Norway packs an astonishing range of scenery into one long country: a capital on the Oslofjord, UNESCO-listed fjords in the west, the tallest vertical rock face in Europe, a road that hops across the open Atlantic, and Arctic islands where the sun does not set for weeks in summer. These ten places cover the classic highlights from south to north, with the facts and practical details you need to plan a route.
1. Oslo: museums and a waterfront capital
Oslo sits at the head of the Oslofjord and is home to around 724,000 people in the municipality and about 1.1 million in the wider urban area. Its revived waterfront is the easiest place to start. Aker Brygge was built between 1982 and 1998 on the site of the old Akers Mekaniske Verksted shipyard, and a walk east leads to Bjørvika and the Oslo Opera House, designed by Snøhetta and opened in 2008. You can walk up its sloping marble roof for views over the harbour.
Art lovers head to MUNCH, the museum devoted to Edvard Munch and home to versions of The Scream. Frogner Park, Norway's best-known park, displays the sculptures of Gustav Vigeland, and the free Vigeland Museum holds more than 212 of his works. For Viking history, the Viking Ship Museum on Bygdøy has been closed for a major rebuild and is due to reopen as the Museum of the Viking Age. Up in the hills, Holmenkollen's ski jump hosts the annual Holmenkollen Ski Festival.
2. Lofoten: Arctic peaks rising from the sea
The Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county is home to about 24,500 people spread across Austvågøya, Vestvågøya, Flakstadøya, Moskenesøya and the outer islands of Værøy and Røst. Svolvær and Leknes are the main towns. Although Lofoten lies well north of the Arctic Circle, Atlantic water keeps its winters remarkably mild for the latitude.
Cod has shaped life here for more than a thousand years: every winter the fish migrate from the Barents Sea to spawn in Lofoten's waters, and drying racks for stockfish still line the villages. In Svolvær the midnight sun lasts from about 25 May to 17 July, while in midwinter the sun stays below the horizon from early December to early January.
Getting there: fly to Leknes or Svolvær, take the car ferry from Bodø to Moskenes, or drive the E10, which links the larger islands by bridges and tunnels and has connected Lofoten to the mainland via the Lofast road since 2007. Hurtigruten coastal ships call at Stamsund and Svolvær.
3. The Troll Wall in Romsdalen
Trollveggen, the Troll Wall, rises about 1,100 metres from the floor of Romsdalen in Rauma municipality, south of Åndalsnes. Its summit ridge reaches around 1,700 metres at Store Trolltind, and it is often described as the tallest vertical rock face in Europe. A Norwegian team made the first ascent of the wall in 1965, finishing just one day ahead of a British party.
The wall also has a dramatic place in the history of BASE jumping. The first parachute jump from it was made in 1980, and Carl Boenish, regarded as the father of the sport, died there in 1984. After several fatal accidents, Norwegian authorities banned BASE jumping from the Troll Wall in 1986. Today most visitors simply admire it from the valley, which is reached easily by car or by train on the Rauma Line to Åndalsnes.
4. The Atlantic Ocean Road
Atlanterhavsveien is an 8.3-kilometre stretch of County Road 64 between Averøy and Hustadvika in Møre og Romsdal. It crosses a string of low islands and skerries on eight bridges, causeways and viaducts. The best-known is Storseisundet Bridge, a 260-metre cantilever span whose curve makes it look, from some angles, as though it ends in mid-air.
The road opened on 7 July 1989 and cost 122 million kroner, partly paid for by tolls that ended in 1999. It is now one of Norway's National Tourist Routes, with designated viewpoints, a walkway along the sea and fishing spots. The nearest towns are Molde and Kristiansund, each about an hour away. In autumn storms, waves break over the road, so check conditions and stop only at the marked parking areas.
5. Geirangerfjord
Geirangerfjord is a 15-kilometre arm of Sunnylvsfjorden in Møre og Romsdal, and together with Nærøyfjorden it was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2005 as part of the West Norwegian Fjords. Its most famous sights are the waterfalls: the Seven Sisters on one side of the fjord face the Suitor (Friaren) on the other, and the Bridal Veil shimmers like thin lace when the sun is behind it.
The village of Geiranger lies at the head of the fjord where the Geirangelva river runs in. The Geiranger–Hellesylt car ferry is the cheapest way to see the fjord from the water, and the road up to Dalsnibba gives a high viewpoint over the whole valley. The fjord is moving to zero-emission shipping, which is changing how cruise ships and ferries operate here.
6. Høyvika beach on Andøya
Andøya is the northernmost island of the Vesterålen archipelago, north of Lofoten, and covers 489 square kilometres in Andøy municipality. It is a contrast of flat peat bogs, famous for cloudberries, and steep mountains rising to Kvasstinden at 705 metres. The main villages are Andenes, Bleik and Risøyhamn, and the island is linked to Hinnøya by the Andøy Bridge.
