Norway travel guide: when to go, budget and itineraries

The capital takes two to three days. The essentials sit on the Bygdøy peninsula, with the Viking ships, the Kon-Tiki raft and the Fram, plus the Vigeland sculpture park and the Opera quarter, whose sloping roof you can walk up. Many museums close on Mondays. Around Oslo, the Nordmarka forest and the Oslofjord make easy day trips by suburban train, for under ten euros return.

The heart of the trip. The Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord, both UNESCO-listed, are seen by cruise or from the Dalsnibba and Stegastein road viewpoints. Allow at least four days to link the Sognefjord, the Hardangerfjord and Geiranger, since roads skirt every arm of sea and use ferries. The mountain-road season runs late May to October; outside that window several passes close.

The country's second city and the most common starting point for the fjords. The UNESCO-listed Bryggen wharf, the Fløibanen funicular that climbs 320 metres in eight minutes, and the fish market fill a day. Bergen gets more than 200 rainy days a year: bring waterproofs and keep a spare day for when the weather closes in. This is where the Norway in a Nutshell route to Flåm begins, and where the Hurtigruten coastal ferry starts its six-day run up to Kirkenes.

The Lofoten Islands, about a 1h40 flight from Oslo, string together fishing villages with red cabins, white beaches and sheer peaks. You need a car: the E10 links every island. Tromsø, further north, is the base for aurora outings and winter whale safaris. The North Cape, the northernmost point of the continent reachable by car, is a long detour from Tromsø.

Two phenomena, two opposite seasons. The aurora shows from late September to late March, under clear skies, north of the Arctic Circle but sometimes as far south as Bergen; allow three or four nights to raise your odds, since cloud cover decides everything. Finnish Lapland and northern Sweden offer comparable conditions. The midnight sun lasts from late May to mid-July in Tromsø and Lofoten, when the sun never dips below the horizon and hiking days lose their timetable altogether.

Three signature walks, all in the South-West: Preikestolen (4 hours round trip, busy paid car park), Trolltunga (10 to 12 hours, mid-June to mid-September) and Kjeragbolten, a boulder wedged over the void above the Lysefjord. The Besseggen ridge, in Jotunheimen park, takes 6 to 8 hours with a boat crossing on Lake Gjende. Outside summer, these routes demand winter gear, crampons and real snow experience; accidents happen every year to walkers who set off too early in the season.

Norway suits slow travel. The Flåm Railway drops 865 metres over 20 kilometres, the Bergen line crosses the Hardangervidda plateau at over 1,200 metres, the Rauma line runs below the Trollveggen. On the road, eighteen national scenic routes are waymarked, including the Atlantic Road with its bridges laid across the sea and the switchbacks of the Aurlandsvegen. Ferries are frequent but fill up in July and August. For an island-hopping road trip, Norway rivals Iceland.