Search results

I’m with you on the smaller boats. My first fjord hit was a half-day run from Bergen, and I remember thinking, “Okay, this is why people won’t shut up about Norway.” Being low to the water, drifting past sheer rock walls and waterfalls, felt immediate in a way a big ship just can’t replicate...

I agree with you on starting mellow and building up. For first-timers, calm lakes and sheltered fjords are where confidence actually grows, not just survival instincts. Places with easy launches, short paddles close to shore, and on-site rentals tend to attract staff who’ll quietly warn you when...

I’m 100% with you on Trysil, and I’ll die on this hill: real ski-in/ski-out beats “cooler” après every single time. There’s nothing glamorous about clomping around icy paths in ski boots because a lodge stretched the definition of convenience. In Trysil, being able to clip in straight from the...

Couldn’t agree more. On one trip through Norway with friends who had a toddler, the difference between an apartment-style place and a “nice” hotel was night and day. Having a kitchenette meant breakfast didn’t turn into a negotiation, and just having floor space to dump bags and a stroller kept...

Totally agree with you on this. I learned the hard way after buying a laptop charger from the cheapest place I could find, only to spend weeks going back and forth when it failed. Ever since, I’ve stuck with the bigger chains even if the price is a bit higher, because the process is predictable...

Yeah, I’m 100% with you on this. I learned the hard way my first winter in Oslo when I cheaped out on boots and spent an entire hike with numb toes and zero joy. The good shops here really do feel different — when someone asks if you’re heading into marka, up into the mountains, or just walking...

Totally agree on being selective. My best Oslo second-hand win was a heavy wool coat I found in a tiny shop I almost skipped because the window looked boring. Inside, it was all practical stuff, no “heritage storytelling,” just solid brands at fair prices. I’ve noticed the same pattern you...

That “crowd control experiment” line really hits home. I did a spa weekend thinking I’d float around in silence, and instead spent half the time queuing for saunas and dodging selfie sticks. The only time it truly clicked was a random Tuesday–Wednesday stay, when the place felt like it was built...

I’m totally with you on this. One of my better hostel stays in Bergen was a place just outside the tourist core — nothing flashy, but super clean, solid lockers, and actual quiet hours that people respected. I remember arriving late after a long day, and having a 24-hour reception and a calm...

I’m with you on that. I’ve learned to be pretty skeptical of the word “boutique” in Oslo, because a lot of places lean hard on design and forget the basics. The ones I’ve enjoyed most were smaller hotels where the vibe showed up in everyday stuff: a relaxed check-in, staff actually giving local...

Totally agree with you on this. For a first trip, staying in the city center just makes everything easier and more fun. I’ve done the airport hotel thing once, and yeah, the room was comfy and quiet, but it felt like hitting pause on the trip every time I had to commute in and out. Being near...

I’m pretty opinionated on this after sitting through a couple of “nice but useless” courses in Oslo. The offline schools that actually work are the ones that force you to speak from day one and don’t let you hide behind grammar worksheets. I did an intensive program where class size stayed under...

I tried a couple of online Norwegian courses while juggling work and travel, and the ones that actually worked were structured but flexible. What helped most was a mix of live group classes twice a week and short 1:1 sessions for speaking corrections, plus recorded lessons I could squeeze in on...

I prepped for Norskprøve B2 while bouncing between cities, and the biggest lesson was that generic Norwegian classes don’t cut it. The course that helped me most was brutally exam-focused: timed writing tasks every week, speaking practice that felt uncomfortable on purpose, and teachers who...

I looked into a couple of coding bootcamps in Norway and elsewhere in Europe while on a longer stay, and my takeaway is that the credible ones are very project-heavy and brutally honest about workload. The good programs I saw were expensive, yes, but they forced you to build real apps, work in...

I had a very similar wake-up call with insurance in Norway after a cracked windshield on a rental car in the north. On paper, my policy looked fine, but the deductible language around “road damage” was way more specific than I expected, and suddenly I was reading PDFs at a gas station instead of...

Yeah, I’m with you on this — knowing the numbers ahead of time makes a huge difference. I had a small car issue once that wasn’t a full emergency, and being able to call 116 117 instead of panicking and dialing 113 felt like a win. The operators were calm, spoke good English, and immediately...

I had a similar moment a few years back on a winter road trip when someone slipped badly outside a cabin. My brain absolutely did not want to cooperate, and I was very glad I’d saved the numbers beforehand. Calling 113 got us straight to an English-speaking operator who was calm, direct, and...

I’m with you 100% on this. The best sports medicine clinics in Norway don’t treat you like fragile glass — they treat you like someone who wants to keep moving. The good ones break things down into what you can load, what you need to avoid, and how to bridge the gap back to full training, not...

I’m firmly in the “pay once, move on with your life” camp when it comes to private clinics in Norway. The one time I needed answers fast, a private clinic got me booked within days, labs done the same week, and a clear next step instead of endless waiting. The care itself felt solid but not...