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A narrow fjord between high dark walls, a single boat leaving a wake, snow still on the plateau above
The Nærøyfjord · about 250 metres across at its narrowest, under walls of 1,400
Country brief · 59.9139°N 10.7522°E

Norway

Everyone books the fjords. Half the country is above the Arctic Circle.

How long
Ten days, one regionthe fjords and the Arctic are separate trips
Getting around
Fly between regions, drive inside themcar ferries carry the fjord roads
When
June to August, or the dark halfthe aurora runs September to March
Language
Norwegian, in two written formsEnglish ranks fifth in the world
Money
The krone, not the eurocards everywhere, and cash cannot be refused
Airports
Oslo OSLBergen BGO, Tromsø TOS, Trondheim TRD
How long

How many days do you need in Norway?

Ten days, one region. The fjord west and the Arctic north are separate trips and most people try to do both

Getting around

Do you need a car in Norway?

Fly between the regions, drive inside them. Car ferries carry the fjord roads, and their timetable is the itinerary

When

When is the best time to visit Norway?

June to August, or the dark half. The mountain roads open from late May; the aurora season runs September to March

Language

What language is spoken in Norway?

Norwegian, in two written forms. English ranks fifth in the world on the EF index, the top band there is

Money

What money does Norway use?

The krone, not the euro. Cards work everywhere, and since May 2025 a shop that refuses cash can be fined

Airports

Where do you fly into Norway?

Oslo Gardermoen OSL is the intercontinental gateway. Bergen BGO, Tromsø TOS, Trondheim TRD, Stavanger SVG and Bodø BOO are the regional ways in

Why you should visit

Ninety seconds on the country

Norway holds eight World Heritage sites and exactly one of them is natural: the West Norwegian Fjords, a single listing covering Geiranger and Nærøy together. Most itineraries are built around those two.

North of the Arctic Circle the attraction stops being landscape and becomes light. In Tromsø the sun does not set from about 20 May to 22 July, and does not rise from late November to mid January. People book both of those on purpose.

The mistake is treating it as one trip. Bergen to Tromsø is a flight rather than a drive, and inside the fjords the roads run on car ferries whose timetables decide the shape of the day. Ten days does one region properly.

The two ends of the country also run on opposite calendars. The mountain roads and the glacier arms open in late spring, and the aurora needs the dark months.

Five Ways to Travel It

Pick how you want to travel. The towns, the things to do and the map all change with it.

The Geirangerfjord seen from high above, the village at its head and cloud sitting on the green walls
Geiranger from the road above. The ledge farms on the far wall were worked until the 1960s and reached by ladder.

Nature

The Best Places to Visit for Nature Travel in Norway

Neither of the two World Heritage fjords reads properly from a car park. The Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord are narrow and walled on both sides, so the scale only arrives from the water or from a road cut high enough to look down on it. Geiranger is the base with the most of it, then Voss and Åndalsnes: twenty-six places across fourteen towns.

Saltstraumen, at Bodø, moves more water than any tidal current on earth. Elsewhere the access is engineered: Stegastein above Aurland, Dalsnibba over Geiranger, the Loen Skylift and Bergen’s Fløibanen all put the viewpoint at the end of a cable car or a bend in a road.

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