Norway – Northtrotter

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Times visited: 5 (1 week in 1999, 1 week in 2015, 1 day in 2017, 12 days in 2021 and 1 week in 2023)
Cities visited: Bergen, Oslo, Tromsø, Narvik and Stavanger
Villages visited: Svolvær, Leknes, Ballstad and Undheim

I only have very faint memories of my first trip to Norway when I was just 4, a roadtrip in the south with my family. So going back there on my journey through the Nordics in 2015 only seemed natural. I spent just over two weeks in Norway, but half of it was in Svalbard, which I count as a separate territory because of its special status.
I divided the rest of my time between Oslo, Norway’s capital, and the spectacular Lofoten Islands. I only spent a day in Oslo en route to Svalbard, but it was enough to fall in love!
After Svalbard, I flew to Tromsø, but I only stopped for a few hours as I had an overnight ferry to catch to Lofoten.
My plan was to camp every night in Lofoten to keep costs down, but the snow fell on the first night and I was terribly inexperienced at the time, so I gave up. Luckily, I befriended a hostel- and restaurant owner in Ballstad, who gave me an evening job as a washer-upper in exchange for a free bed! Along with a group I’d met at the hostel, I climbed a mountain behind the hostel, one of my first!
I loved my time in Lofoten and never wanted it to end, but the group split up after a few days and it was time for me to move on. I headed to Northern Sweden, a journey that involved an overnight stop in Narvik. There, I continued my quest for free sleeping and scored a spot in a locked train station!
In March 2017, I returned to Oslo on a 2-day mini cruise with two friends. It was a short but lovely trip to my favourite Nordic capital!
I was supposed to travel back to Norway for three weeks in April 2020, but Covid-19 got in the way. Thankfully, I was able to go in November 2021, although only for a twelve-day visit. I sailed from Hirtshals in Denmark to Bergen where I spent ten days with my best friend Solveig who is doing her PhD there. We went for a hike in the mountains above the city, spent a day in the sun at the gorgeous open air museum Hordamuseet, hung out with her friends, relaxed and laughed a lot together. While she was working (and when it wasn’t pouring), I explored the city and went running along Svartediket. I then caught a bus to Stavanger to meet up with Regine who I lived with in Greenland. We spent an afternoon wandering around Stavanger, and then went on a roadtrip the next day around her hometown of Undheim and some nearby beautiful spots. I sailed back to Denmark in the evening.
In April 2023, I returned to Bergen to spend a week with my bestie. We both had uni work to do so we didn’t explore much, but we did find time for a beautiful hike up Ulriken and beyond.