Trip To Norway: Norway In A Nutshell With Snow In May

Arrival to Oslo: Snow, Shock & expensive beers

Back in 2003, I was at the peak of my Ryanair addiction of booking to go anywhere because it was so cheap. Get to experience new places, people, good, language, culture for a flight cheper than a return train into London.

So, in May 2003, my brother, a mate and I headed off on a short trip to Norwy.

We landed in Oslo Torp straight into zero degrees and light snow.

Norway doesn’t mess about.

As Ryanair like to fly into cow-fields, it was a two-hour bus ride into the city – where we met Mirriam, a friend of my brothers, who had kindly offered to put us 3 stinkers up for the night.

We headed out for a walk to admire the pretty, clean city but wasn’t long before we needed warming up with a beer.

And that was where we had the shock. We had heard Norway was expensive. But at 50 NOK for a 400ml beer, we were shocked. So, naturally, we had 6 each.

After that, the night was fairly short-lived.

Norway in a Nutshell: Snow, Fjords & expensive sarnies

We had pre-booked a tour called Norway in a Nutshell – which over 2 days was whisking away to the Norwegian fjords by train, a short tour of the area, and then some free time before catching the train back.

We had a bunk room on the train for the 3 of us. Still tired from our recent early mornings, sleeping was impossible – we were next to the kids’ play area of the train, with loud music blaring.

Maybe that was a good thing, as we stayed awake to the scenery turning more and more dramatic out of our cabin window: deep snow, mountains, frozen rivers.

At Myrdal, we changed onto the famous Flåm Railway, one of the world’s most scenic train rides.

As we boarded, the snow started to fall, making the whole experience feel very magical. But as the journey went on, we wished the snow away as it was spoiling the view – creating a mist over the waterfalls and fjords. The train stopped at Kjosfossen Waterfall, spectacularly roaring down the mountainside.

We had an hour in Flåm, a tiny hamlet by the fjord. We were starving, but even a small sandwich cost 50 NOK. We had learnt pretty quickly that Norway is not for the budget traveller.

Next was a two‑hour fjord cruise to Gudvangen. We were greeted once again with stunning scenery, spoiled slightly by the grey, now drizzly weather but still very serene all the same.

To complete the ‘every mode of transport’ – we then had a coach ride through the Nærøydalen Valley, full of hairpin bends and dramatic cliffs. A truly breath-taking drive. Luckily a few breaks in the mist, gave us snapshots of the unfolding vista below us.

After stopping at several viewpoints, we reached the town of Voss.

Voss: Rain, Poverty & finding a hotel saviours

By now it was absolutely pouring with rain, and we had five hours to kill before our train back to Oslo. Voss has 6,000 people, two bars, and we had almost no money left.

Our options:

Withdraw more cash and sit in a bar, with a larger hole in our wallets and abuse our already destroyed liver further.
Go to the cinema and try to sleep
Politely ask the local IYHA youth hostel if we could sit inside

We chose option 3 – and the workers there were very kind and accommodating. In fact, the place was empty and we think they were just pleased to talk to someone.

They kindly let us use the facilities.

We played cards, then discovered a games room downstairs – air hockey, table football, jukebox. As we were the only ones there, it was a great way to kill some time. So, we went to the local store and grabbed some vodka to liven things up.

By 11pm the vodka was gone, and we still had an hour until our train departed, so we headed to the pub – where we were the only customers. It seems like Voss is still hibernating even in May.

By the time the train arrived, we were exhausted and passed out in our cabin.

Oslo: getting into tourist mode

We were woken with a bang at the door from the conductor as the train has pulled into Oslo ten minutes earlier at the ungodly hour of 6am. He literally dragged us and our bags off the train because we were so slow.

Hungover, smelly, and with nowhere to go at 6am, we tried to sleep in Burger King but the staff kicked us out.

We tried sleeping in the bus station but got kicked out.

We tried sleeping in the train station but got kicked out again.

By 9am we called Mirriam, who rescued us and took us on a tour of Oslo:

Vigeland Park – a city park with erotic sculptures everywhere. Am not sure how parents explain that one to young kids. Scandinavians innit..
Akershus Fortress – a beautiful medieval castle – finally we were getting some history and culture on this trip.
Royal Palace – the royal family residence. We now knew Norway had a royal family!

Mirrian had saved us from going insane with tiredness but with still several hours to go until our flight, we decided to bus it back to the airport early to see if we could get on the early flight back to London.

What a daft idea – any experienced Ryanair traveller will tell you – that’s how they make their money – from last minute bookings. Yes, it was possible, but at 200 GBP each, it would be madness.

And still with several hours to kill, at the one of the world’s tiniest airports, we were ready to go insane again. There was only so many times we could walk around the one tiny shop. Food was too expensive to spend time in a café. Luckily free internet semi-saved us.

Finally, we made it out and to the warmth of the UK in May. Hardly balmy, but warmer than Norway.

It had been a whirlwind trip – but a great intro into Norwegian life – and cost of living. The Flam Railway and the tour around the fjords had for sure been the highlight. Mirriam had been a legend. And whilst the beer had been expensive, it had created a few laughs along the way.

It’s a country I returned to a couple of years later, with a fatter wallet, and was able to enjoy even more.