Høyvika is one of the white-sand bays on the island's exposed west coast, framed by rounded green slopes and facing the open Norwegian Sea. The coastal road along this side of Andøya is a National Tourist Route, so the beach combines easily with the villages of Bleik and Andenes and with Andøya Space, the rocket range founded in 1962.
7. Besseggen Ridge in Jotunheimen
Besseggen is Norway's most famous day hike, crossing a narrow ridge in Jotunheimen National Park. The ridge itself is 1,634 metres high, and the route's highest point, Veslfjellet, reaches 1,743 metres. Its signature view is the contrast between the two lakes: deep blue Bessvatnet on one side and green Gjende, coloured by glacial clay, almost 400 metres lower on the other. Henrik Ibsen made the ridge famous in Peer Gynt, where Peer boasts of riding across it on a reindeer.
The classic route takes the boat along Gjende from Gjendesheim to Memurubu and walks back over the ridge, or the reverse, in about five to seven hours of walking. Around 30,000 people do it each year, mostly between late June and September. Book the boat and start early in peak season.
8. Trolltunga in Hardanger
Trolltunga, the "Troll's Tongue", is a slab of rock jutting out about 700 metres above Ringedalsvatnet in Ullensvang municipality, Vestland. The standard hike from Skjeggedal is 27 kilometres return with about 1,100 metres of climbing and usually takes 10 to 12 hours. A toll road to Måglitopp, opened in 2017, and a shuttle bus from Skjeggedal shorten the walk.
The independent hiking season normally runs from mid-June to mid-September, depending on snowmelt. Go with a guide outside that window: snow covers the plateau from late September to June, and guided snowshoe trips start in March. The official season guide lists current conditions and parking.
9. Tromsø: Arctic city of the northern lights
Tromsø lies more than 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle at nearly 70°N, and with close to 80,000 residents in the municipality it is the largest city in northern Norway. Its lively cultural life earned it the 19th-century nickname "Paris of the North".
The city sits in the auroral zone, so the northern lights can appear from late August to mid-April whenever the sky is dark and clear. The sun does not rise from late November to mid-January, and the midnight sun shines from about late May to late July. Daytime highlights include the Arctic Cathedral of 1965, the Polaria aquarium and the cable car to Storsteinen, 420 metres above the city. Tromsø Airport has direct flights from many European cities.
10. Hamnøy, Lofoten
Hamnøy is a small fishing village on the eastern side of Moskenesøya in Moskenes municipality, about 1.5 kilometres north-east of Reine. It was once reached by ferry; today the E10 crosses to it on bridges. Its red rorbuer, traditional fishermen's cabins, set against sharp grey peaks, make it one of the most photographed scenes in Lofoten.
Several of the cabins are rented to visitors, making Hamnøy a good base for kayaking on Reinefjord, hiking around Reine and photographing the winter light. Reach it by the Bodø–Moskenes ferry and a short drive or bus, or fly to Leknes.
For more of northern Norway, see Terje Nilssen’s Norwegian landscape photographs, and for a view from the water, Norway through a kayaker’s photographs.
Related reading
- Norway in Photographs: Villages, Roads and Mountain Views
- Briksdalsbreen: Glacier Views in Norway’s Briksdal Valley
- Svalbard: Arctic Seasons, Settlements and Coastal Landscapes
- Hamnøy, Lofoten: Fishing Cabins Beneath the Mountains
- Besseggen Ridge: Gjende, Bessvatnet and a Demanding Norwegian Hike
- Jotunheimen The Home of Giants In Norway
- Norway in Time-Lapse: The Landscapes of Rustad Media
- Tromsø in Winter: Northern Lights, Arctic History and City Days
Sources
Facts: Oslo, Lofoten, Troll Wall, Atlantic Ocean Road, National Tourist Routes: Atlanterhavsvegen, Geirangerfjord, Andøya, Besseggen, Trolltunga, Trolltunga seasons, Tromsø, Hamnøya, Visit Lofoten: Hamnøy, MUNCH.
Photographs: Stefan Forster, Maurizio Rellini, Lofoten, Lofoten Insomnia, Andreas Winter, Natalia Eriksson, Asbjorn Floden, Benjamin Gs, Martynas Milkevičius, Alireza Behrooz, Will Burrard-Lucas, Ghost Farm, Benny Høynes, Stian Klo, Svein Oftedal, Fred Åge Hol, Vincent Steeman, Lhox, Cody Duncan, VDubVanLife, Yngve Blomsø, Tore Eriksen, Luca Venturi, Marcin Cwiek, Rich Pick. Selection first compiled by Places To See In Your Lifetime.
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