten for the Northern Lights because the forecast is cloudy for the time I was considering and also because it was getting quite expensive at the moment. Thanks for rubbing it in, guys.

_{No seriously, wonderful pictures! One day, Norway, one day...}
posted by the cydonian at 7:49 AM on December 10, 2014

I showed my colleague this picture, uploaded today, of Lofoten. He scanned it, and dismissively replied with "Doesn't look like I could get a decent wifi or 3G connection there."

This is why I do not holiday with that colleague.
posted by Wordshore at 9:25 AM on December 10, 2014 [4 favorites]

Other musicians: Todd Terje. Marit Larsen.
posted by Harald74 at 6:43 AM on December 12, 2014