Travel Articles: Norway

Highlighting my travels through mainland Norway and the Svalbard archipelago. My first tastes of life above the Arctic circle, shrimp, and a true polar plunge. Nothing could have prepared me for the sheer beauty of this Arctic gem - Svalbard was a dream from which I never wanted to wake.

Experiencing the unexpected adventure Norway has to offer! The "Land of the Midnight Sun" is truly spectacular.

Haley and I had the opportunity to travel to the magical land of Svalbard, with a quick stop-over in Norway's lovely capital of Oslo. Svalbard is a place of mystery that draws people in with the lure of Polar Bears, and then blows them away with dramatic and sublime landscapes. We were spoiled-rotten on an 11-day cruise aboard the Sea Spirit. We …

Though the austere Arctic landscape is often imagined to be a cold white wasteland, the brief months of summer see the flora blossoming and the fauna emerging from their long winter dormancy. Find out the best time to visit the Arctic based on your interests and expectations.

Norway is a country full of striking natural beauty, rich culture, adventure opportunities, and intriguing history. It is sometimes overlooked by travelers but is definitely a destination that should not be missed! Before you begin your travels, learn a little more about what this charming "Land of the Midnight Sun" has to offer visitors.

Love is all around us. Or perhaps it is more truthful to say that boxes of chocolate, heart-shaped balloons, sappy cards, and battles for restaurant reservations are all around us. The phenomenon of Valentine's Day...

My husband is NOT a traveler. A bit ironic considering he married me, a spontaneous traveler who can not seem to sit still. The one way to convince him to get on a plane and travel across the Arctic ocean with me was to promise a trip to the legendary and mystical lands of Norway; His one bucket list destination! Continue reading and come enjoy …

Follow along my journey to the Svalbard Archipelago in the Norwegian Arctic, also known as the "gateway to the North Pole," and a wildlife paradise aboard the new expedition ship, the Ultramarine with Quark Expeditions. A weeklong voyage that highlighted the incredible wildlife, stunning landscapes and incredible history of the Arctic in Spring. …

We review the top expedition cruise lines visiting the Arctic. Which one is a good match for you?

Cruise ports in Norway that show you the beauty of the country include Tromsø, Spitsbergen, Alesund, and Longyearbyen. These journeys will take you into pristine natural wonderlands and stop at cities and towns where the people and the culture are welcoming and intriguing.

The cruise season in Norway is between June and August, but many prefer to go in late spring and early summer to beat the crowds and enjoy the long days exploring fjords and discovering wildlife including polar bears and walruses.

“The Arctic” is an umbrella term for a number of diverse destinations near the northern pole. This area includes parts of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, as well as the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. The region is home to unique ecosystems, flora and fauna, and cultures which have adapted to the extreme climate.

We officially began our cruise in the Netherlands, but the fun truly began at our first stop in Mandal, Norway (day 3 of the planned itinerary). Our first leg of the journey was a long 24 hour ocean crossing from Amsterdam to Mandal. We were supposed to have a nice pit stop at a small island off the coast of Denmark on day 2, but due to poor …

To this day, I cannot get over the underground tunnel road system! It BLEW my mind. The whole time I was thinking “there is no way this is real, we are definitely in Moria, the dwarven kingdom of Middle Earth” (shout out to my fellow nerds). These tunnels are so big they have roundabouts and traffic whizzing by! I’ve never seen …

It is Mid-May in Norway and we found snow! Our second to last stop brought us to our first Norwegian glacier. Although we didn't have an opportunity to get close, or walk on it. We did have a nice view from our room. Todays excursion was a bus ride to the top of Norways highest altitude freshwater dam. The drive took us through a couple …

This trip was special for me, not only because of the wildlife we were able to spy or because of the experiences we had aboard the Ultramarine, but also because I am a total Polar History nerd. I have read the expeditions of the polar greats: Nansen, Amundson, Svedrup, Franklin, Shackleton, and many many more. This voyage gave me the opportunity …

I cannot think of a more perfect gateway city to kick off an Arctic voyage than the city of Oslo, Norway. The city itself is vibrant, easy to navigate and brimming with activities and attractions to suit all interests - from art museums to the opera house, historical sites and Olympic course sites, even Viking and navigational history. Fittingly …

Once we got off the plane in Longyearbyen we gathered our luggage from the single baggage claim, and followed the crowd outside where two large buses were waiting. We figured we were supposed to follow everyone else onto a bus of our choosing, even though we weren't exactly sure where either of them was going to end up. We quickly learned that …

During our descent into Oslo, I couldn't help but notice the similarities to Oregon's Willamette Valley. I joked with Haley that we could have hopped on a two hour plane ride, rather than the sixteen hours of combined flight time, and ended up in practically the same place. But I quickly learned the travel time, airplane food and movie …

In a word, Norway’s capital is vibrant. In other words, it is beautiful, stunning, eclectic, clean, and now sits near the top of my list of favorite European capitals. Despite fighting the grip of jetlag after crossing the Atlantic, Molly and I took the train from the airport into the city, made several wrong turns but eventually found our …

Staying in historic hotels truly enriched my overall experience in Norway. Not only did it give me a glimpse of an intriguing past, but it afforded me to witness the great pride and love Norwegians have for their history. We had the pleasure of meeting the proprietors of these special hotels – third and fourth generation owners with …

Brown cheese may not seem like a glamorous food to be famous for, but it really is delicious! Upon learning about how it is made it becomes even less glamorous – after producing goat cheese, the remaining by-product is made into the much-loved brown cheese. Just try not to think too much about that. It's still delicious… …

For your adventure in the fjord region of Norway, be prepared to ride multiple ferries, hear adults proclaim their belief of trolls, learn about Viking origins, and see goats…lots of goats...



Despite these oddities that were so foreign to me, there was something about Norway that felt comfortable. It could be the fact that everyone …

I consider myself an active person, and Montana definitely provides endless opportunities for such a lifestyle. So, I was pleasantly surprised at how active we were on this trip. There were even some adventures that were brand new to me, like trekking on a glacier…



Let’s start with that one now that I’ve peaked your …