Cashless in Bergen, Oslo... cash is still king!

Almost everything is cashless in Oslo. Some restaurants will state on their websites that they don’t accept cash. We spent 3 weeks in Oslo last summer and never used cash for anything, no matter how small the purchase. If you don’t have a credit card to use, perhaps you can use a pre paid card?

Good to know... did you go to Bergen and find the same thing?

I think you may want to consider using a credit card instead of withdrawing any cash from the ATM. I haven't been to Norway (yet) but that was my experience in Iceland as well. No cash needed anywhere.

https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/news-insights/insight/taking-closer-look-norways-payment-landscape
"Norway has the lowest cash usage in Europe according to publicly available statistics, only six percent of value and eleven percent of number of transactions at point of sale. Both Norwegian citizens and the retail sector have totally embraced cards for payments in shops, hotels, etc. In fact, we have, together with Iceland, the highest usage of cards per capita in the world."

Thanks Agnes,
I usually take the currency of the country am visiting. Never use ATM!

Oslo can be visited without cash for the most part. I was able to buy train tickets using my Visa chip and signature card from the ticket machines without a PIN. Transit authority (Ruter) encourages patrons to buy tickets before boarding from ticket machines, kiosks or staffed service centers where credit cards are accepted. But if you board a bus or ferry without a ticket, you can only pay for a ticket with cash and with 200 NOK and smaller notes. On the other hand, the ATM we used only dispensed 500 NOK notes.

Carolyn....yes we used our credit card(s) exclusively in Bergen too.

Hi Carolyn,
I returned from Bergen 2 weeks ago and used my credit card every where there. We even paid for our gelato at the
Fish Market with our credit card.
I had some kroners but found it much easier using my card, and felt that I did not need to have cash at all for anything.
The vendors were happy to accept cash or credit cash.
In using our cards we were asked to select the currency - local or USD - to complete the transaction and of course I selected kroners. In a few places I was even told by the merchant which option was better for me which was great if I hadn't known it would be the kroners.

Regards,
Nadine

We were in Denmark, Norway (including Bergen) and Stockholm in July and August. We never used cash. We used our cc.

...always like to have a small amount of bills for each country when traveling.

I like to have a small supply of coins. Smallest note returned by the Oslo ATM during our last visit was a 500 NOK note.

Hi Carolyn, we used both cash & credit cards in Bergen & Oslo. The shops & restaurants we visited in Bergen took credit cards & “all” currencies (US dollars, euros, kroners) with posted exchange rates.

My wife and I were in Oslo at the end of July. Just to be safe we had a few hundred dollars worth of krone on us but we didn't really need it. I used Google Pay on my phone for small purchases (coffee, etc.) and credit cards at restaurants, for our hotel, at the supermarket, etc. We used up our paper money as we became accustomed to going paperless. We never looked for a bank but saw banks/currency exchanges in the main train station in Oslo. Perhaps the only place we had to use cash was at a small flower, fruit and veggie stand across from the Norwegian Folk Museum - they had huge raspberries that made a nice small breakfast. Check out Steam in the Oslo train station for their breakfast sandwiches and muffins.

We just returned from Norway last week and used credit cards everywhere for everything. The only place we needed cash was for the bus from Gudvangen to Voss; we knew in advance the amount needed and withdrew it from an ATM in Oslo. ( we did the “nutshell” on our own).

Were there fees charged on top of the purchase price using credit cards?