Norway is the great spine of Scandinavian Europe, ranging from the rugged, rocky inlets of the southern Skagerrak bays, to the wild and uncharted Arctic land of the northern Finnmark. It’s a country at once both cutting-edge and highly-traditional, a place where visitors can spy out the intermingling of old Norse living and futuristic design, while there’s no question that Norway’s biggest touristic pull is its grand and untameable outdoors.
In recent years Fjord cruises have become one of the country’s biggest sells, with more people than ever now coming to spy out these mystical and legendary valleys for a taste of the dramatic vistas that are so common they soon pass without notice. Of these, it’s the UNESCO-attested Sognefjord and the fairy-tale Hardangerfjord that are the absolute ‘must sees’, while your Norway tourist guide will, no doubt, be able to recommend other worthy sites all along the coast.
In the mountainous interior of the country, hikers, bikers, kayakers and those after a taste of traditional Nordic dog sledding won’t be disappointed, while Norway is fast becoming one of the leading ski destinations in all of northern Europe.
But this country’s energetic character doesn’t stop there, and from the classy bars of Oslo to the medieval facades of harbour side Bergen, there are plenty of inner-city gems just waiting to be discovered.