My family and I are going to Norway in July of 2021. Two adults and two kids (who will be age 13 and 9). We'll be there for 2-2.5 weeks. We'll do Oslo and the Nutshell trip to the fjords and up to Bergen. We've been told that Lofoten is also worth spending a few days in. My question is, if we want a place to camp out for 5-6 days (besides our time in Oslo, Bergen, and possibly Lofoten), for a family who like outdoor activities and day trips (and kids who don't bore easily), where would you go? We like the countryside and water access. Kids love animals. Thanks in advance!
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6971 posts
Lofoten is nice, but I'm not sure it's worth the long trip all the way there. What have you planned apart from Oslo, Bergen and the NiN tour? 2.5 weeks is quite long for that time. For camping spots, see https://www.camping.no
Posted by
8244 posts
We did a wonderful 11 night cruise of Norway that took us past the Arctic Circle to the North Cape. We visited six ports. Lofoten is in the far north and would likely require flying or taking a ship.
We had been to Bergen on an earlier cruise and loved that city.
Geiranger was the best fjord that we visited. It was amazing. Alesund and Flam were great, and loved the North Cape.
Getting around Norway with is mountainous terrain by driving would entail a lot of time. There are some trains in the south that go to Bergen and Alesund.
Here is my detailed trip report.
Stockholm and Norway Arctic Circle
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=659526&et_cid=3214772&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards
Posted by
OP
5 posts
I should clarify. I don't mean literally camping, just staying in one place for several days. We don't like moving around every 2-3 days for the entire trip. We're tentatively thinking 5-6 days between Oslo and Bergen. The rest of the trip is wide open.
Posted by
11569 posts
We took a Hurtigruten coastal steamer from Bergen to Kirkenes, wonderful sights including the Lofoten Is. You take these ships between whichever cities or towns you want to visit, hop off for a while, then get on another ship to continue north.
These ships connect the towns and cities along Norway's coast, deliver packages and supplies, and transport locals from place to place.
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
Hurtigruten requires you to book a cabin if you are on the boat for more than 23 hours. For shorter port to port trips you can book deck space.
https://global.hurtigruten.com/port-to-port/#/
Posted by
Berlin
3004 posts
Would share time to Andenes (whale & bird watching, space station, ...) on Vesteralen and a place on southern Lofoten islands.
More relevant info for you: https://lofoten.info/en/Summer
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6971 posts
I should clarify. I don't mean literally camping, just staying in one
place for several days. We don't like moving around every 2-3 days for
the entire trip.
I can understand that. But a problem is that ground transportation in Norway is pretty slow so the area you can cover from a single place is a lot smaller than in other countries.