Travel to Norway

Flying to Norway

Major airlines running direct flights to Norway from the UK include British Airways (www.ba.com), Norwegian (www.norwegian.com), Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) and SAS (www.flysas.com). From the USA, there are direct flights with Norwegian and SAS.

Major airports in Norway are: Oslo Airport, Bergen Airport, Stavanger Airport.

Airport Guides

Flight times

To Oslo: from London - 2 hours; from New York - 7 hours 20 minutes.

Air passes

Visit Scandinavia/Nordic Airpass: valid for visitors from the UK who travel on SAS flights between Denmark, Norway and Sweden on domestic routes within Norway.

Departure tax

None.

Travelling to Norway by Rail

From the UK, you can take a Eurostar train to Brussels, an ICE train to Hamburg, then catch connections to Oslo via Copenhagen and Gothenburg (March to October only). NSB (Norwegian State Railways) (tel: +47 6105 1910; www.nsb.no) operates international services from Oslo to Stockholm and Gothenburg. Throughout the year, you can travel by train to Copenhagen and catch an overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo.

Rail passes

InterRail: offers unlimited first or second-class travel in up to 30 European countries, including Norway, for European residents of over six months with two pass options. The Global Pass allows travel for 15 days, 22 days, one month, five days in 15 days, or seven, 10 or 15 days in one month across all countries. The One-Country Pass offers travel for three, four, six or eight days in one month in any of the countries except Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro.

The One-Country Pass does not apply to travel in the passenger's country of residence. Reductions are available for travellers under 28. Children under 12 are free when travelling with an adult using an Adult Pass. Supplements are required for some high-speed services, seat reservations and couchettes. Discounts are offered on Eurostar and some ferry routes. Available from InterRail (www.interrail.eu).

Eurailpass: offers unlimited train travel in up to 28 European countries. Tickets are valid for 15 days, 22 days, one, two or three months, five or seven days in a month, and 10 or 15 days days in two months. The Global Pass allows travel across all participating countries. The Select Pass is valid in two to four bordering countries. The One-Country Pass offers travel in one of 27 countries.

Adult passes are valid for first-class travel, while youth passes (under 28) are valid for second-class travel. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by an adult using an Adult Pass. The passes cannot be sold to EU citizens or residents. Available from Eurail (www.eurail.com).

Rail note

NSB operates a minipris ticketing system which involves putting tickets up for sale in batches with early bookings resulting in cheaper fares. Minipris tickets must be bought at least one day in advance, are non-refundable and cannot be changed but can give you savings of up to 75% of the standard fare. Purchase them online, via the NSB app or using the ticket machines at the stations. See www.nsb.no/en/our-tickets/minipris for more information.

Driving to Norway

The only direct international road connection routes are from Sweden or Finland and Russia in the far north. For travellers from the UK, Eurolines (tel: +44 8717 818 177; www.eurolines.co.uk) operates daily services to Oslo from London via Amsterdam; and Copenhagen. Other international bus services to Norway depart from northern Finland, Gothenburg and Stockholm in Sweden and Murmansk in Russia.

Getting to Norway by boat

Norwegian ports offering marina facilities include Bergen (www.bergenhavn.no), Oslo (www.ohv.oslo.no), Kristiansand (www.kristiansandhavn.no) and Stavanger (www.stavanger-havn.no).

Cruise ships

Norway is a popular destination for cruise ships, with most heading to the fjords and pretty seaside cities such as Bergen. The Svalbard Peninsula, Honningsvaag, Tromsø, Hammerfest, Trondheim and Ålesund are all regular features on Norwegian cruise itineraries.

Ferry operators

There are no direct passanger sea routes from the UK. Fjord Line (tel: +47 5146 4099; www.fjordline.com) operates services to Bergen via Stavanger from Hirtshals in Denmark. There is also a service to Kristiansand.

Color Line (tel: +47 22 94 4200; www.colorline.com) connects Kiel (Germany) with Oslo, Hirtshals (Denmark) with Kristiansand and Larvik, and Strömstad (Sweden) with Sandefjord.

Stena Line (tel: +47 02010; www.stenaline.com) operates services from Fredrikshavn (Denmark) to Oslo.

DFDS Seaways (tel: +47 2162 1340; www.dfdsseaways.co.uk) operates a daily overnight crossing from Copenhagen to Oslo.

River Routes

The Tana river (Teno in Finnish) straddles the border of Finnish and Norwegian Lapland. At Kaamanen on the Finnish side, there is a bridge that allows you to cross to Karasjok on the Norwegian side. In the winter, an ice road across the river links the two countries with road 895 running from Skiippagurra to the Finnish border. The River Enningdalselva is shared by Norway and Sweden.