12 Days of Christmas: Norway

The 7th country we visited in 2024

We flew from Tirana, Albania to Oslo, Norway (our seventh country of the year) in mid-May and got to watch the sunset from the air above Albania around 6:45pm and then again above Oslo around 9:30pm, just before we landed. The days were so much longer that far north! Why Oslo? None of us had ever been, C thought it sounded interesting, and there was a direct flight! However, I made a pretty big boo boo, which is funny in retrospect (and, fortunately, a bit funny then, too). We landed and I pulled up a Google map to our AirBNB, only to realize that we weren’t at the Oslo International airport; we were at Torp, which is a secondary airport quite a distance from Oslo. Oops—and surprise!

Turns out, the discount carriers (in this case, WizzAir) fly into secondary airports where space is cheaper (makes sense), only we didn’t know this and didn’t even think to see if there was more than one airport “in” Oslo. So there we were at ~10pm trying to figure out how to get to our accommodation, which was 1.5 hours away. Fortunately, there was an express bus that went right to the transit stop we needed, so we bought tickets for ~$100 USD (far cheaper than an Uber would’ve been) and hopped aboard. And that was our welcome to Norway: Land of the midnight sun and sky high prices.

But we discovered that we loved it. In fact, we liked it as much as Japan, albeit for different reasons. And it’s near the top of our list to go back to. We loved Oslo in particular. It was big enough that there was lots to do but felt really accessible, in part because public transit was phenomenal. What made it unique, though, was its access to nature. I could go hiking on a small trail near our AirBNB and also take the tram up into the hills to go on bigger hikes (and did, a couple of times). The views from up there were gorgeous.

We went kayaking on a lake and tree climbing, both of which we reached via public transit. And we just spent a lot of time outdoors in various parks and by the waterfront. It was pretty much heaven for me. We caught Norwegian Constitution Day and I got to see a former work colleague, who just happened to be passing through Oslo at the same time! That was such fabulous serendipity. Other highlights included N celebrating her 12th birthday (we went to a board game cafe and then out to dinner), and a lowlight was me dealing with a skin issue on my eyelid (I was grateful for a virtual appointment via AirDoctor).

While the super long days made exploring easy, it also made falling (and staying) asleep tough. That, plus no AC on some hot (for Norway) days made things a bit uncomfortable in our AirBNB, which was otherwise lovely. After three weeks in Oslo, we rented a car and drove to Bergen. That was a whole experience. If I were to do it all again, I would take the train partway and then a fjord cruise the rest of the way. But I doubt we’ll go to Bergen again. That said, we would absolutely go back to Oslo and then explore other areas of Norway. It’s so beautiful!